Latest ONSW News
A NSW trifecta in W45A was the highlight of the Australian Middle Distance Champs on day one of the national carnival in WA on Sunday.
Only two and half minutes separated Jennifer Enderby (middle, NC), Karen Blatchford (right, NC) and Cath Chalmers (left, BF) over the 3.1km stretch. Their nearest rival was a further five minutes behind.
Robert Spry reports: "The WA Long Championships, a warm-up event on the Saturday, was anything but as a strong cold front brought winds and heavy rain to Spice Brook near Bindoon. Once on their course, runners found relief from the wind with classic spur-gully terrain in open forest scattered with grass trees and wildflowers.
We generated lots of interest in orienteering at the Cumberland Forest Fair at Castle Hill on Sunday.
With a stall set up right near the entrance, we ran out of summer booklets and nearly ran out of maps as visitors took the chance to try their hand at finding the 15 controls scattered throughout the bush tracks of the forest.
We were also blessed with superb weather and an awesome team of helpers from the WHO and Garingal clubs who 'sold' our sport to hundreds of attendees.
Orienteering only gets access to the forest once every two years as part of the forest but it struck many of the helpers as an ideal location for a permanent course.
ONSW would also like to thank the Forestry Corporation for their generous assistance on the day. For those regulars who handed back their maps, you may print one out for keeping from here.
The Sydney Junior League is drawing to a close for 2014, with the final event at Willoughby on Saturday 20 September. All juniors are encouraged to attend and start early. Starts are from 9.30am. Bring a picnic and stay on for Series presentations and random lucky draw prizes for juniors (which you must be there to claim) at 11am. Once again, ONSW extends a huge THANK YOU to long-term supporter AussieOGear who donate prizes for the Series.
As an added bonus, the 20 September event is part of the Willoughby Spring Festival and all participants will receive a free entry to the Willoughby Leisure Centre (can be redeemed at a later date).
Development Officer Barbara Hill reports: this year the Series has comprised 11 events with the 5 best events of competitors counting towards season end awards. Congratulations to Terence Chiang (Garingal) and Angus Leung (Garingal) who have participated in 9 of the 10 events to date. It is pleasing to see that many others have had 8 runs. In all, almost 150 students have had runs in Junior League events.
A number of classes are tight and will come down to the final event to determine the winner. The Very Easy boys class looks as though it will be fought out by Donovan Roberts (Garingal) and William Nolan (Uringa). If neither is available though, Lachlan Coady (Western & Hills) might just sneak in for the win. Nea Shingler (Big Foot) has been outstanding all year in the girls division and will take out this class.
On the Easy course, the action will be focused on the girls. On the back of strong performances at the NSW Schools Champs, Tiia Marsh (Big Foot) is leading however the highly talented Claudia Petrie could sneak in for a win if she runs strongly at Willoughby. Promising GO junior Holly Roberts could also be up with the leaders if she posts a good time. Nicholas Tse (Garingal) is a clear winner in the boys Easy class and looks set to challenge on the moderate courses in 2015!
On the longer courses, Ewan Shingler (Big Foot, left) has the Short Moderate wrapped up and Joanna Hill (Garingal) leads the girls division. Sophie Jones is in with a shot of levelling with Joanna though.
Consistent runs all winter have secured wins for Georgia Jones (Uringa) and Duncan Currie (Garingal) on the Long Moderate course. However Toby Wilson (Garingal) may level with Duncan if he is the quickest on the course at Willoughby.
We would also like to thank Colin Price at Aussie O Gear for his donation of prizes.
Our State League competition concluded with two wonderful events on the edge of Wagga Wagga, where keeping up with the Jones family from Uringa proved a difficult task.
It was great to see lots of runners from ACT and Victoria in action, no doubt getting valuable practice for the Aus champs in WA in a fortnight.
Uringa's Ron Pallas reports: "Pomingalarna, a stone's throw west of town and neighbouring one of Wagga's two golf courses, hosted Saturday's middle distance event. The area was spur gully with a vast array of erosion control banks which led to you doing a lot of counting: 'That is three I have crossed;only two more to go.'
The courses all travelled through an area which contained more than its fair share of pits and depressions making navigation quite tricky. Toss in a complex labyrinth of mountain bike trails and mistakes were easy to make. All courses crossed a central hill that boasted a spectacular wildflower display. The courses were well set by Briohny Seaman."
Sunday was the NSW middle distance champs at Connorton - another terrific 'salt and pepper' map much beloved by our bush enthusiasts.
It is a complex granite area with a light cover of vegetation.
The Jones family - Sophie, Georgia, Lawrence and Ian - accounted for 4 titles to go with their three firsts and a second the day before.
Thanks to Waggaroos (and friends as snapped by Patrik Gunnarsson, see right) for a superb two days. Could all attendees please fill in the brief course setter surveys?
Final State League standings will soon be available on the web page.
