Latest ONSW News
Congratulations to Newcastle's Jenny Enderby who has won the prestigious OA Silva Medal for the second time.
Jenny (W50A, pictured) tied with Marina Iskhakova (ACT, ex-Bennelong Northside, W40A) and Jenny Bourne (Victoria, W60A) but won on a countback based on average winning margins.
The competition for 2018 was based on points in the Australian Championships (Sprint, Middle and Long), the Australian 3-Days Championships (each day considered as a separate event) and the South Australian Middle Distance Championship (Elite and A classes in M/W16 and above). Each athlete counted their best 6 results.
Points were as follows: 1st – 4; 2nd – 3; 3rd – 2 and 1 for finishing, 1 point if there are less than 4 starters.
The two Jennys and Marina won 6 of the 7 events for a maximum of 24 points, with the resultant winning margins being: Enderby 8.81%, Iskhakova 8.23%, Bourne 7.40%.
OA has also released the non-elite rankings for 2018 and NSW had 11 orienteers top their age class nationally.
Congratulations to these No.1-ranked athletes: Alvin Craig (NC, M16), Scott Simson (NC, M45), Shane Doyle (Uringa, M50), Rob Vincent (NC, M60), Steve Flick (BN, M70), Iida Lehtonen (Garingal, W14), Samantha Howe (NC, W35), Jenny Enderby (NC, W50), Paula Shingler (Big Foot, W55), Jenny Hawkins (Northern Tablelands, W70) and Maureen Ogilvie (UR, W85).
ONSW also had seven orienteers ranked second and a further six ranked third.
The full list of rankings can be found here.
Daylight saving is here, the formal bush season has finished, which means... it's time for our annual summer series around the state.
That's when we turn our attention to navigating our way through some of the most scenic parks, reserves and foreshores that our clubs have mapped. Many newcomers are amazed at the views on offer and the areas they discover through our summer series.
(The Sydney Summer Series hosted Australian hockey player Rosie Malone (pictured) at Mosman on Wednesday.)
Most clubs offer a time-limit format (score or scatter courses - you choose the order in which you visit the controls).
As an example, a map from a previous event is here. The maps usually cover an area of 2km x 1km. The fastest runners will often cover 9-10km in 45 minutes, while the more social may do 2-4km.
It's up to you how competitive or social you are - Newcastle even offer a pram-walking category (see pic left).
Click here for an overview of what our clubs have to offer.
Beginners will get coaching at the events. We hope to see you there.
Newcastle's Alvin Craig, Garingal's Iida Lehtonen and Big Foot's Nea Shingler have capped a tremendous week by being named in the all-Australian schools orienteering team for 2018.
Alvin, still only in Year 8, had a second and two fourth placings across the three days of competition to gain selection for the third year in a row.
Nea and Iida (pictured) earned their first green-and-gold selections with consistent displays against high-quality New Zealand opponents in particular; each registering a podium finish in the Long.
ACT retained the shield for champion state, while New Zealand retained the trophy for trans-Tasman supremacy against the Australian states.
ACT and South Australia each had five students gaining all-Australian honours out of 16 places. Congratulations to these orienteers selected:
Senior Boys: Patrick Miller (ACT), Dante Afnan (SA), Noah Poland (ACT), Aston Key (VIC)
Senior Girls: Joanna George (SA), Abigail George (SA), Ella Cuthbert (ACT), Emily Sorensen (SA)
Junior Boys: Alvin Craig (NSW), David Stocks (ACT), Torren Arthur (VIC), Toby Cazzolato (SA)
Junior Girls: Nea Shingler (NSW), Iida Lehtonen (NSW), Justine Hobson (ACT), Mikaela Gray (QLD)
NSW orienteers won 18 events on the final weekend of the 2018 Australian championships in South Australia.
Ten people won the Long champs on Saturday, and a further eight triumphed in Sunday's South Australian Middle Champs - including memorable wins to Gayle Quantock (Newcastle, W55A) and Ron Pallas (Uringa, M45AS).
'The main action was on Saturday, with the blue-ribbon Australian Long Champs at Gumeracha Goldfields east of Adelaide. The terrain was spur-gully, with some pine and native forest. When the results were tallied across all age classes, Victoria reclaimed the OA Shield from NSW.
Our winners were: Samantha Howe (W35A, NC), Cath Chalmers (W45A, BF), Salme Fuller (W45AS, IK), Barbara Hill (W50A, GO), Paula Shingler (W55A, BF), Lynn Dabbs (W65A, WH), Jean Baldwin (W75A, GS), Maureen Ogilvie (W85A, UR), Alvin Craig (M16A, NC), John le Carpentier (M75A, SH).
Barbara Hill's victory (pictured) in W50 was especially sweet, downing good friend and close rival Jenny Enderby and atoning for two disastrous legs in the Aus Middle champs a week ago where she dropped almost 17 minutes.
We also had four second placings and eight thirds.
In Sunday's finale at Kenyes Gap, our winners were: Ron Pallas (M45AS, UR), Rob Vincent (M60A, NC), Brian Cleland (M80A, UR), Samantha Howe (W35A, NC), Jenny Enderby (W50A, NC), Gayle Quantock (W55A, NC), Val Hodsdon (W70A, SH), Maureen Ogilvie (W85A, UR).
The terrain was open farmland with moderate to steep ridges with complex rocky detail, bushy on the ridges.
NSW also had seven second placings and four thirds.
ONSW thanks Orienteering South Australia for a massive effort in staging eight events in 9 days, drawing 800 entries for each of the weekend events.
You can find all the results, splits and Routegadget here.
Next year's Australian championships will be split between Western Australia at Easter (entries are already open), and the Oceania champs in the Riverina in September-October.
