Somewhere Over the Rainbow - it always rains

Cast your mind back to the corresponding event in 2014. Yes it rained- as a matter of fact it poured for about an hour.
So there we are set up under the magnificent fig trees in Latham Park and all was well. A glance to the west and what do you know black clouds, thunder and lightning were once more going to grace us with their presence. Fortunately we were able to bug out to a small area of undercover before the rain came. We need to change the name of this map before it is re-used.
There were 53 souls who braved initially the humidity of the afternoon then the very wet air of the later afternoon.
Course setter Tim did a fantastic job and there was nary a whinge back at the download station.

It was a challenge to get all 600 points and it was a close call for Steve Ryan who went to all but was a few seconds late.

Tim's challenge!

Uringa members did very well: Georgia was 1st home in Junior Women with Maree not that many points behind. Catherine streeted the field in Open Women Serje dominated Masters Men. Ian was 2nd home in Veteran Men with Shane in 3rd.
Linda and Maggie had a battle for the top positions in Veteran Women with Linda ahead at the end. Terry Murphy had a fine 3rd in Legends Men and Helen went 2 better with a win in Legends Women. Mary Jane was 3rd behind Helen.

Brian was 1st home in Immortal class with Dave in 3rd.

Our next summer series event is on 11th November at Concord. This will be a big event with over 200 runners expected.

Junior League - Callan Park

Whilst the day featured a little drizzle, the magnificent surroundings of Callan Park ensured all who came left smiling. This well used area has a certain magic, the lush grounds and the variety of buildings from the beautiful sandstone compounds to the more complex old hospital complex- it makes for a challenge.


Judging from the comments from competitors, Alice did a fantastic job in setting courses that were a challenge. I heard the mapper comment that he went to places that he had only ever visited when mapping.

On the long course it was a case of youth triumphing with Aidan Dawson and Duncan Currie edging out Big Foot's Patrik Gunnarsson. Mind you Aidan was only 5 seconds quicker that Duncan. Ian Jones was flying to finish in 5th place with Shane Doyle a handful of seconds behind in 6th.

On the medium course it was age  that triumphed although up and coming Uringan  Finn was only 3 minutes slower than fleet of foot Tim Giles and Garingal stalwart Carol. Maree Doyle was super quick on this course. Maree has not been orienteering for very long and this was a real test for her.
Must mention Jakob- he dnfed. Mm why? Well today was the first time he had come across a pivot control and having never seen it before was unsure how to handle it.



Showing the benefit of an action packed holiday in Nth Queensland, Helen Murphy was the best performed Uringan on the short course. With recent injuries on the mend it seems that Angela is finding form with a 5th placing.

That is the final event in the winter series for Uringa. So away goes the gaiters and bush shoes and dust off the running shorts and speedy Dunlop sandshoes ready for the Summer Series.
A huge thank you to all the planners, controllers, organisers and volunteers that contributed to a very successful winter program of events

Overall results:

3	Finn Mackay	Medium hard	47:39
4	Helen Murphy	Short hard	41:35
5	Angela Murray	Short hard	47:39
5	Ian Jones	Long hard	37:23
6	Daniel Murray	Short hard	50:34
6	William Nolan	Easy	37:02
6	Maree Doyle	Medium hard	51:55
6	Shane Doyle	Long hard	37:51
7	Jonathan Nolan	Easy	37:26
7	Sophie Jones	Medium hard	53:19
8	Serena Doyle	Short hard	1:00:11
9	Zara Doyle	Short hard	1:00:39
10	Maureen Ogilvie	Short hard	1:04:52
11	Lawrence Jones	Long hard	41:36
12	Georgia Jones	Long hard	45:29
13	Dave Lotty	Mediu hard	1:00:16
13	Jim Mackay	Long hard	45:54
18	Michael Warlters	Long hard	49:36
21	Margaret Jones	Long hard	51:17
26	Dick Ogilvie	Long hard	1:00:13
	Jakob Doyle	Medium hard	dnf

SL#11 & NSW Schools Champs - Knapsack Gully

Saturday was sprints, Sunday was a bush course on a 1:10,000 map. Another beautiful sunny day and challenging courses. What a weekend.

