Students from as far afield as Henty, Wagga, Dubbo, Nowra and Queanbeyan showed their talents at the NSW schools championships at the weekend.
Held in conjunction with State Leagues 9 and 10, almost 300 orienteers were treated to three new Dave Lotty maps near Bankstown airport.
Saturday consisted of two sprints - at Garrison Point where the easy open parkland gave the schoolkids a confident start to proceedings, and UWS Bankstown where the intricacies of sprint mapping were far more apparent where nooks and crannies around the campus waited to catch the unaware.
Congratulations on breakthrough wins to Finn Mackay (M14A), Lachlan Billett (M15A), Clare Jessup (W16A) and Jamie Kennedy (M50A).
Sunday was a middle distance bush event at Mirrambeena Regional Park which has been remapped after more than a decade of no access. A cycling road and lots of bush tracks criss-crossed the area, aiding navigation to a degree but also presenting other challenges. First-time SL planner Jim Mackay set some terrific legs among the varied vegetation that offered great route choice.
Our 2016 school champions are: Mawarra PS (primary), KNOX Grammar (Secondary) and CIS (region).
Please fill out the very brief Course Setter of the Year surveys for each event in which you participated.
A massive thank you to: Ron Pallas and his team on SportIdent, the Uringa club for a hectic 36 hours, ONSW Development Officer Lyn Malmgron and her team of helpers to ensure the kids were calm and confident when setting out on their courses, and the coaches who talk parents on a map walk (see pic).
Our gratitude also goes to Bankstown Council for venue access, and Mustangs Baseball Club for opening their canteen on Sunday.
Photo albums from Saturday are on our Facebook page. Results, splits and Routegadget links are all on our State League page.
A reminder that our final State League weekend for 2016 is in the Southern Highlands in a fortnight. Saturday is a Middle distance event at Mittagong and Sunday is a Long distance event in Belanglo State Forest. Entries close on Friday.
