What a huge weekend of orienteering for Lincoln Orienteers! Three events in three days, with the major event of the SA long distance Championships on the Sunday, attracting 99 entries. The majority of these competitors travelled from Adelaide to be involved, as well as several competitors from Victoria and approx 20 local participants.
It began on Saturday afternoon, with a shorter distance event at Louth Bay the perfect warm up for the weekend. These courses involved plenty of fast running across open areas of the township and golf course, but also some slower sections that required carful navigation through some tricky sand dune terrain. Most participants were pleasantly surprised by the complexity and variety of the courses, which were meticulously planned by Warren and Cath Dickie. Everyone also managed to stay out of the way of the few golfers that afternoon and any errant golf balls!!
On Sunday, it was time for the main event of the weekend, the SA long distance Champs, held on the “Broccoli Hill” map near Coffin Bay. Some competitors had some limited experience on this unique terrain from previous events, and it seemed this map had somewhat of a reputation for requiring very careful and deliberate navigation, or risk losing contact with the map and adding many minutes to your finishing time. David Winters had diligently spent many hours updating this map due to extensive regrowth of vegetation in certain areas. As finishers started coming in there seemed to be a sense of relief as most felt they could finally relax their concentration! Most commented on how challenging but also enjoyable their course was, however as finish times crept up, there were a few competitors who were slightly frustrated at the time taken to find their way around, and a couple that had to be located and called in after spending over 3 hours on course! Everyone was able to enjoy the delicious and plentiful catering on offer after their courses, with special mention to Heather and Roslyn for making the soup and volunteering their time in the catering tent. Also, thanks to Gordon and Ben for cooking the BBQ, and Bron, Paquita and family for organising supplies and helping in the tent.
Leith Soden took out the M21A 12km course in 1hr24mins. Jenny Casanova was the winner on the longest women’s course in the M35A category.
Some local orienteers also had excellent results with those who finished first in their category as follows: Sienna White in W21AS, Elise Clem in W45A, Patrice Glass in W45B, Elodie Nohlmans in WOB, Jack Hocking in M12A, Tim Ashman in M65A, and Ben White in MOB. For full results…Day 2 Results
The spectacular “gurra yarda” map was a fitting venue for the final event of the weekend. Most competitors were grateful for the more easily navigated open granite terrain, which was vastly different to yesterday. Leith Soden again made short work of the 5.8km course finishing in 31mins. Junior competitor Duncan Still had an excellent run to finish fastest on course 2, and likewise Sienna White, who was fastest on course 3.
A huge thank you to David Winters for the enormous effort involved with mapping and planning the SA championship courses, and to Sharron for her support! Also thanks to Warren and Cath Dickie for planning the Day 1 courses, and Tim Ashman for running the event on the day. And there were many others who helped out with control collection and general setup and pack up across the 3 days. Thank you to all for helping to make these events a great success!
For more photos also see our Facebook page.