Beginner course kicks off

Linda Sesta and Maggie Jones, with the two Jones girls to help out, ran the first session of the new 5 week Beginner Orienteering Course at Centennial Park today. There was a good turn out which means that we have some new members! We welcomed the Briganti family, with parents Roslyn and Riccardo and children Beniamino and Therese, Matthew Nicol, Chris Barraza and Catherine Taylor to Uringa. Gillian McCartney who also came on the course, has signed up to Big Foot as she lives over the bridge, as will mother and son Jen and Rory, who came to say hello and said they will come along to some of the later sessions as they have orienteered before. Lucky Big Foot! Thanks to Sarah Garnett for the excess maps of Centennial Park from the recent CATI - they were appreciated as we took the team on a map walk around the Green course she had set, looking at terrain to map, and map to terrain. The basics covered, next week we are onto techniques - lets hope the weather is as kind!
Results for the example SSS event (25min score - 150 pts)
1 Georgia 150pts
2 Catherine 120pts
2= Chris 120pts
3 Sophie 110pts
4Matthew 90pts
4= Therese 90pts
5Beniamino 60pts
6 Gillian - but then she did lose her pencil - maybe she actually won!

Master mapper Dave Lotty shows Uringa how its done!

Last Uringa club members training date in the diary for 2011 was Dave Lotty's mapping master class at Gough Whitlam Park near Tempe. Dave took us through the basics, which turned out not to be so basic after all, and involved an alarming amount of maths. There were some coloured pencils on show which made us think that maybe it wasn't beyond us after all and then we were let loose to investigate the surroundings and try and translate them into map language. There was a lot of discussion over open, white, and different types of marsh and how to map them. Does a tidal marsh equal a swamp? What do you show for a rock wall around a raised island? Is the rocky lump a high point, a boulder or a small cliff? Should you show a vegetation boundary with a dotted line if that doesn't add any useful information to the competitor? All these and more were chewed over by adults and juniors alike, giving us a renewed respect for mappers past and present who provide us with something worthwhile to run on.
Once we had tried our hands at mapping Dave revealed his finished version - oh, right, that's what its supposed to look like! Using this elegant version Dave set a course for us to race around. An interesting route choice from control 4 to 5 caught many of us out, with Ian and Duncan being the sensible exceptions who read the contour detail and avoided the rather steep climb and descent that left the rest of us puffing. Back at the finish to find out how we all did, and then it was a leisurely BBQ in the cooling afternoon to round it off. Thanks Dave for a great afternoon - it was a real treat!
Results of the Gough Whitlam Challenge:
Ian Jones 11:31
Duncan Currie 14:33
Georgia Jones 15:19
Maggie Jones 18:03
Colin Currie 22:50
Brian Clelland 25;15
Sophie and Ellen 27:38
Mary Jane Mahony 28:35

AUSSIE MTBO

Uringa had a very small group attending the Australian MTBO Championships in Victoria.
Nick and Marg tossed their trusty Speedwells into the back of the Prius for the trip to Wangaratta.
Altogether there were 4 events so lots of pedalling and numb bums!
The competition started off with a Middle Distance race and disaster struck early for Nick a navigational error saw him miss control 1 and so a mp was his final placing. Marg was better however disaster struck after control 10 and that was the end of her race.
The next race was the sprint and the trusty Speedwells and the brains were as one together and Nick finished a handy 24th in M50 and Marg was placed 10th in W50.
Then there was the long:
Nick did well to finish 21st in his group whilst Marg unfortunately recored another mp.
The final event was a relay and Marg's team competing in mixed length (short, medium and long) finished just a handful of seconds in front of Nicks - 34th and 35th respectively.
I think this is the first time in MTBO Champs for our intrepid pair. Well Done

Message from President - Presidents Forum 22 OCT

FEEL FREE TO COMMENT ON THIS POST, OR SEND ME AN EMAIL. THANK YOU!!

A few weeks ago I sent out an email regarding the upcoming President's Forum, which is now definitely taking place on 22 Oct, and which I will be attending. I had a few replies to my last email (see below), and now invite you again to make any comments on below topics.

From below comments you can see that we already have a few points to bring forward:

- Navigation on website not really clear / not straight forward to obtain event information

- Fee standardisation should be considered

- Offering discounts to members, rather than penalties to beginners/newcomers etc

- Pricing of sportident into new membership (this is really a great idea, Rick)

- registration card (access to database with all members info on it to facilitate event entry)

- involvement of younger generation into organisation of events, mapping, course setting etc

Here are some questions which could be addressed, and perhaps you could provide your comment / opinion on this:

- what do you think about having an Events Series Coordinator in our club dealing directly with OANSW re events?

