Generosity was front and centre as Uringa hosted MetrO League on their new Sir Joseph Banks Park map for the first time.
Before we get to the details, we'd like to salute Garingal's Steve Ryan who disqualified himself after realising he had twice crossed a garden bed marked out of bounds near the end of his run. Steve's gracious gesture did not affect the result (Big Foot would have won 28-27 instead of 31-23) but the points differential may prove crucial when the Division 1 heavyweights meet in the last round at Galston to decide the title.
Steve's self-reporting is also a timely reminder to all orienteers to take note of any uncrossable features in the map legend, as transgression could result in us losing access to venues.
Exactly 100 of the 189 ML runners went under 35 minutes as the flat course lent itself to opening up the throttle on a gorgeous late autumn day. In some matches a time of 37 minutes was only good for 1 point whereas in more complex bush terrain it's probably a 10-point run.
So a fast day out - much quicker than the pace of play on the adjacent golf course (see lower pic), but not quite up with the supersonics of the airport across the bay.
The only previous outing for this banana-shaped strip of parkland beside Botany Bay was a NOL event in March 2015, so for many participants it was their first taste of a map that has some trick sandy areas and a menagerie of animal statues right by the start.
In Division 5, junior Clyde McGhee flew around in 21m29s, leading from the first control as Bennelong cemented their favouritism with the three quickest times around the 3km course. WHO were involved in two matches and curiously won and lost 35-21, with Maria Stankova and Jan Seeho recording identical times.
In Division 4, the GO Monitors upset Bennelong, while WHO again had a win and a loss, and the GO Legless team retained their unbeaten run. ONSW Technical Director Andrew Lumsden (Big Foot) wound back the clock with a run of 26m2s.
KNOX remained unbeaten in Division 3 but dropped a crucial point with an mp in a draw with Uringa-Central Coast. Bennelong are again at the top, and James Southwell was quickest in 27m39s.
SHOO-IKO and the GO Dragons have cleared out at the top of Division 2 and look set for a rematch of last year's final. IKO's Simon Louis - who got into O via the Summergong series - was the quickest in 26m15s.
Andrew Brown (BF) was fastest in Division 1 - knocking off the 5.4km in 28m27s.
Results and splits are on the ML web page, and the individual points tallies will be posted later this week.
Thanks to Uringa for a smooth, speedy morning. Our next round is at Lapstone on June 26 (pre-entry is open) when Big Foot host us on the Darks Common map - will there be road crossing controls again?
