Latest ONSW News
Garingal's Aidan Dawson smashed the field by 46 seconds to take out the junior men's National League sprint final on a brilliant new map at UNSW.
Nicola Blatchford (Newcastle) made it a NSW double with a much closer (7 seconds) margin over ACT's Tara Melhuish in the junior women's final.
In the seniors, Krystal Neumann (QLD) won by just four seconds, while Oscar McNulty (WA, but a student at Sydney Uni) pipped Ian Lawford (ACT) by 10 seconds. The best NSW performers were Malin Andersson (Newcastle, second) and Matt Parton (Goldseekers).
The assembly featured a long shady arena next to a campus cafe and coffee shop, and O-Lynx screens showing the standings in each class as Nick Dent offered running commentary. This new map (by Ross Barr and Carol Jacobson) will get plenty of action in the coming years!
As will Uringa's quirky new banana-shaped map of Sir Joseph Banks Park in Botany. The remote start took everyone through duneland - quite a novelty in Sydney orienteering - before flattening out into parkland with lots of large animal sculptures.
The weekend started with a bang as Big Foot hosted the NOL relays (4-person mixed) and public relays (2-person) on their famous Sydney Uni map. This really is a gem of a venue with its mix of architecture: classical sandstone and bold new glass-steel industrial competing for space and attention, alleyways, stairs, underpasses and more.
The NSW Stingers took second place; Nicola teaming with older brother Josh, Alex Massey (NC) and Catherine Murphy (UR).
Thanks to all three clubs for another fantastic big Sydney carnival. The weekend's results are on Eventor. Check out our Facebook photo albums from Sydney Uni, Botany and UNSW; and Tony Hill's great album.
Entries close this Sunday (March 8) for the 2015 NSW mountain bike orienteering championships in the Newcastle area on March 21-22.
The three events also constitute the opening round of the National League for MTBO and the Australian selection trials for the world champs in the Czech Republic in July.
In a great initiative to get more people into MTBO, the organisers on the Saturday are offering free introductory coaching and free entry to the beginner event. See the web page for details.
Bulletin 2 has been posted for the Sydney Sprint Weekend. Please read it carefully as it often contains separate instructions for NOL runners and for the non-elites.
Public transport is encouraged, and parking will be tight at most venues. Don't forget that Saturday night is the Mardi Gras parade so some CBD streets will be closed.
Start lists are also out for the Botany and UNSW events.
For the relay on Saturday morning, once the elites are done, the public relay (pre-entered) starts at 10.15am. Saturday Orienteering Series entrants and entry on the day starts are from 10.20am.
Newcastle duo Robert Vincent and Martin Quirke have taken out the O'Shea 2-Days carnival with a convincing win in the three-race pairs event on the Central Coast.
Rob and Martin were 18 minutes faster than Uringa siblings Lawrence and Georgia Jones as the fixture moved back to the Gwandalan area at the southern end of beautiful Lake Macquarie.
Central Coast couple Paul and Julia Prudhoe took out the short pairs by less than two minutes over brothers Steven (NC) and Kevin (GO) Roberts.
The highlight of the weekend, as usual, was the cake prizes - decorated with spearmint leaf lollies, as shown here by Karen Blatchford and Gayle Quantock, the women's runners up in the Long Pairs.
The three events were:
* a Saturday afternoon relay at Point Wolstoncroft
* a Saturday evening event at Summerland Point
* a Sunday morning Pairs Score event in Gwandalan
Results from all 3 events, and maps from the night event, can be found here.
