The Australian Orienteer - September 2016

S E PT E M B ER 2 0 16

Podium places for Lucy Mackie at JWMTBOC and Henry McNulty at JWOC Aston Key wins at EYOC RRP $8.50 inc GST

2016

Round 1

2

3

4

5

Event

Date

Location

1. Sprint

Sat 12th March

NE Melbourne

2. Sprint (WRE)

Sat 12th March

NE Melbourne

3. Sprint

Sun 13th March

Geelong, VIC

4. Sprint

Sun 13th March

Geelong, VIC

5. Elite Prologue (WRE)

Fri 25th March

University Canberra

6. Easter Day 1 - Middle Distance (WRE)

Sat 26th March

Isaacs Ridge, Canberra

7. Easter Day 2 - Long Distance

Sun 27th March

Primrose Valley, ACT

8. Easter Day 2 - Relay

Mon 28th March

Primrose Valley, ACT

9. Middle Distance

Sat 23rd April

Wilpena Pound, SA

10. Ultra Long Distance (WRE)

Sun 24th April

Wilpena Pound, SA

11. Middle Distance

Sat 28th May

St Helens, Tasmania

12. Long Distance (WRE)

Sun 29th May

St Helens, Tasmania

13. AUS Champs - Sprint (WRE)

Sat 24th Sept

Griffith Uni, Southport, QLD

14. AUS Champs - Relay

Sun 25th Sept

Beaudesert, QLD

15. AUS Champs - Long Distance (WRE)

Sat 1st Oct

Stanthorpe, QLD

16. AUS Champs - Middle Distance (WRE)

Sun 2nd Oct

Stanthorpe, QLD

WRE = World Ranking Event

All race details can be found at www.orienteering.asn.au

ORIENTEERING australia

The President’s Page Blair Trewin

O

ne of our priorities in Orienteering Australia is for all levels of the sport to work together in strengthening Orienteering in Australia. I think almost everyone reading this would agree that whether we are operating at National, State or club level, one of our major goals is to get more people orienteering more often (as noted in my last column, our participation growth over the last few years has been an indicator that we’ve been making some good progress in achieving that).

The evidence from the broader Australian sporting scene is that those sports who have been most successful in making progress have been those where National, State and club bodies have a common set of goals and a consistent strategy for getting there.

That doesn’t mean we want every State to do things the same way – we are well aware that what works well in one place might not work so well in another, and what you can do in a big city differs from what you can do in places with lots of good bush terrain on its doorstep – but it does mean that we want States and clubs to have participation growth at the front of their minds in their decision-making. Part of that is a willingness to try new things; doing things to maintain our appeal to our existing participants is important, but if that’s all we do, it’s a recipe for declining by a couple of percent per year. Many States have done good things in bringing newcomers in, and that’s something I applaud (I always regard it as a good sign if I turn up to a local-level event somewhere in Australia and don’t recognise most of the people there).

We had a Board workshop in Sydney in June at which we gave a lot of thought to what structures might best support a national growth strategy, and are working on a number of proposals to bring to the Annual Conference in December. One is to formalise a national membership website and database (which in fact Eventor already gives us to a large extent, although that’s not the way it appears to the outside world). While it may not appear to make much difference to those of us who are already wellestablished members, having a single point of entry for people who want to sign up for the first time makes things a lot simpler for them. (In formal terms, under this proposal people would still be joining their nominated State Association and club, and States would retain their existing membership types, which vary somewhat from State to State). We’re also revisiting the question of moving from an incorporated association to a company structure; when we last discussed this last year, one of the major barriers was that we weren’t prepared to take on the additional cost of a CEO with major management responsibilities, but it’s now clear that that is not an essential part of the company model, and in other ways it is a structure which will position us well for future growth. Again, the Conference will consider this carefully.

We are very keen to strengthen relations between Orienteering Australia, the State Associations and the Orienteering community in general. At present, our major avenue for communication is through the meetings which happen twice a year, which are very useful as far as they go, but only reach those people who the States nominate as delegates. To address this, we are planning to have an open meeting at some point during the Australian

Championships week, in which we will talk about what we are doing and open things up for discussion amongst those present.

Any Australian orienteer will be welcome to come to this (we’re still finalising when and where it will take place).

I continue to be excited at the results of many of the initiatives taking place. I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the New South Wales QB3 at Coffs Harbour, which is significant as the first major event to be hosted by one of the new clubs to be created under the Australian Sports Commission-funded participation initiatives of the last few years. The Bush ‘n’ Beach Orienteering Club did a great job of the event (with some support from Northern Tablelands), and the apparently humble 200metre wide strip of dunes on the foreshore proved to be a terrific Middle Distance area – one of the best I’ve run on this year. I’m also very pleased with the continued development of Sporting Schools projects and hope that the program will extend into years 7 and 8 (as promised during the election campaign).

One change we are looking at specifically affects this magazine.

Recognising that for many people (especially at the younger end of the spectrum) reading things in hard copy is a very old-fashioned thing to do, but at the same time appreciating that the quarterly magazine in its present form is extremely valuable as a shopfront for the sport and as a place to publish features in a way that you can’t do on a web posting, we have been looking at online publication platforms for the magazine.

We’re now sufficiently satisfied with the online product that we will be moving to make a digital version of the magazine freely available from next year. However, the printed copy will continue to be made available to all members, on an opt-in basis, at no additional cost. (We will be proposing to Conference that the cost of producing the magazine, instead of being on a per-copy “subscription” basis as at present, be split between the States on the basis of their membership).

Finally, I would like to close by recognising the enormous contribution that Eric Andrews made to Orienteering in Australia.

You will read much more about his contribution elsewhere in this issue, but anyone who has run on one of his maps, or has run in a major event in Queensland in the last couple of decades, will need no reminding of how much he has done for the sport – to give just one example, it’s taking three of us to fill the gap that he’s left in the IOF Event Adviser roles for this year’s national carnival. He will be greatly missed by the Australian orienteering community.

SEPTEMBER 2016 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 3

Winning PartnershiP

The Australian Sports Commission proudly supports Orienteering Australia The Australian Sports Commission is the Australian Government agency that develops, supports and invests in sport at all levels in Australia.

Orienteering Australia has worked closely with the Australian Sports Commission to develop orienteering from community participation to high-level performance.

AUSTRALIAN SPORTS COMMISSION 4 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2016

Orienteering Australia is one of many national sporting organisations that has formed a winning partnership with the Australian Sports Commission to develop its sport in Australia.

www.ausport.gov.au

w w w. o r i e n t e e r i n g . a s n . a u Orienteering Australia PO Box 284 Mitchell ACT 2911 President Blair Trewin Director High Performance Lance Read Director Finance Bruce Bowen Director Technical Jenny Casanova Director Special Projects Robert Spry Director Media & Communications Craig Feuerherdt Director International (IOF Council) Mike Dowling Executive Officer John Harding National MTBO Coordinator Kay Haarsma National Head Coach Nick Dent Badge Applications John Oliver

orienteering@netspeed.com.au w: 02 6162 1200 oa_president@netspeed.com.au lancer@hillbrook.qld.edu.au orienteering@netspeed.com.au h: 02 6288 8501 orienteering@netspeed.com.au m: 0427 605 167 rbspry@gmail.com craigfeuerherdt@gmail.com 0438 050 074 oa_international@netspeed.com.au orienteering@netspeed.com.au 02 6162 1200 m: 0427 107 033 kayhaarsma@hotmail.com 08 8337 0522 nickdent7@gmail.com 02 4384 3627 68 Amaroo Street, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2650

STATE ASSOCIATIONS Orienteering Queensland: PO Box 114 Spring Hill QLD 4004. Secretary: David Firman admin@oq.asn.au Orienteering NSW: PO Box 3379 North Strathfield NSW 2137. Admin Officer: John Murray, Ph. (02) 8736 1252 admin@onsw.asn.au Orienteering ACT: PO Box 402 Jamison Centre ACT 2614. Secretary: Phil Walker, Ph. (02) 6162 3422 office@act.orienteering.asn.au Orienteering Victoria: PO Box 1010 Templestowe VIC 3106. Secretary: Carl Dalheim, voa@netspace.net.au Orienteering SA: State Association House 105 King William St Kent Town SA 5067. Sec: Erica Diment (08) 8379 2914 secretary@sa.orienteering.asn.au Orienteering Western Australia: PO Box 234 Subiaco WA 6094. Secretary: Peter Komyshan o_map@iinet.net.au Orienteering Tasmania: PO Box 339 Sandy Bay TAS 7005. Secretary: Peter Cusick secretary@tasorienteering.asn.au Top End Orienteers (Northern Territory): PO Box 39152 Winnellie NT 0821. Secretary: Susanne Casanova topendorienteersNT@gmail.com

NEXT issue deadline

October 14. Time-sensitive: Oct 21

ISSN 0818-6510 Issue 3/16 (no. 183) September 2016

The national magazine of Orienteering Australia Inc. ABN 77 406 995 497 Published four times a year: First day of March, June, September, December. Print Post Approved PP 236080/00011 Editor: Michael Hubbert, P.O. Box 165, Warrandyte, Victoria 3113 mikehubbert@ozemail.com.au Phone (03) 9844 4878 Magazine Design & Assembly: Peter Cusworth, Ph. 0409 797 023 pcusworth53@gmail.com Magazine Treasurer: Bruce Bowen Printer: Ferntree Print Centre, 1154 Burwood Hwy Upper Ferntree Gully.

Contribution deadline: October 14; Time-sensitive – October 21.

Deadline dates for contributions are the latest we can accept copy.

Publication is normally planned for the 1st of March, June, September & December. Copies are dispatched in bulk to State associations in the week prior to that date.

Regular Contributors: Competition - Blair Trewin; High Performance - Lance Read; MTBO - Kay Haarsma; Official News - John Harding; Nutrition - Gillian Woodward; Training - Steve Bird; Coaching – Hanny Allston.

Contributions are welcome, either directly or via State editorial contacts.

Prior consultation is suggested before preparing major contributions.