- do you think standardisation of membership fees is a good idea?

- do we require any additional equipment (we have just bought locks for use with sportident at the summer series & sprints)?

- do we have any sportident requirements?

- have you got any comments/feedback re OANSW administration?

- do you have any comments re schools development? Should schools development continue?

- any requirements/needs etc from OANSW?

- any other items you think should be discussed?

I am going to put this information on the blog too, so feel free to comment there too. I look forward to hearing from you.

Cheers Linda

The topics that the Board have under consideration for discussion are as follows:

(1) NSW Annual Calendar

- Structure of events

- Process for establishing the calendar

- Timing for commencement and finalisation of the calendar(s)

(2) An Event Series Coordinator and reciprocal person from each club Proposal

(3) Club Membership Map Proposal

(4) Standardisation of Membership Fees

(5) Association Equipment / Club Equipment – what is needed or wanted?

(6) SportIdent

- Unit Numbering/Rationalisation

- Software for the future

- Options

(7) Association Manual Update

- What requests do clubs have

(8) Marketing Review

- 2011 Changes – Good, Bad? Improvements?

- Ongoing Publicity – where, when?

(9) ONSW Administration

- 2011 arrangements – Good, Bad, Problems, improvements?

(10)Event Results Publication

- Who, where, when, format,

- Conflicting formats, conflicting requirements (ASC, DSR, OA.......)

(11)Schools Development

- The future? Is there one? Club ideas and feedback desired

(12)Clubs Wants/Desires/Needs

(13)Easter 2014, Aus Champs 2017

(14)Any Other Business

Oceania Odyssey part 3 The Badja

Umbrellas seem to come out when presentations happened

Aussie Longs Champs

Oceania Sprints

For those who have been around they will know that Badja has been part of the orienteering circus from way back in 1987. The complex granite has been causing headaches ever since.

And so it was that we once again headed east from Cooma to the Badja for 3 more rounds of testing.

Friday was the Oceania Sprint. We ran on an area called Wombat Hill with the scale at 1:5000. Oh boy the complexity of the course sorted out a number of people and for me well i crashed and burnt. For me I met my Armageddon with a disastrous hunt for my first control. cannot believe that I actually stood beside the ant mound 1/2 way to #1 and then for some inexplicable reason marched off a little NE and then became totally lost finally relocating off the large boulders on the eastern fence!. Oh well 26 minutes wasted. Back to 1 and then around we went. Boy what fun.

Others managed a far better attack on the hill than I.

M45A Ian Jones 6th

M40A Dave McKenna 29th

M55A Ron Pallas 24th

M65A Dick Ogilvie 6th

M65A Dave Lotty 14th

W10 Sophie Jones 3rd

W14A Georgia Jones 5th

W40A Linda Sesta 1st

W40A Maggie Jones 4th

W40A Jane McKenna 7th

W55A Gayle Shepherd 16th

W75A Maureen Ogilvie 1st

With the day done we then returned to Cooma for a well earned rest in our 5 star accommodation ( well ours was 5 star if you were a termite).

Up again under slightly cloudy sky Saturday was the Australian Long Championships. Back out on a very scenic drive through Numerella we went. Marginata was the name of the map and it is dominated by granite, open paddocks and green.

The early legs on most courses were set in the greener scrubby sections of the map before heading out to areas dominated by clusters of rock, copses of trees and open paddocks. Speed ruled.

Ah at last I can say that I had a decent run with no real big losses of time well around 6 i was a little bit astray..

M10 Jared McKenna 3rd

M16A Lawrence Jones 14th

M45A Ian Jones 7th

M55A Ross Coyle 7th

M55A Rick Steele 28th

M65A Dave Lotty 7th

M65A Dick Ogilvie 9th

W10 Sophie Jones 1st

W14A Georgia Jones 2nd

W40A Linda Sesta 3rd

W50A Sarah Garnett 9th

W50A Lisa Lampe 14th

W65A Angela Murray 5th

W75A Maureen Ogilvie 1st

M45AS Dave McKenna 4th

M45AS Ron Pallas 8th

W21AS Maggie Jones 1st

W21AS Jane McKenna 2nd

W35AS Gayle Shepherd 10th.

Right on cue a large clap of thunder heralded more rain and the crowd scattered as the cloud spattered.

Sunday Morning event 9 saw the crowds line up for the Oceania relay Championships. By now walking wounded were everywhere and relay teams changed as fast as Imelda Marcos changed shoes.

We were running on the same area with more time spent to the west of the previous two maps.

