Latest ONSW News
The heat was well and truly on in western Sydney on Sunday for the 20th annual Big Foot Sprints.
Temperatures were in the high 30s right across the Sydney region, but especially at Nurragingy as 60 runners took on the unique two-race challenge in flat parklands.
Aidan Dawson and Lisa Grant (pictured, right) emerged triumphant; Aidan pipping SHOO legend Dave Meyer by six seconds and Lisa a minute clear of GO clubmate Aniko Fozo-Kertesz.
Aidan was 27 seconds up after the first leg after Meyer was left ruing a 45-second error that ultimately cost him the title.
Big Foot's Brian Thorpe took out the shorter single race for kids. All the maps and results are on the BF Sprints page. Thanks to the Feet for a big effort in sapping conditions. Andy Simpson noted that this was Uringa godfather Dave Lotty's 100th event for the year.
On the other side of the city at Manly Dam, Bennelong Northside had their Christmas party with a leisurely 3km run taking in some of the rock to the northeast of the dam. The fresh water of the dam provided a nice cooling off opportunity and we thank Terry Bluett for putting on the course.
The Xmas 5-Days starts this afternoon with a sprint at Chevalier College in Burradoo.
The final program has been released for the annual Xmas 5-Days carnival in the Southern Highlands.
We will be using queueing starts each day.
In the event of forecast high temperatures (>35 degrees) or bushfires in the area, organisers of the bush events (days 2-5) are empowered to cancel that Day’s event under ONSW Rule 4.3.
The Day 3 or Day 5 events may also be cancelled if Forests NSW close access to the State Forests. We will endeavour to update the event website, Facebook, and email competitors if these conditions are expected.
It is looking like a warm Xmas 5 Days. There will be limited water at the finish, so competitors are asked to bring their own supply (1-2 litres per day.)
For those who didn't pre-enter, there will be Enter on Day available in Very Easy, Easy, Moderate and two Hard courses.
Moss Vale, Bowral or Mittagong would be good bases for accommodation as they are close to four of the events. Big Foot's event at Snows Hill on Day 4 is the 'remote' day, being closer to Bungendore.
Eight NSW orienteers have been named in the 2018 Orienteering Australia High Performance Squads.
Garingal has four representatives, while Newcastle and Big Foot have two each.
Nicola Blatchford and NSW junior squad coach Rob Bennett (NC) are in the second-tier National Development Squad, along with GO trio Toby Wilson (pictured) and Michele and Aidan Dawson.
Big Foot siblings Rebecca and Alastair George (pictured) are in the Junior Development Squad, along with Garingal's Duncan Currie (pictured).
Congratulations to these athletes. Each of the categories is explained on the OA website.
Meanwhile, OA has released details of its 2018 selection criteria and is calling for nominations for teams.
Congratulations to Matthew and Barbara Hill who have been named ONSW Course Setters of the Year for 2017.
The mother-and-son combination delivered outstanding courses at our recent NSW Sprint Champs at PLC Pymble, beating a high-quality field of setters in a heavy year of events for ONSW.
Here is some of the praise for the courses...
"Loved the fact that there was route choice to almost every control, right from the start - to stairs or not to stairs?"
"The map was extraordinary, the courses so well thought out and all in aid of a wonderful charity. What more could you want? NSW should be proud of such excellence."
The last major award to be announced for 2017 is the Interclub trophy, which has been retained by the Newcastle club based on its performances at State League events.
All our major award winners can be viewed in our archive. We congratulate all our winners and thank everyone for filling out the surveys.