Guidelines for Contributors are available from the editor or from state contacts.

State Editorial Contacts Qld: Liz Bourne – batmaps.liz@gmail.com NSW: Ian Jessup – marketing@onsw.asn.au ACT: John Scown – scown@light.net.au SA: Erica Diment – diment@adam.com.au – tel (ah) 8379 2914 Vic, WA and Tas – vacant Subscriptions: State Association members via State Associations. Contact relevant Association Secretary for details. Other subscribers: Write to The Australian Orienteer, PO‑Box 165, Warrandyte, Vic. 3113. Within Australia: $40 pa. Overseas: Asia/Pacific (inc. NZ) $A49, Rest of World $A58 pa.

Delivery is airmail, there is no seamail option. Please send payment in Australian dollars by bank draft or international postal order, or pay direct

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Subscription renewals (direct subscriptions only). The number in the top right-hand corner of the address label indicates the final issue in your current subscription.

Opinions expressed in The Australian Orienteer are not necessarily those of Orienteering Australia.

contents T h e P r e s i d e n t ’ s P a g e.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 E U R O P EAN Y O U T H C HA M P I O NSHI P S . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 J U NI O R W O R L D O RIEN T EERING C HA M P S . . . . . . . 9 2 0 1 7 O C EANIA & W M O C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 6 NA T I O NA L O RIEN T EERING L EAG U E . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 0 W O R L D O RIEN T EERING DA Y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1 V A L E E r i c A n d r e w s.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 2 A U S S C H O O L S C HA M P S p r e v i e w . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 6 A n g u s a n d H e i d i v a n Sc h a i k.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 4 T W I L IGH T 3 - H O U R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 7 VALE Frank Assenza............................ 38 W o r l d M T B O c h a mp s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 9 S P O T t h e DI F F EREN C E .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2 W i l d e r n e s s W a n d e r i n g s.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 3 O - s py . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 4 S P O R T i d e n t at E a s t e r.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 5 top e v e n t s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 7

Cover photo: Henry McNulty from JWOC Sprint by Erik Borg.

SEPTEMBER 2016 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 5

EYOC

2016 European Youth Orienteering Championships, Poland

Aston Key wins M16 Sprint Warren Key

New to the Championship calendar for young Australians travelling overseas is EYOC - European Youth Orienteering Championships. This year EYOC was hosted in the town of Jaroslaw in eastern Poland with 34 nations being represented and around 400 athletes covering M/W16 and M/W18.

M

any past participants have gone on to represent their country at World Championships at Junior and Senior level, so as such this race is considered an important step in the development of future champions. Clearly the traditional powerhouse nations see this too as a very strong contingent of high level young orienteers who are testing themselves on this often neutral stage of continental Europe. Next year the race is in Slovakia.

The competition starts with a Long Distance race in the forest, this year in complex gully-spur style terrain with large areas of thick vegetation and a reasonable track network. Parts were so dense that on the overcast day seeing the map was only really sharp in the little forest clearings interspersed through a maze of greens. The winners this year came from Denmark, Czech Republic, Finland and Poland. It was with great joy we saw (M14) Jensen Key pop out of the forest, much of the undergrowth over his head, after a tough 85 minutes on the M16 course, yet still eclipsing around 20 of his older peers. The prize giving and opening ceremony held in the evening at the main square was with enough excitement to draw a big crowd and large screen with a drone whizzing around capturing the interest.

Next is a national team Relay of three runners. This race is very enthusiastically followed and was a highlight of the extended weekend which started on Thursday with model maps and finished with the Sprint race in the old town on Sunday.

The Australian team partnered with a young Dane to closely match the best teams for most of the race in the baking heat before wilting near the end.

It was the Sprint race that became the highlight for Aston Key. En route to the JWOC in Switzerland, he certainly was not on anyone’s radar as a medal chance and certainly not for the organisers who welcomed the two Australian participants Opening Ceremony.

6 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2016

Aston finishing EYOC Sprint.

but were not quite ready for a non-European to win this race.

Both Aston and Jensen started early so we could make our flight to Switzerland for the JWOC training camp. Unfortunately that meant we had to anxiously wait for results to appear on the very slow web as we drove towards Kraków airport.

Luckily his friends were updating us as it got more and more exciting but he and we never really thought his time was going to stand up, as usually the winners come from the late starters. Needless to say Aston’s joy was heard loud and clear along the freeway to the airport as the results slowly unfolded from the intermittent web coverage and eventually at a service station.

Celebratory lemonades were had all round.

Conclusive proof of the following of this event was the overwhelming well wishes Aston received from all over the world, many as the results were starting to favour his win.

No doubt Australia’s success in this event caught everyone by surprise but what was without question is the strong international support and well drilled organisers putting on a show that replicates a big time race for the hundreds of budding future champions. An event well worth considering for any of our next hopefuls and particularly good timing as it usually leads in to the JWOC.

EYOC M16 Sprint Splits 1. Aston KEY (Australia) 10.09 0.43/3

1.41/1*

2.01/2

3.48/1*

4.03/1*

4.25/1*

4.49/1*

5.00/1*

5.23/1*

6.18/1*

6.45/1*

7.05/1*

7.17/1*

8.49/1*

9.28/1* 10.02/1* 10.09/1*

0.43/3

0.58/1*

0.20/9

1.47/3

0.15/1*

0.22/2

0.24/7

0.11/4

0.23/2

0.55/1*

0.27/3

0.20/3

0.12/5

1.32/23

0.39/6

0.34/12

0.07/1*

2. Guilhem ELIAS (France) 10.16 0.47/14

1.47/7

2.07/6

3.55/3

4.10/3

4.34/3

4.58/3

5.10/4

5.34/4

6.33/4

6.59/3

7.20/3

7.34/3

8.56/3

9.35/2

10.09/2

10.16/2

0.47/14

1.00/5

0.20/9

1.48/5

0.15/1*

0.24/27

0.24/7

0.12/19

0.24/11

0.59/8

0.26/1*

0.21/16

0.14/49

1.22/4

0.39/6

0.34/12

0.07/1*

3. Michal BORANEK (Czech Republic) 10.30 0.46/8

1.48/10

2.10/9

3.53/2

4.09/2

4.33/2

4.56/2

5.08/2

5.31/2

6.28/2

6.56/2

7.18/2

7.31/2

8.54/2

9.49/3

10.22/3

10.30/3

0.46/8

1.02/14

0.22/35

1.43/1*

0.16/8

0.24/27

0.23/2

0.12/19

0.23/2

0.57/2

0.28/8

0.22/35

0.13/28

1.23/7

0.55/74

0.33/3

0.08/13

SEPTEMBER 2016 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 7

INNOVATION

Navigate with

W

hen Aston Key won at the European Youth Championships he was using the new Str8 compass. Warren Key says the design is the final development after years of prototypes and was released at O-Ringen in late July. The compass will be available for the AUS Championships carnival in September.

The Str8 compass has three pointing lines: the main pointer is uninterrupted and the two outside pointers are optically enhanced. The highlighted outside pointers are positioned to draw your focus to the main pointer. The uninterrupted main pointer provides a direct link to your line of sight and direction to your target.

At the end of the Str8 compass is a positioning tip. This feature is designed to help your thumb hold pressure against the map so that your exact current location can be precisely viewed at the end of the tip.

The unique Str8 compass off-set needle design increases the map viewing area by 200 square mms. Along with the high clarity body the Str8 compass offers a wider and extremely transparent map viewing area. And the 5mm thick body and alloy capsule protector assures great strength against impacts.

A compass designed by orienteers for orienteers.

Go to www.str8compass.com

8 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2016

JUNIOR WORLD ORIENTEERING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Podium place for Henry McNulty in Sprint Karen Blatchford Team Manager

I

t is my absolute pleasure to be able to share with the Orienteering community some stories about JWOC 2016, Switzerland. What a beautiful part of the world.

Firstly, I must tell you about the Sprint. Henry McNulty was in the last start block and by his own admission he had a good run with only seconds lost on a couple of controls. When he came through the spectator run-through he was in the top few runners so far. When he finished we waited nervously to see if any of the top runners still to come could overtake his time.

Gradually he dropped to 5th and then another runner came in on exactly the same time to the second as Henry. The online results had Henry as equal 6th, the results board in the arena placed Henry as 7th. Henry said with disappointment to his Mum; “that’s it, I’m going home”. Anthea went to do some shopping; we rushed around trying to confirm if in fact Henry was equal 6th knowing results at JWOC don’t go past counting the seconds. It was confirmed; EQUAL SIXTH TO THE AUSTRALIAN !!

Someone rushed to get Henry; let’s find Anthea; get the flag; Henry, change those shorts! Aussies, we have a flower ceremony to attend! We got front row seats and pictures may tell the story but can’t replicate the joy and loud cheers that followed. A fantastic performance on the opening day by our co-Captain Henry.

Now back to the narrative - the twelve person team met in entirety with coaches and myself the Sunday prior to JWOC at our accommodation in the small village of Sent. We had booked three apartments and despite the owner not speaking much English and requiring cash for payment, it proved to be a fantastic location with perfect facilities for what we needed.

The training week was a chance for all of us to bond, get to know each other a bit better and of course for the coaches to get to know the athletes and for the athletes to feel comfortable in our team environment and more comfortable in the terrain.

First time coaching combination of Jules (Julian Dent) and Ralph (Ralph Street), with assistance from Nick Dent worked an

SEPTEMBER 2016 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 9

JUNIOR WORLD ORIENTEERING CHAMPIONSHIPS

absolute treat. What a team. We spent the week visiting relevant Sprint, Middle and Long Distance maps and perhaps the most beneficial activity at each terrain map was the map walks with the coaches. Some of the athletes had been in Switzerland for a while doing their own preparations and training but for others this terrain was completely new. The knowledge and expertise of Julian and Ralph was invaluable during the map walks. The terrain was certainly different to anything we may come across in Australia.