Relay results- teams containing these Uringans were placed:

M16A Lawrence Jones 10th

M45A Ian Jones 6th

M55A Rick Steele 4th

M65A Dave Lotty 2nd

M65A Dick Ogilvie 3rd

W16 Georgia Jones 3rd

W40A Linda Sesta + Maggie Jones 3rd

W50A Sarah Garnett + Lisa Lampe 4th

W65A Maureen Ogilvie 1st

MW12A Sophie Jones 1st

W21AS Gayle Shepherd 4th

Mixed Length Dave McKenna 6th

Mixed length Jared McKenna 7th

And so it was that the final presentations were made in the dry. The crowds dispersed taking the well worn tracks to their various homes and the organisers were left with the mammoth job of packing up. ( Worse to come is unpacking, sorting and storing)

What a great carnival, what a week and all that was left was the drive home, the smelly socks and O gear and a lot of great memories..

Now if memory serves me correctly Oceania is happening in NZ in a year or two...

Photos Oceania Carnival

Where's Gayle???
Where's Ron?? Wonder whether they ever found each other on the day!!!
Looks cute here....but wait.....
...but what a fierce competitor!!
IPad orienteering??
The nerve centre at the Australian Relays!
Georgia in action
Uringa injury of the week, until Jane injured her knee on the 2nd last day of competition. Hope it's not too bad Jane!
A very focused Lawrence
Stop smiling Sarah, it's serious business..
That's it Dave, hard at it!

Yes Gayle, your hair is in place !!
Rick's "Running" Repairs !!

Oceania Odyssey part 2- Wagga Wagga

Alex Davey - course planner for Aussie relays hard at it

The caterers brought their own tractor to negotiate the track in

One needs to look one's best when running for NSW

Anita and Lorna

Schoolies Week- invasion begins

Georgia interviewed after her great run

The Odyssey moved on to Wagga well Tumbarumba well half way between - Murragoldrie state forest.

The weather had cleared and we were blessed with 4 days of fine weather- and warmth and sunshine and no rain!

Over the next two days there were 4 events- 2 for the Australian Schools Championships and 2 for the punting public.

Uringa had two representatives in the schools Georgia and Lawrence Jones. Both were competing for the first time and both in Junior division. The Aussie schools champs is hot competition and especially in the Junior Boys / Senior Boys this year.

Georgia had two really solid runs finishing 9th and Lawrence put together a really strong run to record 10th, The following day they backed up for the school relays and both Georgia and Lawrence's teams finished 4th. For both of these up and coming juniors it was the first year in their respective divisions and I am looking forward to the 2012 Schools Events - Tasmania I think.

Meanwhile back at the maps the orienteering public had two races. On Tuesday it was the "Burngoogee Bash" with participants running on the same courses as the schools. It was interesting to see that most winning times were in fact those of the school runners.

Results:

Easy- Sophie Jones 7th

Easy Jared McKenna 9th

H1 Ian Jones 21st

H1 Ian McKenzie 51st

H2 Jane McKenna 30th
H2 Dick Ogilvie 32nd

M2 Maggie Jones 1st- (did she beat Georgia's time? Yes but only by a handful of minutes!)

M2 Maureen Ogilvie 17th

The next day it was the Australian Relay Championships. This was the first time and probably the last time that these champs will be held mid week. The turn out was small ( I didn't mind as I handled the entries and ran the finish) but I feel it was a poor result for the planners who put so much work into the day.

That said the relays were fast and furious and fun. the spectator arena was well planned and gave everyone a few good viewing points of competitors on their courses.

Results ( teams with these people in)

M/W12A- Sophie Jones 3rd

W16 Georgia Jones 5th

M16 Lawrence Jones 5th

M45A Ian Jones 5th

M65A Dick Ogilvie 1st

W21AS Maggie Jones 1st

W21AS Jane McKenna 2nd

W65A Maureen Ogilvie 1st

Uringa had a fair hand in these events as Dave Lotty was the controller for the relay events and Gayle and I were joined by Gary and Sandra Stewart were in the thick of things in the finish tent.

Well Wagga done and dusted and so it was a very quiet Thursday and a beautiful drive over the mountains to Cooma ready for part 3!

Oceania Odyssey Part 1- Victoria

Tracking on the big screen

Day 1 Map- Northern Spur

Day 2 - Rowdy Flat

Sophie &Jared finding a sympathetic umbrella

Team work at its best

The Oceania Carnival had three distinct parts. this, the first posting covers the first two events down Wangarratta way. So it was a rather mad dash out of Sydney Friday afternoon to hit the Hume for the drag down to Victoria. Fortunately for us I was on Holidays and Gayle was granted an early mark so we didn't need to do battle with Sydney's infamous Friday arvo traffic!

