My goodness but we are a good looking bunch at Uringa!  Thanks to Mary Jane and Helen Murphy who came to show off our best side, and to Brian who was a great help to the photographer - we shall have to start calling him 'Flashman' from now on:)  The photos that were taken are for the Southern Courier's promotional coverage of the Sydney Summer Series and what better place to take the pictures than at beautiful Maroubra Beach.  And yes, the Rubiks cube is on the map, though you will have to wait and see if planner Georgia chooses it as a control site....

Competition heats up in Tasmania

The last 9 days saw the orienteering community venture to the shores of Tasmania for the most important competitions of the year, these being the Australian Sprint, Middle, Long and Relay Championships as well as the Australian School Championships.

A small contingent of club members made their way to the East coast of Tasmania for the competitions in various terrain. Events were held around St Helens in open eucalypt forest with granite, in Bicheno featuring parklands, urban scrub and a foreshore with granite slabs and boulders for the sprint, and undulating spur/gully in Royal George.

Australian School Championships (Royal George)

Georgia and Lawrence Jones represented NSW in the School Championships, and the team placed equal second with Queensland! The School Championships consist of an individual event and a relay in  the categories Junior Girls and Boys as well as Senior Girls and Boys. Georgia competed in the Junior Girls class and came 9th (top NSW junior girl!);  the class was completely dominated by the New Zealand girls which placed 1,2,3,4. In the Senior Boys Lawrence placed 13th which made him top NSW Senior Boy!

The Junior Girls relay was dominated once again by the the New Zealanders with NSW (Georgia, Melissa Annetts, Rebecca George) coming 4th. Looks like the Senior Boys relay was also dominated by New Zealand, and unfortunately the NSW team had a mispunch. Lawrence still had a good race placing 8th on the first leg.

Well done to Georgia and Lawrence for your great contributions to the NSW Schools team!!
Congratulations to Georgia who was named on the honor roll for NSW School team. Well done!! :-))

Podium placings at the Australian Championships

Sprint Championships (Bicheno)

W10A         1st         Sophie Jones

W75A         1st         Maureen Ogilvie

Middle distance Championships (St Helens)

W75A         1st         Maureen Ogilvie

W10A         2nd        Sophie Jones

Long distance Championships (St Helens)
W14A         1st         Georgia Jones
W10A         2nd       Sophie Jones
W75A         2nd       Maureen Ogilvie

An overall great performance by the Jones Family, with Maggie and Ian both just missing out on a podium placing, coming 4th in W45A resp M45A !!

Relay (St Helens)
M/W12        2nd       NSW (incl Sophie Jones)
W65A         2nd        NSW (with Maureen Ogilvie)

Although Georgia was 1st out of the forest on leg 1, the team unfortunately didn't manage a podium placing in W14A.

GREAT NEWS: Due to her great results in the Long Distance and Relay events Georgia was also named in the Australian Schools Team for the match again NZ in early January 2013, which is being held in New Zealand. Congratulations Georgia and well done!! What a great achievement.

Tour Of Tasmania (Brrr too)



Dave in full flight

 A small and enthusiastic group from Uringa boarded planes and ferries to head to the deep south for a week of orienteering in Tasmania. Yes folks it was cold for the entire week mind you there were a few moments when the sun made an appearance. The events were based around the scenic St Helens on Tassie's east coast. this is the 4th time that big events have been held in this area and for some of us it is like coming home.
The series of events included the Tassie Long Champs, Australian Sprint , Middle and Long Championships plus the Australian Relay Champs  with the Australian Schools Champs lodged in the middle supported by a couple of public events.

So where to start- Australian Middle Champs. These were held just west of St Helens in an area of spur gully with some granite of large and small denominations tossed in for interest.
Maureen W75 and Sophie W10 were the only two to make it to the podium 1st and 2nd respectively. Mind you Dave and Dick had a great battle in M65 with only 2 seconds separating them after there 3.6km course.