We spent the week training during the day and shopping, bonding, cooking and socializing during our spare time. We had a girls’ unit and a boys’ unit, no prizes for guessing which was the neatest and the quickest to tidy come the end of the stay :) We did a terrific job cooking our own meals during this week and Julian and Nick even put on a Swiss appreciation evening where we ate traditional Swiss food and had team presentations

to improve our current level of knowledge on anything from Swiss history, Swiss orienteering to Swiss banks and politics. It was all hands on deck every evening and it soon became obvious what a terrific group of individuals we had in Switzerland and how respectful they were not only of their coaches but of each other as well. The team atmosphere was awesome to say the least.

Newcomers Aston Key, Tara Melhuish and Zoe Dowling were certainly given a positive picture of what JWOC can be like.

We had two Sprint maps to test our skills on, Sent and Ardez, and the intricate street and alleyway network made them heaps of fun; the steepness made them heaps exhausting!

We drove to Middle and Long Distance relevant maps and had the chance for athletes to do the map walk with coaches and then extra training with controls. The coaches spent a lot of time having individual meetings with the athletes talking about their

Jarrah Day – Sprint Final.

Photo: Mike Dowling

10 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2016

Tara Melhuish – Middle Qual.

Photo: Mike Dowling

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concerns, strengths, focuses and pre-race mental preparation. This was both during the training week and competition week.

Ralph was only with us during the training week and introduced the team clap, which continued for the duration of JWOC – pretty sure this will continue for years to come too.

For competition week we moved accommodation. I’d booked us into Hotel Bellavista, Ftan and what a great choice it was. Italy and Norway were the only other teams there but our hosts were most accommodating with food, washing, facilities and even endless pizza on our rest day – they certainly knew how to win us over! The Norway coach agreed that we seemed to have the pick of the accommodation. We had three athletes to a room and the only downside was perhaps for one bedroom where the town clock chime was pretty loud. Ear plugs were necessary to ensure adequate sleep for some - haha.

If we judge success purely on performances and results then JWOC 2016 was successful for the Aussies. If we add the elements of team spirit, camaraderie, resilience and soaking up every experience offered, then once again it was VERY successful for the Aussies.

I probably don’t need to tell you our best results: Henry McNulty - 6th in the Sprint.

Lanita Steer - 26th in the Sprint.

Matt Doyle was the last starter of the day and finished 18th in the Long Distance.

Matt and Henry both qualified for the Middle Distance A Final with 6th places in their qualifying heats. Aston Key and Winnie Oakhill were both unlucky to miss the A Final, finishing in 21st.

The first 20 qualified. In the Final the whole Team cheered on Matt and Henry as they ran into 26th and 35th places respectfully.

Lanita Steer – 26th in the Sprint.

Photo: Erik Borg

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SEPTEMBER 2016 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 11

JUNIOR WORLD ORIENTEERING CHAMPIONSHIPS

We had some terrific B Final results with Jarrah Day finishing As Manager it was wonderful to work with such committed in 4th position, Aston 8th, Patrick Jaffe 11th, and Winnie 13th. athletes in Switzerland. They brought so much joy and laughter We had great hopes for our Relays this year but unfortunately during the week and they can certainly hold their heads high. Not that wasn’t to be. However all individuals tried hard and should only did they represent their country with pride and commitment be very proud of themselves. but they showed great team spirit and, probably the most It is certainly worth noting that there were so many other valuable feature I saw as Team members – they celebrated each creditable performances as well: Aston and Tara as newcomers to other’s success even when this may have required putting aside JWOC showed a lot of promise and will both be future athletes their own disappointments. They got along well, gave each other to look out for. We had improvements every day from Jarrah, Pat space when necessary and laughed at my jokes to make me feel and Zoe and even though some were disappointed with their good. I cannot fault their behaviour; they are a credit to their final rankings in some races, there were always positives to look at families. and of course JWOC results are one thing, but the experience and We had a Team playlist which we played on our trips: you can enthusiasm gained from these competitions cannot be measured find it on spotify: “Henry’s 2016 JWOC playlist” if you’d like to and Orienteering Australia will see the benefits for many years to feel our team spirit through the tunes. Matt introduced a little come. sharing activity each night called “Pits and Peaks”. We all had to Weather during the training week was hot and sunny so the share our Pit for the day and our Peak for the day. girls made a point of working on their tans, however during competition week we went from 28 degrees on the Sprint day, to waking up on the morning of the Middle Distance qualifying to see that Lanita Steer – Middle B Final.

Photo: Erik Borg it had snowed almost down to our accommodation. Had the Long Distance event been on this day it wouldn’t have been possible with 10cm of snow on the map.

It was terrific to have such a hearty group of Aussie supporters braving the weather to cheer on the athletes each day.

We held an afternoon tea for them so they could see our accommodation, have a chat and a few laughs. Team Captains Henry and Lanita said some nice words and then we all headed down to the Sprint Prize Giving Ceremony because, of course, the rest of the world needed to see how Aussies celebrate and cheer when we get someone (Henry) on the podium. That was a very proud moment and something we’ll all remember.

Long – JWOC 2016 Val Müstair M20 1:15.000, 5m 12 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2016

Aston Key – Middle B Final.

Photo: Erik Borg

Matt Doyle – Middle Final.

Photo: Erik Borg Henry McNulty – Middle Final.

Photo: Erik Borg

SEPTEMBER 2016 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 13

JUNIOR WORLD ORIENTEERING CHAMPIONSHIPS Winnie Oakhill – Middle B Final.

Photo: Erik Borg

Matt Doyle – Sprint.

Photo: Erik Borg

Patrick Jaffe – Middle Qual.

Photo: Erik Borg

Asha Steer – Long.

Photo: Mike Dowling

2016 JWOC – RESULTS SPRINT – W20 1 Simona Aebersold SUI 2 Anna Dvorianskaia RUS 3 Anna Haataja FIN 4 Virag Weiler HUN 5 Josefine Lind DEN 6 Lotta Kirvesmies FIN 26 Lanita Steer AUS 37 Danielle Goodall NZL 41 Winnie Oakhill AUS 53 Alice Tilley NZL 87 Katie Cory Wright NZL 91 Asha Steer AUS 100 Kayla Fairbairn NZL 104 Tara Melhuish AUS 106 Sonia Hollands NZL 113 Lara Molloy NZL 122 Zoe Dowling AUS mp Anna Dowling AUS SPRINT – M20 1 Joey Hadorn SUI 2 Thomas Curiger SUI 3 Isac von Krusenstierna SWE 4 Simon Dubach SUI 5 Quentin Rauturier FRA 6 Henry McNulty AUS 6 Tobia Pezzati SUI 8 Tommy Hayes NZL 42 Aston Key AUS 42 Devon Beckman NZL 45 Matt Doyle AUS 55 Simeon Burrill AUS 62 Jarrah Day AUS 63 Cameron de Lisle NZL 87 Ed Cory Wright NZL 91 Patrick Jaffe AUS

13:13 14:05 14:08 14:16 14:21 14:25 15:41 16:02 16:07 16:22 17:19 17:26 17:49 18:01 18:08 18:35 20:25

12:47 12:56 13:04 13:18 13:19 13:20 13:20 13:21 14:15 14:15 14:17 14:32 14:36 14:37 15:05 15:08

LONG DISTANCE – W20 1 Anna Haataja FIN 57:37 2 Valerie Aebischer SUI 59:27 3 Sofie Bachmann SUI 1:00:31 4 Anine Lome NOR 1:02:09 5 Paula Gross SUI 1:03:50 6 Leenukka Hanhijarvi FIN 1:04:28 38 Alice Tilley NZL 1:10:10 60 Tara Melhuish AUS 1:16:10 72 Katie Cory Wright NZL 1:19:12 74 Danielle Goodall NZL 1:20:00 79 Winnie Oakhill AUS 1:21:25 82 Lanita Steer AUS 1:21:57 89 Asha Steer AUS 1:23:31 94 Zoe Dowling AUS 1:25:05 95 Lara Molloy NZL 1:26:11 105 Kayla Fairbairn NZL 1:30:38 107 Anna Dowling AUS 1:32:49 LONG – M20 1 Joey Hadorn SUI 1:05:01 2 Thomas Curiger SUI 1:05:53 3 Isac von Krusenstierna SWE 1:07:05 4 Simon Hector SWE 1:08:04 5 Matous Furst CZE 1:08:08 6 Dag Blandkjenn NOR 1:11:28 18 Matt Doyle AUS 1:13:48 28 Shamus Morrison NZL 1:16:08 30 Tommy Hayes NZL 1:16:24 43 Ed Cory Wright NZL 1:18:33 55 Aston Key AUS 1:20:57 63 Henry McNulty AUS 1:22:34 74 Devon Beckman NZL 1:24:33 79 Matt Goodall NZL 1:25:21 90 Patrick Jaffe AUS 1:26:37 105 Jarrah Day AUS 1:31:16 118 Cameron de Lisle NZL 1:34:58 142 Simeon Burrill AUS 1:45:07

14 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2016

MIDDLE – W20 – A Final 1 Simona Aebersold SUI 2 Aleksandra Hornik POL 3 Johanna Oberg SWE 4 Megan Carter Davies GBR 5 Anna Haataja FIN 6 Hanna Mueller SUI 53 Alice Tilley NZL

24:06 25:56 26:17 27:28 27:31 27:37 36:30

B Final 13 Winnie Oakhill AUS 16 Katie Cory Wright NZL 19 Kayla Fairbairn NZL 20 Danielle Goodall NZL 27 Sonia Hollands NZL 33 Lara Molloy NZL 36 Zoe Dowling AUS 42 Lanita Steer AUS 43 Asha Steer AUS 53 Anna Dowling AUS

29:19 30:15 30:49 30:50 31:51 33:15 34:04 35:10 35:11 38:52

MIDDLE – M20 – A Final 1 Thomas Curiger SUI 2 Joey Hadorn SUI 3 Audun Heimdal NOR 4 Anton Forsberg SWE 5 Noah Zbinden SUI 6 Isac von Krusenstierna SWE 9 Shamus Morrison NZL 26 Matt Doyle AUS 32 Ed Cory Wright NZL 35 Henry McNulty AUS 41 Tommy Hayes NZL