Day 1 - Oceania Long Distance Championships saw us all on "Northern Ranges" in Warby Range National park. The map contained three basic colours white green and black with a delightful mix of open forest, green and granite rock features. Now when i said open well it was but there was a certain amount of deadfall timber which made going straight at times very difficult. Sorry should have added brown as there were a lot of contour lines. Whilst the green drove you crazy there were some delightful areas and the leg 3 to 4 I chose to drop down the follow the creek south to a point just west of the control. This route was so beautiful with a fast running stream gurgling over numerous small waterfalls. Just this one leg made up for all my frustrations at trying to find control 3. But enough about me.

Team Uringa did very well, with a number of podium placings.

M10 Jared Mckenna 5th

W10 Sophie Jones 9th

W14A Georgia Jones 4th

M16A Lawrence Jones 15th

M45A Ian Jones 6th

M60A Ian Mckenzie 3rd

M65A Dick Ogilvie 2nd

M65A Dave Lotty 14th

W21AS Jane McKenna 2nd

W40A Linda Sesta 3rd

W40A Maggie Jones 10th

W50A Lisa Lampe 13th

W65A Angela Murray 15th

W75A Maureen Ogilvie 5th

W35AS Gayle Shepherd mp

M45AS Ron Pallas 5th

Perhaps the worst part of the event was that it rained constantly throughout the day and the temperature was far from welcoming. Many were unprepared for the weather and froze whilst me - forgot me hat which made visibility difficult when one is wearing glasses.... Made sure it was in the car for the next day!

Day 2 dawned bright and fresh with brilliant sunshine and a certain warmness in the air.

We were off to a new map near Yackandandah for the Oceania Middle Distance Championships. This map was heralded as the " best goldmining terrain" ever.

It didn't disappoint and "Rowdy Flat" really was very difficult. Kilometre rates were way down and even the best of the best had some fun.

The many small tracks at times confused the picture. The myriad gullies, high points all shrouded in a variety of vegetation made the whole day a real challenge. However that said it was brilliant fun.

Once again Uringans did well.

M10 Jared Mckenna 6th

W10 Sophie Jones 4th

W14A Georgia Jones 2nd

M16A Lawrence Jones 16th

M45A Ian Jones 16th

M60A Ian McKenzie 16th

M65A Dick Ogilvie 17th

M65A Dave Lotty 22nd

W21AS Maggie Jones 5th

W21AS Jane McKenna mp

W40A Linda Sesta 4th

W50A Lisa Lampe 12th

W65A Angela Murray 6th

W75A Maureen Ogilvie 1st

W35AS Gayle Shepherd 6th

M45AS Ron Pallas 14th
M45+B Aldo Sesta 1st

Now I did say it was a beautiful day but right on cue as the presentation was just beginning down came the rain and it weren't no sprinkle. People bunkered down under any shelter to await the cessation of H2O but alas it wasn't to be and so many girded their loins and made the mad dash to the car park. Some were smarter and the NSW Junior Squad picked up their tent and walked back to their bus holding the tent like a giant umbrella.

The highlight was the first time use of live tracking of elite compettitors on a big screen. I had seen this a number of times at WOC races O/S but this was the first for all australians presnt. It was fascinating watchng where poeople went. This was couple with a few cameras which brough vidoe feeds and interviews to add to the day. Well done Darren Meeking who was the driving force behind the whole adventure.

Unfortunately for some it was back up the Hume Highway to work for the week. For others a days rest before heading to Wagga for Part 2 of the Oceania Odyssey.

Relays were an exciting time for Uringans. First leg runner Lawrence concentrates on not losing his nerve as the organisers organise and the athletes shuffle about. Linda flys out of the traps for W40A team getting one of the best times of the day and making us all wonder, once again, why she was not on the challenge team. The only thing you could say about Maggie's contribution to the team effort was that at least she didn't mispunch.

OCEANIA ORIENTEERING CARNIVAL

Well, what a great carnival this was with 7 events held over 9 days, taking us to Warby Downs NP with rock/spur gully terrain near Wangaratta, to Yackandandah gold mining, to Burngoogee another rock/spur gully map south of Wagga and ending up at Badja near Cooma for some great orienteering in the granit !! Weather was a shocker for the first event, with the sun appearing at Yackandandah! Although it was mainly overcast for the remainder of the events, the big rain thankfully stayed away.

Photos will follow shortly as soon as I can work out how to post them!!