Latest ONSW News
What a fickle creature the weather is! High temperatures and humidity on Sunday tested orienteers at the Central Coast Summer Series event at Shelley Beach, almost as much as the course itself. With fewer hills than the previous event, there were higher point scores across the participating runners but they had to work hard for it in the heat. Karen Blatchford, Newcastle, won the Open Women with some 70 points higher than her win the previous event, and Men's Open winners Justin Stafford and Neil Prosser were 90points ahead of Russell Blatchford's previous leading score.
Participants were looking forward to a cooling dip in the ocean, which had sparkled temptingly throughout the event. But it was not to be. As the runners lingered around the scoreboard discussing their routes, a cool change came through whipping up the wind and turning the blue sea into an unappealing grey topped with white horses. Ah well. The next Central Coast event on this Sunday is also another beachside delight - Wamberal on the 16 December. Maybe the sun will shine just that little bit longer.
Four Fridays in November saw various parts of Dubbo come alive with competitors running in all directions. Club members were challenged with their first attempts at mapping using Newcastle rules. The first event was held in West Dubbo from Pioneer Park with Dale Wallace the course setter, then to the North East from Jack William Park and into the Eastridge estate with Sally Devenish taking on the mapping. Paul Roth, Western Plains new website guru, mapped the Dulhunty area and the last event was held at Victoria Park. Our two NSW junior girls, Samantha Wallace and Kate Kennedy took control of this course showing how much they have learned over the year.
A presentation and BBQ was held after the last event. Karen Wallace and Sally Devenish awarded the NSW awards as well as the street series certificates.
Results for the street series were as follows:
Senior Women: 1st Christine Apps, runner up Mary-Ann Berry.
Senior Men : 1st Peter Apps, runner up Sean Hagan
Junior Girls: 1st Ebony Apps, runner up Sarah and Charlotte Clark
Junior Boys: 1st James Finch, runner up Oscar Unger.
A reminder that early bird entries for Gold’n Ponds Easter 2013 finish on Sunday 16th December. Enter soon to take advantage of great discounts.
We are also pleased to confirm the camping arrangements for the event have been finalised. Accommodation in Bendigo is already heavily booked for the Easter weekend so this provides an exclusive, low cost option for orienteers. To book accommodation select the Service for camping in the 3-day event within Eventor.
Entries at Gold'n Ponds website
The Waggaroos Summer Series event last Thursday had participants running 30 or 45 minutes and finding the answers to as many questions as possible about the central Wagga area. Questions included history such as identifying the date of Wagga’s first blacksmith shop, and some were just child's play counting the number of rungs on playground ladders!
The scenic route led participants around Surveyor Townsend Park, along the riverbank to the Beach and then back though the civic centre precinct and Victory Memorial Gardens. On the shorter course Pauline Moore led the way and finished first with a good score of 85 points. Wes Campbell came in second with 65 points. John Oliver had also picked up 65 points but suffered a 10 point time penalty to finish third. Julie Gooding opted to ride her bike around the course. This proved to be more challenging than expected because she could not read the map while riding and had to stop frequently to check locations. Julie finished with 50 points.
Jonathan Holland was the only participant to select the 45 minute course and stormed around the course to pick up 225 points out of a possible 260 - an excellent effort.
Thanks to John Oliver for this report