24:21 25:10 25:32 25:35 25:40 25:53 26:27 27:58 28:53 29:03 30:01

B Final 2 Devon Beckman NZL 4 Jarrah Day AUS 6 Matt Goodall NZL 8 Aston Key AUS 11 Patrick Jaffe AUS 25 Cameron de Lisle NZL 48 Simeon Burrill AUS

26:01 26:30 26:38 26:51 27:34 30:09 36:14

RELAY – W20 1 Switzerland 1 2 Finland 1 3 Norway 1 4 Sweden 1 5 Great Britain 1 6 Hungary 1 20 New Zealand 1 22 Australia 1 Lanita Steer

Winnie Oakhill

Tara Melhuish - New Zealand 2 - Australia 2 Asha Steer

Zoe Dowling Anna Dowling RELAY – M20 1 Switzerland 1 2 Sweden 1 3 Finland 1 4 France 1 5 Norway 2 6 Czech Republic 1 8 New Zealand 1 - New Zealand 2 20 Australia 1

Matt Doyle

Henry McNulty Aston Key

1:39:01 1:43:54 1:44:08 1:46:00 1:46:24 1:47:11 2:02:51 2:06:59

2:09:56 2:12:57

1:41:26 1:43:54 1:45:07 1:46:25 1:46:37 1:46:48 1:48:34 2:01:29 2:02:42

The Australian WOC JWOC and MTBO teams outfitted by Trimtex

SEPTEMBER 2016 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 15

2017 OCEANIA & WMOC

2017 Oceania, Middle Earth & WMOC Book your April 2017 Orienteering Trip to New Zealand now

Shaun Forest

In the land of the long white cloud mapping is well under way and course planning has started for what will be two weeks of high quality and competitive orienteering in NZ – the Oceania Championship followed by the World Masters Orienteering Championships (WMOC).

T

he carnival kicks off on Easter Friday, 14 April, with the Oceania Sprint Championship at the Unitec Institute of Technology campus in Auckland. An interesting mix of building detail and park-like grounds are likely to provide fast running while challenging your navigation skills.

Monday 17 April sees a move to Ponganui Road, 80 minutes drive south of Auckland, for the Oceania Middle Distance Championship. Detailed complex limestone rock terrain, cliffs, sinkholes and canyon. An exciting change from Woodhill Forest. Undulating to hilly on a mix of open farmland with pockets of native bush. A real orienteering challenge that has only been used once previously. This map is being updated especially for the Oceania Carnival.

The Oceania Championship will incorporate the closely contested Australia /NZ Challenge. All bets are off as to which

On Saturday 15 April we move to the holy grail of Auckland orienteering; the sand dune terrain of Woodhill Forest to the north west of Auckland city. The Oceania Long Distance event area, Lake Ototoa, has not previously been used for Orienteering and will be a navigational and physical challenge. It consists of plantation forest on sand dune terrain with areas of undulating, complex contour detail with vegetation coverage that will influence running speeds and visibility.

The following day takes us to the Oceania Relays, again held in Woodhill Forest at Lake Kereta. This is sand dune terrain with the event arena area being a mix of open grass clearings and native bush; the western half of the map is fast, clean plantation forest - fast times are expected. Christine Brown of Esk Valley O Club, Tasmania, and the IOF controller for Oceania noted after test runs on the Oceania maps in April 2016 that the Relay run will be welcomed by competitors after the physical challenges of the previous day’s Long Distance event. Some of the Relay map was previously used for Orienteering in the 1990’s. Since then the forest has been felled, replanted, grown and become suitable for Orienteering again ... effectively brand new maps. Lake Kereta and Lake Ototoa are both scenic fresh water lakes created by the sand dunes trapping rain water from running off to the sea.

16 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2016

Otakanini 5m Sample Map.

country is the favourite to win in 2017 with the mixture of terrain types over the 4 days. For the elite grades the Oceania Sprint, Long and Middle Distance events are world ranking events (WRE).

The Carnival then heads South to the tourist mecca of Rotorua: Maori culture, geothermal geysers, hot pools, world class mountain biking (bring your bike or hire one), trout fishing, white water rafting and much more. Rotorua is about three hours drive south of Auckland and a possible travel plan is to head there directly after the Oceania event at Ponganui Road rather than back into Auckland. The road south passes through Matamata, home to Hobbiton.

Bay of Plenty Orienteering Club will host a Middle Distance event on plantation forest terrain, Middle Earth, near Rotorua on Wednesday 19 April. Finally, on Thursday 20 April, we have the Middle Earth Sprint on the Rotorua CBD lakefront.

There are likely to be purple cross-hatched out of bounds areas on the map – boiling mud holes. Best avoided as they tend to melt compasses and SPORTidents!

After a rest day the focus is back in Auckland and the WMOC which is being held as part of the Auckland World Masters Games. The Australian oversight of these events continues with Nick Dent as the IOF WMOC controller.

Opportunity is provided to warm up into this prestigious event on Saturday 22 April with the Model event for the WMOC Sprint which takes place on the Auckland University Epsom Campus. A detailed, complex campus with narrow access ways between buildings and level changes. A good place to practice and understand the mapping for the challenging map of the WMOC Sprint Final event.

The WMOC Sprint qualification race is on Sunday 23 April on the Auckland CBD Wynyard waterfront. Expect a mix of (very) public spaces, gardens, laneways, playgrounds, buildings and mega yachts. Best to stop at one of the many cafes for brunch or a coffee before or after your run.

Auckland University City Campus is the venue for the WMOC Sprint Final on Monday 24 April. This will be a challenging

Tele Track 2-5m sample.

event where small errors could become very costly. Complex building detail, level changes, under-passes, many narrow access ways together with an area of scenic formal gardens will challenge every aspect of your navigational skills.

Tuesday 25 April (Anzac Day) and we return to Woodhill Forest for the WMOC Model Long Distance, with a midday start to allow us all to take some time in the morning to reflect on our shared history.

The WMOC Long Distance qualifiers (26 & 27 April) are on adjacent Woodhill maps.

Events to savour for the connoisseurs of classical NZ sand dune terrain. Typically clean, runnable, plantation forest with many areas of complex contour detail. One map is near the

SEPTEMBER 2016 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 17

2017 OCEANIA & WMOC

coast and is flat to undulating, while the other is located inland with more climb.

After so many days we offer you a well-earned rest day on Friday 28 April. Let those legs recover and explore some of the sights Auckland has to offer or perhaps take a day to participate in one of the other World Masters sporting codes.

Which brings us to the WMOC Long Distance Final day on Saturday 29 April at Woodhill Forest. Sand dune terrain, areas of complex contour detail, mostly plantation forest, undulating with variable levels of runnability and visibility. Expect navigationally and physically demanding courses. It will be important to adapt your orienteering speed and techniques to the variety of terrain during your race. The sort of map that promises to leave you satisfied with the challenge that Orienteering can be.

We look forward to welcoming you and your supporters to our carnival of events; Oceania, Middle Earth and World Masters. Thirteen events over sixteen days featuring some of the best Orienteering terrain in the world.

Check out the web links below to see old O maps relevant to the events. Google Earth will allow you to get a good preview of all the Sprint areas. There are also links to the official accommodation provider to Auckland World Masters Games as well as hotels, motels and New Zealand’s do-it-yourself accommodation site; BookaBach. There is, of course, also Air BnB and campervan options to create a real adventure.

We suggest you stay in the central, north or west areas of Auckland for Oceania and World Masters and in Rotorua for the Middle Earth events.

Websites are up and entries are open: oceania2017.nz/ www.worldmastersgames2017.co.nz/the-sports/find-yoursport/orienteering/ If you have any questions about any of the events or more information is required: eventmanager@wmoc2017.com or oceania2017.nz/contact/

Waioneke Sample 5m.

18 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2016

Oceania and WMOC 2017 Auckland, New Zealand - April 2017 Three Carnivals, Eleven Events, Fifteen Days

wmoc2017.com

April 14-17

April 19-20

April 21-30 SEPTEMBER 2016 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 19

NOL

Blair Trewin

National Orienteering League enters the final stages

T

he 2016 National Orienteering League enters its final stages with the four closing races during the Australian Championships week in Queensland – the three individual Championship events and the Australian Relays.

The Victorian Nuggets have had the best of the season so far, leading three of the four divisions and narrowly trailing in the fourth. Their Senior Men’s team has by some margin the most depth, which has served them well in a sometimes demanding schedule. That has seen them to a seven-point margin after 12 rounds, although that is still well within the reach of the Canberra Cockatoos if they have a good final week. The Nuggets’ lead is a much more comfortable 26 points in the Senior Women’s competition, and although they will have a relatively depleted team in September with Aislinn Prendergast overseas, they should have more than enough in hand over the Queensland Cyclones.

Both junior competitions are Victoria-Tasmania battles. Two good races on their home ground have seen the Tasmanian Junior Women edge four points ahead of their Victorian counterparts, and their Junior Men have closed to within eight points. Both competitions are likely to be decided by the Australian Relays, for which double team points are on offer.

Natasha Key is in the box seat to claim the Women’s Individual title. She currently holds a 27 point lead over Rachel Effeney, but her most likely challenger is actually Jo Allison, providing Allison can get eight scoring runs on the board (she currently has six).

Simon Uppill has a narrow seven-point lead in the Senior Men’s competition over Leon Keely, with Matt Crane also a potential contender should he collect two more scores. Matt Doyle has all

Junior Men’s leader Matt Doyle in action at this year’s JWOC.

but wrapped up the Junior Men’s individual competition (Patrick Jaffe would need to sweep the championship races to tie), but it is a different story for the Junior Women, where only 25 points cover the top five, with Lanita Steer clinging onto a two-point lead at the top over Tara Melhuish.

The UK’s Orienteering Magazine Packed with maps, event reports, coaching tips and advice, MTBO, Mountain Marathons/Rogaining, Competitions and much much more.

