Metro #1 Mitchell Park Hot, Technical and Enjoyable

The Metro League is the Autumn/Winter/Spring orienteering series in Sydney, so it was a bit of a shock to run in 30 degree conditions.  It was also clearly a bush orienteering experience for everyone, with close attention to navigation and route choice required. This provided a real learning experience for newcomers to the sport such as Adrienne Kirby and an opportunity to show they still had their substantial orienteering skills for newcomers to the club Paul and Bronwyn Batten.  (Paul and Bronwyn are returning to the sport now that their family of three children is well established, and have joined Uringa this year.)

Division 2: UR-CC Harriers beat the Go-Frill Necks resoundingly, with Ian Jones posting the fastest time in the Division.

Division 3: UR-CC Kites lost to the GO Skinks. It was a fairly close result and as the UR-CC team only fielded four runners it was a very good result.

Division 4: UR-CC Falcons lost to GO Geckos. Well, it was hot and technical out there, and Dave Lotty was carrying an injury.

Division 5: UR-CC Kestrels lost to GO Legless. Only two runners in this team. Paul Batten was the fastest in the Division and will be running much further up in future.

The Sydney Metro League is in somewhat of a transition this year. One aspect is a hand-over of coordinators.

Ian Jessup (new Metro Coordinator) and Frank Assenza who started it all (previous Metro Coordinator)

Another seems to be a rethinking of how it is run. Rumored is that in future events clubs with empty slots in their teams may select from a list of orienteers (from all clubs) who turn up to run Enter-on-the-day. Stay tuned.

Next Metro event: Metro #2 at Callan Park, run by Uringa on Sunday morning, April 21.

Bendigo or Bust!

The Australian 3 Days run traditionally over Easter is calling. Large fields in most age classes makes this the most competitive event on the orienteering calendar.
As is always the case a reasonable number of Uringans will be making the dash down the Hume to enjoy 3 great days in the bush. ( mind you the dash home is tempered by the need for some to go to work on the Tuesday.)
Uringa has some strong opportunities to figure prominently in the placings. In the Juniors Jared Mckenna and Sophie Jones are always very consistent performers in the 12 years division and it will be no surprise if they stand on the podium at the end of the carnival. Georgia Jones is a strong chance over the 3 days in W16A. Georgia is capable of three strong runs and it is consistency in this age group that will "bring home the bacon". Brother Lawrence in the highly competitive M18A division is a definite chance of a top 10 placing which would be an outstanding effort.
As we move into the older age groups, Maureen Ogilvie in W80 is a stand out performer, barring injury she will be on the podium.  Relative newcomer Brian Cleland has been showing fine form in both the streets and the bush and in M75A could give the tried and trusted runners a real shakeup.
Mr Multi sport Nick Wilmott in M55A is capable of some big runs however it will be interesting to see the effect of a little "rust" on the orienteering brain when he sets out on Day 1.
Dave McKKenna in M45AS is always up there somewhere near or in the placings and so this carnival here is hoping he can put together three mistake free runs as he certainly has the pace to do damage in this class.
A dark horse in W45A is the figure of Jane McKenna. Jane has been running in a variety of classes over the past few years but seems to enjoy the challenge of the longer length. Jane could easily be in the top ten in her age grouping.
Stepping up into W55AS is Gayle Shepherd. Should she maintain focus for the three days could quite easily knock a few fancied runners off the podium. With new shoes and thus blister free heels we shall see!
One must not forget Ian Jones in M45A. This is a tough class with many noted performers, however Ian has been featuring in the top end of this class for a while now and this could be a break through podium performance.
Also a dark horse, mainly due to injury, Dave Lotty could just string together ( if the body holds together) 3 good runs to trouble the podium placings.


So standby for what is hoped to be  a very successful carnival - more news to follow from Bendigo.

We climbed every mountain and some!

State League 1 & 2 Double Header-Lithgow

As was reported in the last post in the blog a band of 20 orienteers, well 18 in the end, headed over the mountains to compete in this year’s opening State League events just north of Lithgow.

The two days competition was held in a long valley called Gardiners Gap. The name comes from a little bit of activity of Frank Gardiner, noted bushranger of the 19^th century. This area is not all that far from a certain coal mining lease that has been in the news with the ICAC.