Melissa, georgia and rebecca - Schools Relays



It was a return to the same area  for the Tasmanaian Long Champs. Oh dear there was just a bit of green around creeks which caught me good and proper ( Zuzu too) 37 minutes to the 1st control and I would still be there but for the arrival of the equally perplexed Zuzu who just happened to need a control that I had just found. This area featured ultra long water races which were used by the tin miners. They were better than tracks most of the time.

Maureen and Sophie manitained their podium status with this time both our girls achieveing 1st placings.

Ian - concentration mode

So then it was off to Royal George some 80 kms west of St Helens. This was the location for the Australian Schools Champs in which Lawrence and Georgia Jones were competing.

Lawrence had a great schools carnival with an excellent 13th place in Senior Boys ( his 1st year in this class) Georgia was equally impressive with 9th in Junior Girls. Georgia's Junior Girls team came home 4th overall (3rd Australian team) Georgia was 3rd fastest on her leg. Due to an injury Larence's team did not finish but not before lawrence had a very solid run to came in 8th Fastest on his 3rd leg.

Geoprgia was awarded a place in the Australian Schools Honour Team - Junior Girls.



Gayle and Ron at MONA in Hobart



A rest day in a carnival is always welcome and saw orienteers heading to all points. Gayle and I headed to Hobart to visit the world renowned MONA ( Museum of Old and New Art.). This is well worth a visit and this is coming from someone who is not a true art gallery fan. The building is multi-levelled and with much of the museum below ground. You can see the very quirky entrance in the accompanying photo.Your guide is an ipod which has gps tracking so that it tells you what your looking at before you can say "Iwish  had this in the bush"

Ex Uringan Anita - on the rocks at Bicheno





And so it was off to Bicheno for the Australian Sprint Championships. Cold and grey and for some rain when they started ( this brown duck started in the rain.) The map was basically a headland with the surrounding rocks and ocean mapped. It was great fun. the rocks were not what we were used to and so many were caught by the scale. 

Once again Maureen and Sophie reigned supreme. I was one of many who mis-punched. 21 controls in a small space - well that was my excuse.



Sophie with her fellow M/12 runners 2nd place!



The Australian Champs were held on the very flat a tin mining area a few kilometres west of St Helen's. Those who have been here know just how unforgiving this area is. It was made all the more difficult by a lot of recent rain which turn the claypans into very wet and muddy wastelands that only helped you grow taller as your shoes gained another layer or two of mud. The erosion gullies which were actually drives dug by miners as they chased the tin ore were oft times quite narrow and multi faceted. The major gullies were more often than not extremely deep and hard to cross. It was an area that was perhaps the hardest navigationally that I have run on.



Georgia joined Maureen and Sophie on the podium with a fine 1st place in W14A Maureen 2nd in W75A and Sophie scored a 2nd in W19A. Ian and Maggie Jones both had a peak at the podium finishing 4th in M45A and W45A respectively. Joining us at this event were Margaret and Ingrid Wilmott. They were in Tasmania to support Nick

who was playing hockey in a Veteran's tournament.

The final day saw perhaps the best of the weekend weather where Linda would have been down to a short sleeve thermal. The map Littlechild Creek was the venue for the Australian Relays. This map has a reputation for fierce vegetation along creek lines. The organisers put in a number of creek crossings ( I think they used napalm) The programmed suggested trying to cross anywhere else without the help of a chain saw would lead to loss of life or limb.

Perhaps the saddest part of this day was that the courses were very very difficult. The creek crossing compounded the problems. The courses were best served up as a middle event. The mass start for second leg runners was delays to enable more than a handful of 1st leg runners to get back. The third leg runners mass start had over 40 runners involved. It was not an area suitable for this event. That said it was on for young and old. Lots of mis-punches and many old heads fell for the get a drink and forget to punch at a water control!

