Latest ONSW News
Duncan Currie has won the bronze medal in the junior boys section at the Australian schools sprint championships in Ballarat.
Duncan, a four-time Garingal club champion and still only 15, was second at the last radio control but dropped 8s in the closing stages to finish one second off silver.
Western Plains' Rebecca Kennedy was the best-performed of the NSW contingent in the junior girls with a 10th placing made more creditable by the fact that Kiwis filled the first four places.
Garingal pair Toby Wilson and Daniel Hill were 10th and 11th in the senior boys, three seconds apart, while Georgia Jones was 18th in the seniors girls in another very strong field.
This was the first time that schools sprint titles had been held at an AUS champs. Tomorrow (Tuesday) is the individual bush event and Wednesday the school relays. NSW are defending champions in the junior boys.
The Australian championship carnival is underway in Ballarat, with the Victorian and Australian Middle distance champs held in intricate gold mining terrain at Creswick at the weekend.
For relative bush newcomers, this is tough, tough going. The map looks like someone spent hours drizzling honey onto paper.
Our intrepid reporter (and novice), Jim Mackay from the Uringa club, filed this report.
"It's not natural," was my conclusion after Sunday's race.
"I wasn't talking about the weather - which was a gorgeous spring day with no wind to speak of. I was talking about the 19th-century mining which has gouged and transformed the landscape into a difficult terrain to navigate for the uninitiated.
"Natural contours have been replaced by steep criss-crossing trenches, pits and rock piles which make it more industrial art than bush art on the map. Only the miners' water trenches follow the natural contours, I was told, after my dismal run (Jim was 40th in M50A in a tad under two hours - the winner took 36m31s). Next time I'll be ready.
"This time around the Bigfoot Barbours were ready with Greg (M50A) and Louise (W10A) each getting 1st place and Julia 3rd (W10A). Other NSW winners were Anna Fitzgerald (GS) in W35A, Jenny Hawkins (NT) in W70A and Neil Schafer (GO) in M85A."
Among the elite classes: Big Foot's visiting Swede Mikaela Ronnback was 7th in junior women, Newcastle's adopted Swede Malin Anderson 8th in open women, Aidan Dawson (GO) 7th in junior men and Rob Preston (NC) 10th in open men.
Thanks to Jim for a fine report and Karen Blatchford for the lovely photo montage.
Click on the blue links for results from Saturday and Sunday.
Our last bush weekend for the year was held in the Southern Highlands.
On Saturday SHOO hosted the NSW Middle Distance Championships on an updated Appin map that required intense concentration due to the low visibility. The alternate to compass work was following one of the many tracks and then darting into the bush.
Thankfully the rain held off after a morning downpour to reveal a crisp, clear afternoon ideal for orienteering. Crossing a babbling brook to reach the start only added to the serenity. Scones with cream and jam at the scout hall post-run... yum.
Thanks to setter Dave Meyer and the SHOO club for a great outing which drew 214 entries.
On Sunday morning the weather gods were even kinder for IKO's long distance event on the Tree Cave Track map at Belanglo. It was quite wet setting up on Saturday but clear blue skies were again on order for the event.
Noteworthy results were Marina Iskhakova (BN) winning W21A, and a 1-second victory by Peter Newton (NC) over Jim Mackay (UR) in M45AS.
Visiting orienteers from Queensland and ACT were among the spoils, with 191 entrants all up. Thanks to Vicki Wilmott and IKO for a big effort to finish off our State League for 2015.
Participants are now asked to please complete the very brief Course Setter of the Year survey for each day.
Results are on Eventor and a brief photo album from Saturday is on Facebook. Final State League point scores will be posted soon.
Orienteering NSW is pleased to announce Michael Ridley-Smith has joined the board as Marketing Director, focusing on marketing and promotion activities.
Michael, a member of Garingal for three years, has come to orienteering later in life and wants others to experience the same joy he has found through our sport.
"I'm about encouraging people to get out and be fit in the outdoors," he said. "For me, the competitive aspect makes it very enjoyable, but first and foremost it's the challenge of the course and the sense of community before, during and after."
Michael trained as a lawyer but spent many years rotating through roles at an oil company and most recently was a senior marketing executive for Caltex. He's currently working for himself as a consultant.
On behalf of all orienteers, the Board welcomes Michael and also thanks Ian Miller for his outstanding service as Planning Director. Ian has stepped down after four years of tireless work co-ordinating the annual events calendar and driving the strategic plan, both of which have put ONSW in a great position for further growth.