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Standings after Round 12: Senior Men: 1st Victorian Nuggets (91) 2nd Canberra Cockatoos (84) 3rd Western Nomads (48)

Senior Men – Individual: 1st Simon Uppill (216) 2nd Leon Keely (209) 3rd Brodie Nankervis (183)

Senior Women: 1st Victorian Nuggets (94) 2nd Queensland Cyclones (68) 3rd Southern Arrows (57)

4th Henry McNulty (175)

Junior Men: 1st Victorian Nuggets (70) 2nd Tassie Foresters (62) 3rd Canberra Cockatoos (38) Junior Women: 1st Tassie Foresters (70) 2nd Victorian Nuggets (66) 3rd Queensland Cyclones (44)

Senior Women – Individual: 1st Natasha Key (225) 2nd Rachel Effeney (198) 3rd Belinda Lawford (181) 4th Aislinn Prendergast (175) Junior Men – Individual: 1st Matt Doyle (237) 2nd Patrick Jaffe (225) 3rd Aston Key (186) 4th Simeon Burrill (175) Junior Women – Individual: 1st Lanita Steer (215) 2nd Tara Melhuish (213) 3rd Anna Dowling (205) 4th Winnie Oakhill (204)

20 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2016

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WOD

World Orienteering Day Australia – First in the World David Poland (ACT)

W

hat a day it was. What a fantastic effort by so many people many of whom had hardly ever done any Orienteering before. A special thanks to the teachers who staged this event on NAPLAN Day. Next year it will be on Wednesday May 24th 2017 At 6:20am on Wed 11th May, Canberra managed to sneak into the record books staging the first World Orienteering Day event ever held – beating Turkey by just 40 minutes. It had all the hallmarks of a clandestine affair – the idea of some enthusiastic youngsters – limited publicity so as not to alert Noumea or New Zealand – and a small group meeting in the dark and vanishing just after dawn.

With two public events, one private event and seven school events, Canberra managed to attract 1,111 participants (a Canberra record) and Australia as a whole reached over 1,700.

Some of the highlights of the day in Canberra were: •T en events in total – one of the highest number for any city in the world • Two events at schools organised by beginner orienteers • Two events organised by 15 year old boys • Local media coverage •O ne participant, Tate Needham attended four events in the one day

The world’s first ever WOD event begins in Canberra in the dark and finishes with the dawn

• The first finisher anywhere in the world was Jo Hobson • The first WOD video beamed across the world •T he youngest participant in Canberra was 7 months old – the eldest was 92 Some of the lessons learned included: •S taging two events at the one location – one at lunchtime and another after dark. This reduced the workload for the organiser Bryant Allen. Several competitors came to both events as the courses were in reverse direction; •S hifting the usual training day for school squads from Tuesday to Wednesday for that week;

Patrick Miller made the front page of the Canberra Chronicle whilst his dad Peter made page 3

•C ontacting schools and offering to draw up courses for interested teachers; •A voiding the use of SI units and sometimes using ribbons instead of flags; •C onducting private small local events before breakfast to reduce travel time.

One of the challenges was that this was NAPLAN day when teachers are often very busy with national assessments so we did not put a lot of energy into promoting it in schools – despite this four teachers held events during lunchtime and three had after school activities. Next year the event has been moved to late May to avoid NAPLAN. Out of interest, the old world record of 208,000 was broken with over 250,000 participants in 81 countries and over 2,000 locations Visit worldorienteeringday.com to see the world map and Facebook has heaps of interesting stories www.facebook.com/ events/145745899143580/?active_tab=posts See you all next year on Wednesday May 24th 2017. With no NAPLAN planned for that day it will be even bigger !

SEPTEMBER 2016 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 21

Photo: Emily Roberts – Barrier Daily Truth

VALE Eric Andrews (9/9/1942 - 19 May 2016)

Australian orienteering lost one of its most significant contributors to the sport with the passing in May of Eric Andrews from Queensland. Over more than 30 years of involvement with the sport, as a competitor, administrator, selector, technical director, event organiser, course setter, controller and mapper, Eric became well known right throughout the Australian orienteering community.

F

rom very humble beginnings and a disrupted childhood that lacked stability, Eric entered the army at age 17 and had a 24-year career in the infantry which included two years in New Guinea and two tours of duty in Vietnam. During this time in the army, he developed some legendary map reading and navigation skills which he was able to put to good use in his later life as an orienteer and mapper.

Eric first got involved with Orienteering in 1980 in Brisbane where he was an active member of the Enoggeroos Club and competed regularly at club, State and National level events. His Orienteering successes included State championship titles and many top five placings in Australian Championship and 3 Day Championships during the 1980’s and 1990’s. He was also part of the Australian team for the Australia/New Zealand Challenge in 1987, 1989 and 1994. He attended the Asia Pacific Orienteering Championships in North America in 1990 and was a regular competitor at major events in New Zealand. He met his wife, Liz Bourne, through Orienteering and they enjoyed a mutual love of the sport, traveling regularly to compete at interstate events.

His involvement with mapping began in 1983 when he helped field check the map to be used for that year’s Queensland Championships. The following year, he made his first park map 22 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2016

and then started mapping Woodlands, west of Gatton. This became a three year project as he was only able to work on it on occasional weekends in between work as a milk vendor and competing at, or organising, local Orienteering events.

He attended a number of mapping workshops run by Alex Tarr, Steve Key and Flemming Nørgaard which helped develop his skills. By 1991, he had sold his milk run and was able to concentrate on mapping projects, both in Queensland as well as interstate. Working under the title of Batmaps (Bourne and Andrews Team), for the following 24 years he made over 200 maps for foot and mountain bike Orienteering events, covering an area in excess of 600 sq km. As his skills developed, he was in high demand to make maps for State and National championship events and traveled extensively interstate, often being away from home for months at a time. Working alone, he found peace and solace in the bushland which helped him partially recover from some of the mental trauma experienced during his time in Vietnam.

His maps covered a variety of terrain but he became most famous for those of granite and other complex rock areas. From early days around the ACT, where he created maps such as Non Smoker’s Flat (1992) and Apollo Road (1994), he then tackled the sand dune country of the Coorong in South Australia for Cantarra Dunes (1994). This sand dune map proved a particular challenge for him as the aerial photos he was working off were 25 years old and some of the dunes had blown away or washed out to sea. 1992 saw his first foray into detailed granite, when he travelled to Western Australia to produce two maps, Peterdine and Naganggaguringguring for their 1993 Easter competition. This was followed up by the production of three maps outside Crows Nest, north of Toowoomba, for the 1995 3 Days. Further granite and gold mining maps were made in central NSW for Easter 1996 and then he and Alex Tarr tackled the desert country at Broken Hill for the following year’s Easter. 1997 saw another stint in

Western Australia to produce granite maps for the 1998 Australian Championships and then it was back to NSW to map Yuruga for the 1999 Championships. Three maps were then produced in the ACT for their Australian 3 Days and World Cup in Easter 2000,including the Big Badja maps near Cooma.

Somehow, amongst all this work, he managed to find time to come home and produce six maps on the Southern Downs that were then used for the Asia Pacific Orienteering Championships in July 2000, including his famous granite map of The Cascades that took him 600 hours of fieldwork and 200 hours to draw.

Skilled up in the intricacies of granite mapping, he then tackled the major task of producing the Gumble Pinnacles and Gumble Creek maps, north of Orange, which were used for the NSW Championships in 2002.

Then it was off to the Flinders Ranges to make the Prelinna and Mannawarra maps near Wilpenna Pound for the 2002 Australian Championships. His first mapping expedition to the Northern Territory saw him create the Lok Cabay map for the inaugural NT Championships in 2005. One of his most significant mapping tasks was producing the maps to be used for the 2007 Junior World Orienteering Championships held outside Dubbo, in conjunction with Alex Tarr. This took months of work in very complex granite terrain.

The following years he stayed closer to home, producing maps in South East Queensland before a long stint in Maryborough making three maps for the 2008 Australian Championships Carnival. The World Masters Orienteering Championships held in NSW in 2009 saw him produce two Sprint maps in Sydney plus contribute to the production of three of the bush maps north of Lithgow. There was another stint of work in the NT making the Coomalie Creek map for their Championships in 2009.

Eric receives the 2010 David Hogg Medal for Services to Event Management.

SEPTEMBER 2016 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 23

vale eric andrews

Map walk - Eric Andrews points out features at coaching camp 2014.

As his health started to deteriorate, he was unable to continue major interstate mapping projects but continued smaller mapping work closer to home, including extensions and updates to two of the maps used for the Australian 3 Days held on the Southern Downs in 2012. He also made many park, school and university maps in Cairns, Charters Towers, Rockhampton, Gympie, Toowoomba, Warwick and Stanthorpe. His final major work was the granite map he produced outside Kingaroy for the 2015 Queensland Championships. Working without photogrammetry, it is a testament to his mapping skills that he was able to produce such a high quality map from such poor base material.

In addition to the diversity and quantity of foot-O maps produced over decades of dedicated work, Eric also made a significant number of mountain bike Orienteering maps, including those for the Queensland MTBO Championships in 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2014 and the Australian MTBO Championships in 2004, 2008, 2013 and 2014 and was the course setter and organiser for many of these events.

Eric’s contribution to Orienteering extended well beyond his maps as he also was heavily involved in the technical side of the sport. As well as organising and course setting for hundreds of local and State events, he has also made a significant contribution to the conduct of many major national events. This included being the technical co-ordinator for the 1991 Top State Carnival; the technical director and course setter for the 1995 Australian 3 Days at Crows Nest; the event co-ordinator and technical director of the Asia-Pacific Orienteering Championships Carnival 2000; the event co-ordinator, Aust 3 Days held at Ipswich in 2004; the event co-ordinator, Australian Orienteering Championships Carnival in Maryborough in 2008 and technical director of the 2012 Easter 3 Days Carnival held on the Southern Downs.