Ian Jones in a M35 team streaked home in 1st place, Sophie Jones in M/W12 kept up her appointments with the podium with a 2nd place. Maureen was not to be outdone with a fine 2nd place in W65.

From here it was off to the planes and ferries heading home to the warmth of Sydney.

washing done- blog done now what's next Xmas 5 Days in beautiful Beechworth!

NSW (BRRRRR) CHAMPIONSHIPS



Nick and a leg of lamb



One tends to watch the temperature gauge as one heads up the mountains. The recently checked weather forecast was looking pretty correct as the numbers on the gauge kept falling. Cocooned in the snugly warm Subaru did not prepare you for the arctic blast as you opened the door in a very exposed paddock at Kahlis Rocks.

The organisers, local to the mountains figured this was one way to nobble the competitors. Park, assemble and walk to the start in what on any other day would have been a beautifully open paddock. Fortunately once you swung into the forest the winds were not as fierce and the body had warmed to the task. Well that was until you hit the last 2 controls back in that #$%$# open paddock!



Lawrence - Just where did I lose  8 seconds



Kahlis Rocks was day 1 of the NSW Champs Double Header.

NSW MIDDLE CHAMPS



Maggie all smiles!



The Rocks can be the most unforgiven maps with slopes peppered with boulders. Course Planner Jean Baldwin was very cunning with the first few legs of most courses in a mix of clearing boulder clumps and light forest. Talk about build confidence - increase pace and forgetting a simple principle " orienteer as a speed that you can read the map staying in contact as you go" After this gentle initiation into map we then plunged headlong into the northern slopes. Whilst not that steep they are littered with what appears to be an explosion of boulders, bare rock and gullies. Lose contact and perish.



Jared McKenna, M12A, Sophie Jones, W10A and Georgia Jones, W14A all came home leading the pack in 1st place. Not far off the place in 2nd we had Dave Mckenna , M35AS, Ian Jones M45A, Brian Cleland, M75A, Gayle Shepherd, W35AS and Maureen Ogilvie W70A. Jane McKenna running W40A was our only 3rd place getter.

And so it was we then headed off to the warm comfort of our overnight accommodation to warm our bones ready for Sunday.

Ron - a badge at last!

NSW LONG CHAMPS



The morning brought with it clear skies and little wind. Ah the hallmarks of a perfect day in the Central Highlands. Gumble Forest, west of Molong and Orange is a very tricky area. Granite terrain can be very complex and this is a great example of that.Bennelong's Robert Bradley set courses that made you work hard with a cunning mix of shorter and longer legs.



Sophie

 Sophie Jones back up again for a win in W10A. Brother Lawrence wished he had of had more weetbix as he missed first place by a mere 8 seconds. His 2nd place was a very strong performance in M16A. Maureen Ogilvie also took out a 2nd place in W70A and a very surprised Ron Pallas, who thought his badge winning days were over, also scored a 2nd place in M45AS. ( See it is a Tortoise V Hare sport). In the 3rd place department we had Maggie Jones in W45A and Ian Jones in M45A.




Unfortunately Georgia was unwell and unable to run however she spent the event behind a camera. I am looking forward to seeing the results of her work!
So now the orienteering tragics are off to Tasmania for the Australian Champs. Lawrence and Georgia will be representing NSW as part of the Schools Team. Good luck to you both.

BUSY BUSY BUSY

With the bush season heading to a climax with the NSW Champs this coming weekend and the Aussie Champs in Tassie a few weeks later; our thoughts turn to the Summer series events. All up there are three event series running this coming seas. Northern Sydney Summer Series (NSSS) and Southern Sydney Summer Series (SSSS) and the Sydney Sprents (SS) The two summer series are 45 minute score events whereas the sprints is a sprint course of approx 2.4km.

So grab your diary to get these dates in.
At each event we will need as many helpers as possible. Helpers can run too!