Day 1 was middle distance and looking at the winning times would suggest that the courses may have been a smidgen too long. The area used was high on the side of the valley where boulders and rock lines of immense height live to taunt the unwary orienteer. Toss into the mix some very unforgiving vegetation, quite warm weather  and you have a course that requires bucket loads of concentration and a high degree of stamina. Mind you being amongst these towering rock pagodas was thrilling and awe inspiring: it was just the going up and down and up and down that was a real physical challenge. That said there was many a tale of success amongst the Uringa camp.

Maureen Ogilvie            W-70A     1:31:17     2

Dick Ogilvie               M-65A     1:03:24     3

Dave Lotty                 M-65A     1:11:52     4

Gayle Shepherd             W-45AS    1:14:28     2

Ron Pallas                 M-45AS    1:26:22     5

Linda Sesta                W-45A     1:08:57     2

Eric Charpentier           M-21A     1:46:19     6

Celine Samba               WopenB    1:38:27     2

Margaret Jones             W-21AS      58:06     1

Lawrence Jones             M-18A     1:08:52     2

Sophie Jones               W-12A       39:16     1

Georgia Jones              W-16A     1:01:59     1

Ian Jones                  M-45A     1:05:17     3

Angela Murray              W-65A     1:08:05     5

Ant Nolan                  M-40A     1:05:44     5

William Nolan              M-10A     1:27:23     3

Brian Cleland              M-75A     1:08:51     2

Mary Jane Mahony           W-65A     1:23:57     7

 

After a feast at the Lithgow Workies  everyone toddled off to their respective beds for a good sleep before heading back out to State League 2.

Day 2 was a long event and was also in the lower section of the valley. Mind you if you thought that you would have relatively flat courses forget that as the course setter seemed to feel that unnecessary climb was a much needed component of well my course at least. (Check out legs 6-7-8- hanging on to contour lines to avoid sliding down the hill- even the Swiss headed down, in fear of one’s safety whilst going to 8 rather than contouring). That said the open areas early in the courses were a delight  and hard to believe but yes I did it messed up number 1.

Again Uringan’s did well:

Maureen Ogilvie            W-70A     1:08:05     2

Dick Ogilvie               M-65A     1:21:12     6

Dave Lotty                 M-65A     1:20:16     5

Gayle Shepherd             W-45AS    1:04:43     2

Ron Pallas                 M-45AS    1:19:24     5

Linda Sesta                W-21AS      49:55     1

Eric Charpentier           M-21A     2:03:02     5

Celine Samba               WopenB      59:23     1

Margaret Jones             W-21AS      59:49     2

Lawrence Jones             M-18A     1:35:00     2

Sophie Jones               W-12A       21:49     1

Georgia Jones              W-16A       59:20     1

Ian Jones                  M-45A     1:22:09     3

Ant Nolan                  M-40A     1:37:57     5

William Nolan              M-10A       33:07     2

Brian Cleland              M-75A       59:26     2

Mary Jane Mahony           W-65A     1:22:45     6

After the event is was a delight to enjoy the delightful weather  that was on offer. Central Coast, our buddy club, was amazing as they put the two days on with about 10 members present. They were assisted by a number of the juniors who headed back out into the hills after the event to collect controls.

And so we now head south to the Australian 3 days based in Bendigo. What is in store for us? Well like all things we will just have to wait and see.

 

 

 

Climb Every Mountain

Well here it is the eagerly awaited start to the bush season
State League events 1 and 2 are being held in a delightful valley about 20kms north of Lithgow. Coincidentally just down the road from the event location is the Wolgan Valley Retreat owned by Emirates. Now before you think "my that would be handy" consider the asking price  is a 4 figured amount a night!
So Lithgow caravan park looks good.
A total of 20 Uringans are headed to the fray. All the tried and trusted runners will be joined by Eric, Celine and Micheal with the Doc running an unfamiliar class brought on by an injury. The cagey Linda is playing swapsy with classes and running an AS course on the longer course Sunday. Linda is also returning from injury and is not looking to over do it.
Stay tuned for results next week and good luck to:
William, Lawrence, Eric, Ant,Ian, Dick, Dave, Brian, Ron, Micheal, Sophie, Georgia, Linda, Angela, Mary Jane, Maureen, Maggie,Lisa, Gayle and Celine

NATIONAL RANKINGS

Every year Orienteering Australia Statistician Darrell Erbacher publishes a list of the top ten ranked orienteers in each age class. The ranking is based upon performance in state and national championship events.
Uringa orienteers featured prominently in the 2012 rankings
W10    Sophie Jones    3rd
W14    Georgia Jones    5th
W75    Maureen Ogilvie    1st
M12    Jared McKenna    5th
M16    Lawrence Jones    10th
M45    Ian Jones    9th
M65    Dave lotty    6th
M65    Dick Ogilvie    10th

Congratulations to our wonderful Uringans!