He was also the Technical Officer for Orienteering Queensland from 1987 - 1991 and from 2002 – 2014 and had been Chair of Orienteering Australia’s Technical Committee since 2013. Eric was a Level 3 Controller and was also an International Event Advisor in both foot and mountain bike Orienteering. Committed to passing on his knowledge and experience, he organised innumerable course setting and controlling workshops at the club, State and National level to help new and existing orienteers develop their technical skills. Few other Australian orienteers have 24 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2016

made a greater contribution to the sport in so many different areas.

Amongst his other roles at the national level, Eric also chaired Orienteering Australia’s selection panel from 1987 until 1993.

In recognition of his achievements, Eric was awarded life membership of the Queensland Orienteering Association and the Queensland Rogaine Association; received Orienteering Australia’s SILVA Award for services to Orienteering in1992; was awarded the Stanthorpe Shire Council’s Australia Day Award for Sports Administration in 2001; the Queensland Outdoor Recreation Federation’s Outstanding Achievement (Individual) award for his services to the sports of Orienteering, Rogaining and mountain bike Orienteering in 2006 and Orienteering Australia’s David Hogg Medal for Services to Event Management in 2013.

Beyond his Orienteering involvement, Eric was also a passionate rugby player during his early years in the army, playing for army teams for many years, He also was selected for the Queensland Rugby Union team in 1970 and 1972 while playing for Teachers.

In his later years, he developed an interest in art and regularly attended workshops to improve his skills, including an overseas trip to the Greek Islands in 2011 and to the Cotswolds and Cornwall in 2015. Those who enjoyed the “bush art” of his maps could see this latent talent emerging.

He leaves behind a legacy of achievements across the full spectrum of Orienteering and the sport will be the lesser for his early passing when he still had so much left to contribute.

SEPTEMBER 2016 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 25

aus schools champs

Australian Schools Championships PREVIEW

I

n late September the Australian Schools Championships will be staged in south-east Queensland, as part of the AUS Championships carnival. Teams from all States will compete in Senior and Junior Individual events and Relays commencing with the Sprint Championship at the Palm Beach Currumbin State High School campus. In past years the competition has been intense right up to the last few metres, particularly in the Relays. Can we expect the same excitement in 2016?

Zoe Melhuish leads Junior Girls Relay winners

This year, Victoria brings a strong team and Tasmania will be wanting to defend their overall title won in Ballarat last year.

West Australia’s Jo Anna Maynard swept the Senior Girls titles last year and is coming back for more, and Victoria’s Aston Key will be looking to repeat his title haul, this time in Senior Boys. Will one of the other States rise to the occasion?

Who will come away with the trophies - and who will simply have the performance of their life? Probably most.

Here we show the past winners and preview this year’s State Teams for you to follow during the events.

Aston Key

Jo Anna Maynard

Meredith Norman

Winners State Senior Girls

2012 Tasmania Michele Dawson (NSW)

2013 Victoria Lanita Steer (VIC)

2014 Tasmania Anna Dowling (TAS)

Senior Boys

Oliver Poland (ACT)

Matt Doyle (VIC)

Matt Doyle (VIC)

Junior Girls

Asha Steer (VIC)

Asha Steer (VIC)

Tara Melhuish (ACT)

Junior Boys

Jarrah Day (TAS)

Simeon Burrill (QLD)

Aston Key (VIC)

Senior Girls Relay Senior Boys Relay Junior Girls Relay Junior Boys Relay

South Australia Tasmania Queensland Tasmania

Victoria NSW Queensland ACT

Tasmania Tasmania ACT NSW

26 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2016

Simeon Burrill

2015 Tasmania Sprint – Jo Anna Maynard (WA) Long – Jo Anna Maynard (WA) Sprint – Patrick Jaffe (VIC) Long – Simeon Burrill (QLD) Sprint – Meredith Norman (SA) Long – Zoe Melhuish (ACT) Sprint – Aston Key (VIC) Long – Aston Key (VIC) Queensland Queensland ACT ACT

NSW Schools Team

N

ew faces from Wagga, Newcastle, Coffs Harbour and Sydney are in the 2016 NSW Schools Team (the Carbines) for the Australian Championships in Queensland in late September.

Lachlan Billett (Waggaroos), Alvin Craig (Newcastle), Oscar Woolford (Bush ‘n’ Beach) and Angus Leung (Garingal) have all been selected in the Juniors Boys’ team, while Serena Doyle (Uringa) has made the Junior Girls’ team. And, rookies Hugo Boersma and Clyde McGhee have been added to the Team. Hugo (Garingal) will make his NSW debut in the Senior Boys competition while Year 7 student Clyde (Bennelong Northside) is a Reserve for the Junior Boys team.

Senior Girls: Mel Annetts (GO), Claire Burgess (NC), Georgia Jones (UR).

Junior Girls: Sophie Jones (UR), Serena Doyle (UR), Ellen Currie (GO), Jo Hill (GO).

Senior Boys: Alastair George (BF), Hugh Gingell (GO), Duncan Currie (GO), Hugo Boersma (GO).

Junior Boys: Lachlan Billett (WR), Angus Leung (GO), Alvin Craig (NC), Oscar Woolford (BB), Ewan Shingler (BF), Finn Mackay (UR); reserve Clyde McGhee (BN)

Mel Annetts

Claire Burgess

Georgia Jones

Alvin Craig

Angus Leung

Clyde McGhee

Lachlan Billett

Ewan Shingler

Alistair George

Hugh Gingell

Duncan Currie

Hugo Boersma

Sophie Jones

Serena Doyle

Ellen Currie

Jo Hill

Finn Mackay

Oscar Woolford

SEPTEMBER 2016 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 27

aus schools champs

VIC Schools Team

V

ictoria will have a strong Team this year, led by Patrick Jaffe and Aston Key, both returning from JWOC with some good performances. There’s a lot of AUS Schools experience amongst the other members of the Team as well so Victoria will be a team to watch in Queensland.

Senior Boys: Patrick Jaffe, Aston Key, Jimmy Cameron, Lachlan Cherry.

Reserves: Glenn James, Max Dalheim.

Non-travelling reserve: Michael Loughnan.

Junior Boys: Brody McCarthy, Jensen Key, Mason Arthur, William Davey.

Reserves: Hadyn Tang, Archie Neylon.

Junior Girls: Karina Cherry, Sarah Davies, Serryn Eenjes, Caitlyn Steer.

Senior Girls: Alicia Ciacic, Samara Fletcher, Alice Bills.

Patrick Jaffe

Aston Key

Jimmy Cameron

Lachlan Cherry

Glenn James

Max Dalheim

Alicia Ciacic

Samara Fletcher

Alice Bills

Brody McCarthy

Jensen Key

Mason Arthur

William Davey

Hadyn Tang

Archie Neylon

Karina Cherry

Sarah Davies

Serryn Eenjes

Caitlyn Steer

28 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2016

TAS Schools Team

T

his year’s Tassie team consists of 17 returning members and 3 new Junior Boys. Our emphasis will be 100% on the process of orienteering rather than any outcome or results based goals. That is, we will be getting the Team members to concentrate on carrying out the skills of Orienteering necessary for a successful performance. And above all – having a great time and enjoying the company of everyone in the Team.

This is the approach that we take each year and it gives the Team members focus and creates a wonderful Team harmony where everyone is supportive of each other in a positive way. The results will take care of themselves.

Senior Boys: Joseph Dickinson, Jed Fleming, Sebastian O’Halloran, Luke West, Johann Burgess (R1), Jake West (R2).

Junior Boys: Joshua Allen, Alex Battaglia, Jaidyn Gluskie, Tom Poortenaar, Dexter Canning (R1), Ben Poortenaar (R2).

Senior Girls: Rachel Allen, Zoe Dowling, Jacinta Mackay, Jessica Stephens

Junior Girls: Mikayla Cooper, Amy Enkelaar, Eleanor McLean, Arabella Phillips.

Joseph Dickinson

Jed Fleming

Sebastian O’Halloran

Luke West

Jake West

Rachel Allen

Zoe Dowling

Jacinta Mackay

Jessica Stephens

Joshua Allen

Alex Battaglia

Jaidyn Gluskie

Tom Poortenaar

Dexter Canning

Ben Poortenaar

Mikayla Cooper

Amy Enkelaar

Eleanor McLean

Arabella Phillips

SEPTEMBER 2016 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 29

aus schools champs

WA Schools Team

A

talented Team led by Jo Anna Maynard who swept the Senior Girls titles last year; and Oliver Martin who has many years of experience at AUS Schools level. Many of the others competed at Ballarat last year and can be expected to put that experience to good use in Queensland which will encourage the newer members of the Team. It’s one of the largest in many years, with full Junior squads and Relay teams in three ages classes.

Competition for places in the Juniors was fierce and we’re looking forward to some fine results across the Team. Look out for some top performances.

Senior Boys: Tyler Eves, Oliver Martin, Edward Finnie.

Senior Girl: Jo Anna Maynard.

Junior Boys: Jordan Neill, Riley Martin, Shaun Richards, Mason Eves, Patrick Dufty (Reserve), Riley McFarlane (Reserve).

Junior Girls: Lily McFarlane, Michaela Maynard, Tia Chitty, Sarah Richards, Skye McMullen (Reserve), Noelle Chitty (Reserve).

Jo Anna Maynard

Tyler Eves

Oliver Martin

Edward Finnie

Jordan Neill

Riley Martin

Shaun Richards

Mason Eves

Patrick Dufty

Riley McFarlane

Lily McFarlane

Michaela Maynard

Tia Chitty

Sarah Richards

Skye McMullen

Noelle Chitty

30 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2016

ACT Schools Team

T

he ACT Schools Team has seen some renewal this year with five new members joining an otherwise highly experienced team. Ellen Johnson and Emily Li join the winning trio of Ella Cuthbert, Zoe Melhuish and Caitlin Young in Junior Girls.

In Junior Boys Mykal Marsham and Andrew Kerr will be hot on the heels of David Stocks and the experienced pair in Tristan Miller and Noah Poland.

Senior Boys: Ewan Barnett, Mark Glanville, Patrick Miller, Zac Needham, Jesse Piiroinen, Ryan Stocks.

Senior Girls: Emily Adler, Tara Melhuish, Miho Yamazaki.

