Australian Sprint Champs

Orienteering made it onto the hallowed turf of the centre quadrangle of the Canberra  Grammar School for the Australian Sprint Championships. According to those who have attended this school the mere thought of walking across the grass was enough to give you a weeks detention.
The venue was indeed a suitable test for the Aussie Champs. The many building, olive green out of bounds along with narrow paths meant you concentrated or bust. It was interesting at the finish to watch runners enter the quadrangle and then start scratching their collective heads.
before setting out- alas that moments hesitation was enough to bring you undone so fast and furious was the pace.
Maureen Ogilvie  2nd in W80 and Ian Jones 3rd in M45 were two Uringans who made it onto the victory dais.  As was mentioned in the sprint a moments hesitation costs you places, a wrong route choice can see you spiralling down the result boards.
The overall results for Uringa are listed below.

Plac	Name	Class	Time
2	Maureen Ogilvie	W80A	26:34
3	Ian Jones	M45A	18:37
7	Georgia Jones	W16A	16:49
8	Sophie Jones	W12A	39:08
11	Dick Ogilvie	M65A	20:49
14	Jared McKenna	M12A	17:17
17	Jane McKenna	W45A	26:54
17	Dave Lotty	M65A	24:56
21	Margaret Jones	W45A	43:32
21	Gayle Shepherd	W55A	23:53
23	David McKenna	M50A	25:55
	Lawrence Jones	M20E	mispunched
	Catherine Murphy	W21E	did not start
	Ron Pallas	M60A	did not start

Georgia leaving the finish control

Perhaps the lowlight of the event was the weather. What started out in Sydney as a beautiful sunny day continued in Canberra , minus a couple of degrees until the wind arrived. Straight out of the freezer and people were sent scurrying for coats, hats and whatever could keep you warm. There was a collective crossing of fingers that the wind would abate and the temperature rise for tomorrow's Aussie Champs.