W14A
1 Sophie Jones

W17+A
1 Georgia Jones

W21A
4 Alice Westwood

W35A
1 Danielle Kopriva

W45A
1 Linda Sesta
2 Margaret Jones

W65A
2 Mary Jane Mahony

W80A
1 Maureen Ogilvie

M14A
3 Finn MacKay

M15+B
4 Jakob Doyle

M16A
3 Thomas Garden

M17-20A
2 Lawrence Jones

M21A
8 Matt Westwood

M45A
2 Ian Jones
3 Shane Doyle

M45AS
4 Jim Mackay

M50A
4 Michael Warlters

M70A
2 Dick Ogilvie
7 Dave Lotty

M75A
1 Brian Cleland

EODVE
Brady Kopriva

SL#10 and Schools Sprint Saturday

It was a combined State League #10 and Schools Sprint Champs. A morning sprint on the UWS Richmond campus, an afternoon sprint at UWS Penrith. Completing two courses in different places on interesting new maps on a beautiful sunny day was the goal.

Uringa had some winners in the Schools Champs.

...and quite a few place getters.

W21A
2 Alice Westwood

W45A
1 Linda Sesta

W55A
2 Lisa Lampe

W80A
1 Maureen Ogilvie

M14A
3 Finn MacKay

M17-20A
1 Lawrence Jones

M21A
1 Ondrej Pavlu
3 Matt Westwood

W17+
1 Georgia Jones

M45A
3 Ian Jones
5 Shane Doyle

M45AS
1 Jim MacKay

M70A
6 Dave Lotty

Well, Brian Cleland and Mary Jane Mahony both had mps, Maggie Jones, Sophie Jones  and Dick Ogilvie has dsqs. Other members weren't able to run both courses (Angela Murray, Maree Doyle, Zara Doyle, Nicola Nyah). They were great courses, but challenging Itt was good day for all.

Sydney Sunny Sprint - the Ten Percenter

Thanks to Dave Lotty for course setting, and, of course, Ron Pallas on the computer.

Sprint (the Long)
3 Ian Jones
4 Lawrence Jones
7 Alice Westwood
21 Jasper Parker
24 Angela Murray

Easy (the Short)
1 Alexander Murray
2 Brian Cleland
3 Mary Jane Mahony
4 Eve & Will Murray
5 Jonathan Nolan
7 Zachary,Oscar, Dan
8 Will Nolan

Metro 4- Caataract Scout Camp

The Cataract Scout Camp, on first inspection looks a little on the easy side. However it is not until you get out there that you realise that even controls in the open areas are oft times hard to locate. There are many tracks that can lead to confusion ( I can attest to that!)

With that in mind it would be safe to say that this was Uringa's most successful day at the metros for a while. Our teams in Division 3,4 and 5 all had victories. Our Division 1 team was well and truly understaffed with only two runners present on the day.

Captain de Metro Ian would like to claim "the pun of the year" with his shoe in of two competitors in the Division 5 team. Both were from SHOO orienteers. ( gets dad joke of the year.)

Our Div 3 team had a very strong win and one look at the individual results you can see why. Georgia was 2nd fastest on the course, Linda 3rd, Nick 4th, Hilary 8th and Jim 11th. That left little room for Bennelong to score many points at all. the match went Ur/CC way 37 / 18.


Division 4 was closer with a 30 / 24 result with Maggie, Sophie and Finn right up there in the big points.
Division 5 was a nail biter and went right down to the seconds. Gayle, Dave and John (SHOO) scored the big points but with 28 V 27 result every point counted.





The next Metro is in July and we will need all hands on deck as a number of Uringans are heading O/S to take part in events such as Oringen ( Sweden 14000+ competitors,) World Masters also in Sweden.

Individual Results:

Plac	Name	Class	Time
2	Georgia Jones	Division 3	35:57
3	Linda Sesta	Division 3	37:47
4	Margaret Jones	Division 4	31:41
8	Ian Jones	Division 1	43:28
8	Sophie Jones	Division 4	33:05
9	Gayle Shepherd	Division 5	31:37
9	Lawrence Jones	Division 1	43:57
10	Finn Mackay	Division 4	33:08
11	Jim Mackay	Division 3	43:44
16	Dave Lotty	Division 5	34:19
16	Dick Ogilvie	Division 4	34:59
25	Ron Pallas	Division 4	48:03
25	Adrienne Kirby	Division 5	48:23
29	Serje Robidoux	Division 3	1:36:22

PS - it might look like Serje had a shocker but he was out introducing some friends to the sport. Look like they enjoyed their time with map and compass.