Junior Boys: Andrew Kerr, Mykal Marsham, Tristan Miller, Noah Poland, David Stocks. Junior Girls: Ella Cuthbert, Ellen Johnson, Emily Li, Zoe Melhuish, Caitlin Young, Pia Cunningham.

In the Senior Girls Emily Alder and Miho Yamazaki join Tara Melhuish still fresh from JWOC. The Senior Boys see three of last years juniors, Zac Needham, Patrick Miller and Ryan Stocks moving up to join Jesse Piiroinen, Mark Glanville and Ewen Barnett. After coming oh so close in 2015 the ACT team hope to go one better in Queensland this year!

Ewan Barnett

Mark Glanville

Patrick Miller

Zac Needham

Jesse Piiroinen

Ryan Stocks

Emily Adler

Tara Melhuish

Miho Yamazaki

Andrew Kerr

Mykal Marsham

Tristan Miller

Noah Poland

David Stocks

Ella Cuthbert

Ellen Johnson

Emily Li

Zoe Melhuish

Caitlin Young

SEPTEMBER 2016 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 31

aus schools champs

SA Schools Team

T

he South Australian Schools Team is growing and growing and this year we have 17 very enthusiastic members. Thus we will have a full team for each age group which is something we have not achieved in a long time. We are very excited and looking forward to the nationals carnival in QLD and we are training hard. We have three trainings a week which most members of the squad attend. This year we have Simon Uppill and Olivia Sprod as coaches and Bridget Anderson as manager.

Senior Boys: Lachlan McCarthy, Nicholas Congedi, Angus Haines.

Senior Girls: Sarah Lim, Charlotte Brader, Meredith Norman, Alyce Heap.

Junior Boys: Dante Afnan, Ethan Penck, Jack Marschall, Max Grivell. Reserves: Toby Cazzolato, Remi Afnan. Junior Girls: Lina Heuer, Abigail George, Joanna George, Emily Sorensen.

Photos of some Team members were unavailable at the time of printing.

Dante Afnan

Sarah Lim

Lachlan McCarthy

Nicholas Congedi

Angus Haines

Charlotte Brader

Meredith Norman

Alyce Heap

Ethan Penck

Abigail George

Joanna George

Emily Sorensen

Junior Arrows training camp 32 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2016

QLD Schools Team

A

full Team on home turf will be hard to beat especially with so many experienced members. Queensland always does well at AUS Schools and this year could well be another one for some success.

Senior Boys: Nick Burridge, Daniel Gray, Jack Hill, Cameron Morrison. Res: Jayden Harvey.

Junior Boys: Saxon Charles, Jaiden Fidge, Ryan Gray, Grant Reinbott. Res: Blake Reinbott.

Senior Girls: Ellie de Jong, Laurel Gannon, Caroline Pigerre, Jess Rogers. Res: Zazi Brennan.

Junior Girls: Rani Brennan, Laura de Jong, Mikaela Gray, Kasey Lane. Res: Lauren Murray.

Nick Burridge

Daniel Gray

Jack Hill

Cameron Morrison

Jayden Harvey

Ellie de Jong

Laurel Gannon

Caroline Pigerre

Jess Rogers

Zazi Brennan

Saxon Charles

Jaiden Fidge

Ryan Gray

Grant Reinbott

Blake Reinbott

Rani Brennan

Laura de Jong

Mikaela Gray

Kasey Lane

Lauren Murray

SEPTEMBER 2016 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 33

PARTICIPATION

Angus and Heidi van Schaik

by Ian Jessup, Orienteering NSW

A recent review has shown that only 9% of adults with an intellectual disability (ID) achieve minimum physical activity guidelines. This is troubling news, because a physically inactive lifestyle increases the risk of many life-threatening medical conditions. It’s even more important that children with an ID exercise regularly: for mental health benefits and to ingrain a good habit for life.

Angus and Heidi.

I

t would be easy – but false - to think that Orienteering then, with its strong cognitive element and sometimes difficult terrain, would not be a good choice of activity for people with an ID. Dr Lisa Lampe, Uringa member and Senior Lecturer in Psychiatry at Sydney University, explains: “It’s important to avoid making assumptions about ability. Whilst specific medical conditions may typically be associated with certain types of challenges and difficulties, both physical and cognitive, we’re all different at the individual level, and exploring (and developing) an individual’s abilities can be exciting for all concerned.

“Orienteering requires a great deal of co-ordinated cognitive activity and problem-solving capacities. We need to interpret complex symbolic information and translate it to its reallife meaning, match it to the actual surroundings, and then generate a solution to the problem of navigating from one control to the next.

“We need to access memory (remembering what the map symbols mean), we need attention, concentration, visual and spatial processing skills, and the ability to apply prior learning (e.g. ‘avoid a direct route that crosses a thick black line with little markings that mean uncrossable cliff’). None of us does all this with complete precision every time!”

Enter Garingal members Angus and Heidi van Schaik.

They both have Aspergers, and Angus has the added challenge of verbal dyspraxia. This mother and son are regulars on the Sydney Orienteering scene and complete their courses pretty much every time.

The Australian Orienteer caught up with them recently to learn more about them and their love of the sport.

Angus: age 13, in Year 8 at Picnic Point High School.

Favourite subject maths, also doing really well in Japanese; likes science but still catching up with literacy. After-school activities are scouts and film-making; he used to have piano lessons but they stopped because his tutor got a day job.

Heidi: age 42, single mum. On disability support pension for Aspergers, after my education degree/maths teacher prac went pear-shaped in 2010. I aspire to be an app developer and to establish a home-school support centre, and eventually a distance education school.

34 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2016

When, how and why did you each get into Orienteering?

We started Orienteering in Orange as a family activity one summer when Angus was 6 or 7. We started off with Goldseekers Club’s Friday night summer street series which was six weeks in January and February, and then after a year or two we started going to the monthly winter events on Sundays.

When we moved to Sydney in the spring of 2012, we gravitated towards the Sydney Summer Series. Garingal were hosting the first week and I think it was Tania Kennedy who helped us get started. We joined Garingal then and there, and I think we went to every single event in the Series that summer.

What do each of you like about it that has kept you in the sport?

Angus likes the map reading, walking in the bush, and that he doesn’t have to connect with people.

I mainly do Orienteering to support Angus - I’m more into soccer - but I still like Orienteering too, for much the same reasons that Angus does. I also think the people gel better with us because it seems to me that a high proportion of orienteers have autistic spectrum traits like us.

How have Angus’ skills progressed?

I’m not sure. After I handed the map over to him and stopped looking at it myself, our skill levels reversed (I went backwards). Now that he’s been going on his own for almost two years, I think the gap between us has widened. He is pretty quick with the map, so if he were to run instead of walk he might surprise everyone.

Could you please give us a little information on Angus’ disabilities?

Verbal dyspraxia – this is the one that makes his speech hard to understand. Before he was diagnosed (here in Sydney) with this condition in Year 5, everyone in Orange (up to Year 4) presumed he was low-functioning autistic, because of his lack of speech. I always knew he was high-functioning autistic and should have been in the mainstream class.

Finally the speech therapist validated that, but still I couldn’t

get him out of the support class. I had to home-school him in Year 6 to prepare him for mainstream in Year 7.

Autism – for me and Angus it’s much more a difference than a disability. We are at the Aspergers or “high-functioning” end. Once you get to know Angus, and once you get past the dyspraxia, you’ll see that Angus is actually less autistic than I am in a lot of ways.

Neither of these conditions affects Angus’ ability to go orienteering. In fact, autism is a strength because of his visual mind and love of solitude. If anything, you could say the autism affects Angus’ (and my) ability to be competitive because we just don’t really care about competition.

Any tips for fellow orienteers on communicating with Angus?

Remember that he is a normal intelligent teenager, so talk to him like any other teenager. Listening to him can be a problem - but it’s more Angus’ responsibility to make himself understood, e.g. by using synonyms, rephrasing the sentence, etc, so you could remind him to do that. Don’t be put off by his smart alec replies - remember that Year 8 is the obnoxious year for boys (I hope).

Has Angus had any hiccups along the way?

He can’t remember any hippos (as he calls them), which makes sense because he’s never gotten lost. Except once at the Clay Pan, but that wasn’t enough for him to consider himself lost, and I think this was before he started going on his own so I was tagging along anyway. But I remember a few potential hippos since he started going on his own.

At the Xmas 5-Days bush event at Lapstone in December 2014, the organisers thought he was lost because he was apparently nowhere near the control he was looking for. I think they “helped” him get the control and then escorted him back to the Finish. But when I talked to him about it after, it turned out that he wasn’t lost at all. He had gone a long roundabout way to approach the control from an alternative direction, because the direct way to get to it had something impossible like a ditch he couldn’t get through because he was too small. So he knew where he was at all times, and he was determined to get that control, but he was annoyed that the helper wouldn’t let him finish his course.

for Moonlight Madness, he calmly got the old GPS out of the glove box. When he did a holiday theatre workshop at the place where he does film, he was doing the sound and lighting, and apparently when things kept going wrong he was a really good problem solver.

Do either of you have any wish to graduate to the next level of Orienteering (moderate courses) where you will need to navigate by compass?

I’ve been doing moderate for a while now. At the recent MetrO League event at Botany (on 29 May), Angus told me the easy maps were getting too easy so he wanted to try moderate. So for the next round at Lapstone (on 26 June), I entered him in Division 5 (after clarifying with Garingal club captain Jim Forbes that it was the next step up from easy), and I entered myself in Division 4. I used my compass constantly because my sense of direction is shot but Angus didn’t need to use his at all. (EDS NOTE: Angus and Heidi both finished their course and scored points for their respective teams. Angus’ two points earned his team a draw.)

For ‘helicopter parents’, or parents of children with disabilities wary of letting their child participate in unsupervised activities, what advice would you offer them?

The process I went through with Angus is exactly the same as what any decent parent goes through with any kid without disabilities. I’ve never treated Angus in our day-to-day life as having a disability. I’ve always taken him out to lots of places and activities, and given him whatever liberties I judge him to be capable of.

