It was rather wet in the Hills!

 The NSW School Champs along with State league 14/15 were run in the north west region of Sydney over the weekend.

It all started along, with the rain, at Cherrybrook High School on Saturday morning. There was some discussion amongst Uringans as to whether a long black in a local cafe was more appealing than a wet tail orienteering.

However it was good to see that the cafe was kept till later in the day. This was race 1 of  NSW Schools Sprint Champs and State League 14. For our schoolies Alon was =2nd in M9-10A, Maggie 2nd in W15-16A and Jonathan was similarly placed in M15-16A.

In the non-schoolies - Mary Jane 1st W75A, Shane 1st M50A and they were followed onto the podium by a whole host of 2nds- Serena, W20A, Helen W70A, Ant M50A, Michael M55A, Dave M65AS, Ori M45AS, Brian M85A. Gayle, W55AS finished in 3rd.

Most courses featured a map flip. The course below  heads to control 11 and then flips the map over and  there where control 11 is is the start triangle for the second side... Well done- that is how it should be done! - up date it appears that there is no definitive way to show the map flip

Now here is where a cut circle makes or breaks the run check out control 10.

Look underneath the north eastern side of the circle and what can you see- yep a fence. So all those who chose to go on the north side of the building with the aim of going up that break were stymied. Thus Many orienteers runs were spoilt by inattention to detail by the setter/controller. Now those who tried that route had to back out and then some headed east to go around that building alas there were unmarked construction fences which blocked progress- reverse gear and  head west around the building.... 

What a difference an 8 makes- Spot the problem

Yep fence covered by the number 8

So it was off to the coffee shop for a warming brew before heading to The Hills Grammar for Race 2. Mind you the rain did not take a coffee break.

Schoolies, Maggie was consistent with another 2nd, Jonathan dropped a couple of places to finish 4th and Alon likewise finished 6th. So as far as the School Sprint Champs go- Alon was 5th overall, Maggie and Jonathan were 2nd overall- well done team!

The non-schoolies continued their fine form. Mary Jane , Ian M35A (who recovered from a mp on race 1) and Shane were 1st. Serena, Gayle, Ant, Michael, Dave, were 2nd with Ori M45AS and Brian M85A in 3rd.

So how did Uringa fair in State League 14 ( a combination of the two races.) Serena 2nd, Gayle 2nd, Mary Jane 1st, Shane 1st, Ant 2nd, Michael 2nd, Dave 2nd, Ori 3rd  and Brian 2nd. Jim was a close 4th in M60A. So lots of big State League points were collected on the day.

A feature of this race was that all courses headed into the bush for a leg or two- the wet winter combined with the rain in the last 24 hours meant only 1 thing- MUD!. One of our runners returned with a map covered in mud making reading it a challenge.

Interesting the map flip was at 9 and when you turned the mp over you saw 9 again rather than a start triangle...

And so with rain on the rooftops overnight it was a good sleep and then off to Scheyville National Park. The area was a former army barracks with lots of Nissan huts still on the site. It is an interesting area, flatish, which make navigation a little trickier.

 How did the schoolies go- Alon was 1st home in M9-10, Maggie had a strong run in W15-16A to also place 1st and Jonathan came home a close 2nd in M15-16A - 3 runners 3 podiums. WOW!!!!!

Non Schoolies also troubled the scorer with Serena again 2nd along with Gayle. It was great to see Finn, M20A back in the bush orienteering finishing a very good 2nd., and Linds, W55A. There were lots of 4th- Jim, M60A, Dave M65AS, Ori M45AS. Ian EOD H2  In 5th was Shane, Ron. M55AS. Jane cam in 6th in Women Open B..

In an amazing coincidence ant and Michael both punched the same wrong control. They were after 156 and punched a nearby control numbered 126... There is a lesson there....

It was extremely wet around 3,4,5 and yours truly went for a waist deep wade to find that the control he was looking for was not the one in front of him but behind him - so back through the creek......

Into the future, Metro round 5 is fast approaching out at Campbelltown on Sunday 18th. Pre-entries are encouraged. The information can be found on Eventor at:

https://eventor.orienteering.asn.au/Events/Show/16697