Latest ONSW News
The pink skeletons of Big Foot starred in the annual Bare Creek Trail run on Sunday, with siblings Ewan and Nea Shingler winning the 12km race and Alastair George third in the 20km event.
Ewan won by a staggering 7m37s, while Nea's victory margin of six minutes was equally impressive. Alastair was only 33 seconds behind the champion in the blue ribbon long distance event in Garigal National Park.
Other top 10 finishes among orienteers we found were:
20km
Glenn Horrocks (Garingal): 8th overall and second in M40-49
Emily Sorensen (SA): 9th in W18-39
12km
Caitlin Young (ACT): 2nd woman overall and 2nd in W18-39
Zoe Melling (Uringa): 6th woman overall and 1st in W50+
Rebecca George (BF): 6th in W18-39
Aniko Fozo-Kertesz (GO): 10th in W18-39
Mark Shingler (BF): 2nd in M50+
Jo Parr (BF): 6th in W50+
Congratulations to all these athletes on their achievements.
Central Coast drew an encouraging 60 participants - including some very keen newcomers - to their opening summer series event at Berkeley Vale on Sunday morning.
Justin Stafford (Newcastle) and local Ciaran Lynch cleared the course under time in ideal cool conditions, while the best woman was Melissa Robertson (CC) with 480 out of 600 points.
It was great to see some kids out on the free MINI course - a welcome addition to the standard score course on offer.
Next week it gets even better - more than half the controls will be in the bush on the northern side of Kincumber Mountain (see the map sample top left for a taste).
It is one of 5 new maps that CC are using for this summer series.
You can find all the details on the club's revamped website.
We are pleased to publish the 2021 State League schedule comprising a massive 17 events, including two sets of NSW championships!
It will be a massive year for orienteering in NSW, with the Australian 3-Days over the Easter long weekend in Orange/Molong as well as two areas making their SL debuts.
We have already published our 2021 winter calendar, taking in all the major series. This will be updated once SHOO and Newcastle lick in their event dates.
Covid wiped out all bar one State League this year, so the Board has approved the 2020 NSW Middle and Long champs being transferred to 2021 at the same location (Seldom Seen maps near Eugowra) and same time (the weekend after Easter, April 10-11), hosted by Garingal.
The 2021 NSW Middle and Long champs will see Central Coast and Uringa team up in September on the Gardiners Gap and Long Swamp maps north of Lithgow which were burnt out last summer.
The great news is the dense vegetation there is now almost non-existent, and advance parties have come back in raptures about how good the areas are now looking for orienteering.
As the final SL events for 2021, they will be excellent practice for the Australian Championships in Tasmania later that month.
The State League season starts in March with the NSW Sprint Champs in the Macarthur region and a Long Distance event on Wattle Ridge, another map where huge areas of green are now white.
Hastings Orienteers, our newest club in Port Macquarie, will make their SL debut in July with mentoring from Newcastle. Maps are still being finalised but expect a Sprint and a Middle or Long.
And speaking of new areas, ACT will be hosting a NOL weekend in sand dunes at Broulee on the NSW South Coast in mid-May.
The State League page will be updated as more details come to hand.
Waggaroos and Stingers star Briohny Seaman has filled the last position on the ONSW Board.
Briohny's appointment lifts the female representation on our board to a high of four.
Her presence adds a voice for the younger generation and for regional NSW, and means we have eight clubs represented on the nine-person board.
The board says welcome to Briohny who will join us for our final meeting of 2020 on November 24.
