Garingal's Aidan Dawson smashed the field by 46 seconds to take out the junior men's National League sprint final on a brilliant new map at UNSW.
Nicola Blatchford (Newcastle) made it a NSW double with a much closer (7 seconds) margin over ACT's Tara Melhuish in the junior women's final.
In the seniors, Krystal Neumann (QLD) won by just four seconds, while Oscar McNulty (WA, but a student at Sydney Uni) pipped Ian Lawford (ACT) by 10 seconds. The best NSW performers were Malin Andersson (Newcastle, second) and Matt Parton (Goldseekers).
The assembly featured a long shady arena next to a campus cafe and coffee shop, and O-Lynx screens showing the standings in each class as Nick Dent offered running commentary. This new map (by Ross Barr and Carol Jacobson) will get plenty of action in the coming years!
As will Uringa's quirky new banana-shaped map of Sir Joseph Banks Park in Botany. The remote start took everyone through duneland - quite a novelty in Sydney orienteering - before flattening out into parkland with lots of large animal sculptures.
The weekend started with a bang as Big Foot hosted the NOL relays (4-person mixed) and public relays (2-person) on their famous Sydney Uni map. This really is a gem of a venue with its mix of architecture: classical sandstone and bold new glass-steel industrial competing for space and attention, alleyways, stairs, underpasses and more.
The NSW Stingers took second place; Nicola teaming with older brother Josh, Alex Massey (NC) and Catherine Murphy (UR).
Thanks to all three clubs for another fantastic big Sydney carnival. The weekend's results are on Eventor. Check out our Facebook photo albums from Sydney Uni, Botany and UNSW; and Tony Hill's great album.