Uringa Training Schedule 2013

Thurs 28 Feb	Mapping on OCAD	Evening	Bondi	Dave Lotty
Sun 3 Mar	Coaching day	Daytime	Newcastle	Nick Dent
Sat 23 Mar	Controllers Course Level 1 & 2	Daytime	Sydney Olympic Park	Andrew Lumsden
Sun 7 Apr	Juniors holiday training with an Easter theme	Daytime	Maroubra	Maggie Jones & Barbara Dawson
Sat 13 Apr & Sun 14 Apr	Women’s training weekend	Weekend	Belanglo	Robyn Pallas
Sat 27 Apr	Level 1 coaching accreditation	Daytime	Belanglo	Carolyn Rigby
Sat 15 June	Club coaching – organise your first event	Evening	Bondi	Ron Pallas
Sat 10 Aug	Club coaching      - mapping fieldwork	Daytime	Gough Whitlam Park	Dave Lotty
Sat 7 Sep & Sun 8 Sep	Club training weekend	Two day event	Belanglo	Maggie Jones
Sun 27 Oct	Learn to Navigate Wk1	Daytime	Centennial Park	Maggie Jones
Sun 3 Nov	Learn to Navigate Wk2	Daytime	Watsons Bay	Maggie Jones
Sun 10 Nov	Learn to Navigate Wk3	Daytime	Sydney Park	Maggie Jones
Sun 17 Nov	Learn to Navigate Wk4	Daytime	Centennial Park	Maggie Jones
Sat 23 Nov & Sun 24 Nov	Juniors training weekend (Wildfires/Blue Sparks)	Weekend	Braidwood	Toni Brown & Maggie Jones

Uringa Event Calendar 2013

Date	Location	Event	Key People
28/01/2013	Carss Park Carwar Ave, Blakehurst	Sprint Series	Linda Sesta
04/03/2013	Ballast Point Park end of Yeend Street, Birchgrove	Sprint Series	Lisa lampe
21/04/2013	Callan Park	Metroleague 2, Juniorleague	Nick Wilmott
10/06/2013	Belanglo Forest Follow O signs from Hume Highway	QBIII Middle Distance	Sarah Garnett
04/08/2013	Centennial Park	Juniorleague	Anthony Noland Ron Garner

Sydney Sprint #8 Birchgrove

The very scenic Ballast Point Park, the old oil refinery at Birchgrove was a bonus for all competitors in the Sydney Sprint Series event number 8.
The course was set by Lisa "the Doc" and she really made the runners work.The early part of the course saw competitors stretch out with a series of longer legs into the Mort Bay area. Then just as tiredness set in the competitors returned to the multi level Ballast Point Park where even the simplest control of the final 6 controls can be misread due to the complex nature of the area.
Following the event there was much discussion on the best route choice in that last complex area and of course the quickest was to the finish from the last control, the northern stairs of the southern stairs.

Overall there were 60 competitors and of these there were 8 Uringans.
Ron Garner was first home coming in 30th in 21.43 for the 2.6km course. Dick Ogilvie used a lot of local knowledge to come in in 41st place with a time of 27.57. Dick recounted tails of a memorable uni party in the house across the road from the assembly area.
Terry Murphy was next home at 41st in 29.10 and the very competitive Brian Cleland stormed home in 49th place with a time of 31.25.
Helen Murphy was the first of our ladies  home in 35.04 to record 51st and hard on her heels was Mary Jane Mahony in 52nd position in a time of 35.4. Penny Field had a very good run to record 55th place in a time of 45.48 and returning after injury Angela Murray was not disgraced with a fine 56th place in 48.13.
All in all a great event and many thanks to Lisa for the course and Dave for helping put out controls and to the many Uringans who were able to help out.
That was the last of our Summer events and we move now to Callan Park on 21st April for a metro League event. Lots of helpers and runners will be needed on the day.