21st October   Centennial Park - World Fire Fighter Games -8.30-12 followed by SSSS starting at 2pm. Perfect day for a big picnic between events. Ian Jones is the planner

29th October - Marrickville   SSSS with Mary Jane Mahony the planner

12th November - Maroubra for a SSSS with Maggie Jones in command

28th November - Concord NSSS Helen Murphy in charge.

23rd January - Birchgrove  NSSS with Matt Peters setting the courses

28th January - Carrs Park  - SSS Linda  doing the planning

4th March -  Birchgrove - SSS with Lisa Lampe .

Check the OANSW web site for exact location and time details

http://onsw.asn.au/

State League 11 & NSW Schools Champs

Uringa fielded 5 competitors in the NSW Schools Championships held at Belanglo State Forest. The chilly wind made life a little uncomfortable whilst waiting to start but the runners soon warmed as they headed into the forest . The pine forest sections within the map contained some very beautiful and well defined rock features. The eucalypt sections tended to be a lot scrappier where lots of dead fall timber slowed progress and made control hunting a lot harder than usual.
Our Schoolies also competed in State league 11, thus the two placings in the table below.(Schools/State league
M10N Nicholas Radonjic   1st /1st
M11A (12A)  Jared McKenna  1st / 1st
M16A  Laurence Jones  2nd /4th
W10A  Sophie Jones  1st / 1st
W14A  Georgia Jones 2nd / 2nd

Now whilst the kids were out having fun the oldies were also out enjoying the forest.
W21AS  Jane McKenna  2nd
W35AS  Gayle Shepherd 3rd
W45A  Maggie Jones  4th
W50A  Lisa Lampe  2nd
W65A  Jitka Kopriva  3rd
            Angela Murray  4th
           Mary Jane Mahony 6th
W70A  Maureen Ogilvie  2nd
M35AS  Dave McKenna  1st
M40A  Anthony Nolan  4th
M45A  Ian Jones  3rd
M45AS  Ron Pallas  5th
M50A  Ian Mckenzie  7th
M55AS  Dick Ogilvie  4th
M65A  Dave Lotty  3rd
M75A  Brian Cleland  2nd

Not bad results all round from Club Uringa. So now it is just two weeks to the NSW Middle and Long Distance Champs being held west of Bathurst. The ever popular and challenging Kali's Rocks is the venue for the Middle Distance and then off to Molong for Mumbil for the long distance champs.
For many this will be a fine tuning for the Australian Championship carnival being held around St Helens in Tasmania and what a carnival that is shaping up to be.

Now you may be wondering what this has to do with orienteering. On Saturday night a number of Uringans gathered at the Mittagong RSL. Once mains were consumed there was a temptation to head to the Dessert Bar. Karen (The Athlete) Blatchford when quizzed on what would be a good dessert handed over the photographed dish claiming that it was a fruit salad ( tomatoes are after all a fruit). So after that suggestion - no dessert was consumed out of shame in thinking that finely tuned athletes such as Uringans would dare to consume a cheesecake or mud cake style dessert.
It was rather ironical that part the way around her course "The Athlete" was bewailing the lack of energy- which she would have found had she had had she consumed a cheesecake delicacy at dinner the night before!

OMG - She did What?

Yes folks in the middle of winter our intrepid Doc Lisa camped at Belanglo House. I know there will be some who might scoff but here is the photographic evidence.

Wanting to ensure that nephew Nick, who by the way had two outstanding runs in M10A, had  a true southern highlands experience; Doc Lisa tossed in the tent and the extra warmth sleeping gear to brave the lows of the Southern Higlands.

As we all know the Doc has not been averse to tossing in her own blow heater in case the heating in winter accommodation is not up to the blast furnace like temperature desired. However I can assure all readers that there was no electrical lead running into the tent. There was no sign of any fire inside the Black Wolf Tent.. Nor any other form of heating.

Happily both the Doc and Nick survived the night and were seen impersonating a lizard at the Sunday race..

OMG she did it in the middle of winter!