When he loses his map, he’s never bothered by it. Mind you, it’s never his fault either; he doesn’t do anything silly like dropping it - it’s just bad luck. Of course, there was the incident with the dog at Vaucluse (the mutt concerned bounded up to Angus early on in his SSS course and bit into his map) where he had only a small shred of his map left. I think it was a score course, so he just got whatever controls he could find in the park. But there was another time on a line course: it was a stormy afternoon and the club had misplaced their map protectors, so we had to go out in the rain with bare maps. I managed to look after my map until the end, but by the time Angus got to the second last control, he had no map left at all. However he had the map stored in his mind, so he just followed that.

Given that he continues to participate, it seems he has a great attitude and is not put off by any setbacks. Feel free to elaborate on this please.

“What setbacks?” That seems to be Angus’s attitude. He doesn’t remember any. But that’s his attitude through most areas of his life, not just Orienteering. When he broke his arm in Year 4 (in Orange) he just carried on with life, albeit with one arm. When I had a meltdown in the car (I told you I’m more autistic than him) because the confusing Sydney signs had put me in Kings Cross so we couldn’t get to Vaucluse

Angus finishes ultra sprint at Xmas 5-days outside SCG. SEPTEMBER 2016 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 35

PARTICIPATION

When he was about seven, I used to let him run around the Orange Botanic Gardens without keeping a close eye on him, while I sat with friends. It was safe because there were no cars, and I knew he had no interest in going in the ponds - neither deliberately nor by accident (despite his dyspraxia, he’s actually not clumsy; he’s never broken a glass or plate in his life).

When he was 11 (and - not coincidentally - in the middle of his home-schooling year) I deemed that he was ready to walk by himself on the streets. I can’t remember if it started with walking up to the shops to buy pies, or if it was the Orienteering first. They were probably about the same time, because I had to get him a SIM card for his phone to prepare for this new independent phase. I think most parents give their kids phones these days for safety.

Now that he was fine catching the train from film every week (saving me an hour’s drive) I found that I could step it up a level when one Sunday I had an early game of soccer.

I only had time to drop him off to Orienteering and then I needed him to catch the train home after he finished. It was a simple matter to show him on the map how to get from Centennial Park to Bondi Junction station. From there he only needed to find Central. I know he can get home from anywhere in Sydney.

All you can take away from this really is that Angus’ particular disabilities don’t affect his ability to be as independent as any other teenager.

Generally, I’ll let Angus do this kind of thing by himself after he’s had lots of practice with me, and I think that’s what any parent would do. This applies to walking on the streets with cars; it applies to Orienteering; it applies to catching the train.

All three of those, he had lots of practice with me first.

Sometimes preparation and planning is important, and that could apply to any kid. The first time I needed Angus to catch the train by himself (which was after his film-making activity, and I was not going to be able to pick him up one week) I prepared in advance. I gave him a test run the week before, where I showed him down to the station before the activity, and then I met him at our home station when he was due (I think he missed our station and had to come back, but he got there).

Then I showed him how to buy pizza on the way home. So the next week when I was going to be out, I knew he was OK to get the train back and get pizza and go home.

36 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2016

Heidi

Twilight 3-Hour Warwick Williams

I

t’s early on a late autumn evening, a strange time to be heading to an Orienteering event. The heat of the day is just about spent, and the breeze has dropped. I stop on the way to fill up my Camelback, and to stock up with a glucose fix for the race to come. Heading into the familiar bush around Bendigo, the shadows are starting to lengthen. When I find the assembly area and step out of the car, the air is warm and dry, and the ground is hard and bony under foot. All my senses are telling me subconsciously that this is not a normal day out orienteering.

I change the batteries in my head torch, to make sure that I am set for the event. When I have got on my running gear and put in my entry, I have a few minutes to chat before the briefing starts.

The briefing is pretty straight forward – it’s a 1, 2 or 3 hour score event. It’s the 3-hour we came for, starting at 7PM and finishing at 10. It roughly comes out as 1 hour of daylight, 1 hour of twilight and 1 hour of real darkness. And that is what makes this event special – having to plan and execute a route that has you making the best of these changing conditions.

So then we get our maps, and a few minutes to plan before the race starts. First, estimate how many of the controls you can get to in 3 hours, then work out which ones they should be. Are they all the same value (this varies from year to year)? Which parts of the map are going to be more navigable in the dark? Save these up until last.

Too soon, the race begins. As the organiser counts down to the start, inevitably my mind is made up in a rush to head off in one

direction or other and see how I am going after an hour. I have probably worked out where I want to be after dark, but I have never yet managed to settle on a proper plan before the time starts. It’s usually not too hard to knock off the first few controls while you are fresh, and have the whole map open to you. It’s surprising how soon you can find yourself running into a corner, or having a control left isolated though.

An hour in, I like to grab some munchies and take stock. I am usually going along excellently at this point, and unfailingly imagine myself taking a quick path through the remaining controls. Inevitably, I will be wrong. As the sun gets lower, and fatigue starts to build up, the controls seem to be further apart, further off the nearest track and in steeper terrain. When the real dark comes, the navigational challenge mounts rapidly. If you haven’t orienteered in the dark, this is a challenge that you need to give yourself.

Keeping contact with the map requires much more discipline when your field of view is so much shorter. Keep to the linear features as much as possible, and never never fall for the old trap of making the ground fit the map.

It is the final hour of the event that makes it so memorable.

The challenge of adapting your technique means that the satisfaction of spotting those bits of orange and white nylon goes up immensely. And, as with any Score event, the final challenge is to make sure that you get back to the Finish having used all your time, but not too much.

Bendigo Orienteers runs this event each year as the finale of their busy season. It has always been open to all comers, but this year we will be making a special effort to encourage more orienteers to give the Twilight 3 Hour a try. Camping will be available at the assembly area, and a barbecue provided to encourage entrants to hang around to compare notes, and refuel fatigued bodies. This is an event with a character all its own. If you are in Victoria, I urge you to put it in your diary for Remembrance Day, Friday evening, 11 November. It’s one more reason to love this sport.

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SEPTEMBER 2016 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 37

VALE Frank Assenza Terry Bluett

F

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A L IA

38 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2016

Frank was well known as FrankO di MetrO around Sydney Metro League circles. Frank initiated this popular interclub competition in 1994. He wrote a detailed article about it in the July 1994 The Australian Orienteer, outlining his 10 aims for the competition. Basically Frank wanted to increase the profile of Orienteering, raise the standard and increase participation at local events. Metro League has certainly achieved Frank’s aims - it attracts 150 to 200 competitors now, whereas local Sydney events would be lucky to get 60 entries pre Metro League. At the most recent Metro League a minute’s silence was held in remembrance of Frank.

Frank wrote several articles in The Australian Orienteer over the years, the most recent was about correspondents needing to tone down their language when having a go at each other. This brings me to my final point - Frank never spoke badly about anyone, he was always encouraging to newcomers and he had a good sense of humour. I will miss him and I’m sure many in the Orienteering community will miss him also.

AU S T R

rancesco Angelo Assenza was born on 1st November 1933 to Italian immigrants who arrived in Australia in 1911. His early life was spent in Woolloomooloo. As a schoolboy during wartime Frank sold newspapers in the local area which included Garden Island Naval Base.

One of his clients was Prince Phillip. Frank didn’t realise his identity until reading about his engagement to Princess Elizabeth in his newspapers.

In those days security wasn’t as strict as nowadays and Frank was allowed into Garden Island and onto the ships to sell his papers. On one occasion Frank was still aboard when the ship left port, the captain had to hastily arrange for Frank to be put ashore at Watsons Bay before the ship left for the war, with Frank catching a tram back to his home in Woolloomooloo.

Frank had an interesting career in both the public and private sector, rising to senior positions in both. When I first met Frank he was a senior manager in ACTA, the shipping company, he also organised fun runs and corporate events as Azmac with his nephew, Bill McCarthy. They were organising the Australia Day Half Marathon and the Great NOSH Footrace. I was co-opted into helping clear the track and marshalling for the Great NOSH and Grant Bluett remembers as a 13 year-old that Frank got him to run down the Finish chute holding the Australian flag as the winners arrived in the Half Marathon. Grant also helped in putting out and bringing in controls as well as a bit of coaching for corporate team building events Azmac was running. Frank was also writing an Orienteering column in the Fun Runner magazine at this time.

Frank started Orienteering in 1974 as a member of BOO (Bennelong Occasional Orienteers) and he continued orienteering up until about a month before he died of pancreatic cancer on 13th June 2016. Frank was instrumental in getting BOO and NOSH (Northside Orienteers and Social Harriers) to amalgamate as Bennelong Northside Orienteers in 1988. Frank was president of BOO at the time and continued as president of BNO until 1990. Frank served on the board of ONSW on two occasions in 1988 and in 2001.

Frank always maintained that Orienteering should be enjoyable; he loved socialising with other competitors and was an early encourager to our family of budding orienteers, Grant and Tracy Bluett. Frank never reached the very top level of his age group but was quite a good orienteer. His highest ranking was 5th in the M65 age group in 2000.

There are two lasting legacies of Frank’s Orienteering career - the NOSH footrace and the Sydney Metro League. This year NOSH is in its 42nd year and fittingly Grant Bluett was 1st finisher, 30 years after Frank encouraged Grant as a 13 year-old teenager. The NOSH footrace was in danger of folding before Frank and Azmac took it on.

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MOUNTAIN BIKE ORIENTEERING

2016 WMTBOC & JWMTBOC – Portugal

Podium place for Lucy Mackie in Junior Middle Distance

Australia’s first ever W20 rep, Lucy Mackie had one podium finish placing with promise for much more.

Carolyn Jackson – Team Coach

In her first Junior World Championships, Lucy Mackie took 5th place in the Middle Distance and, but for a mechanical failure that was terminal, could have been up amongst the places in the Long Distance. But more on that later.

O

ur small Aussie team, comprising Ricky Thackray (ME), Lucy Mackie (W20) and Fergus Mackie (M20), arrived in Portugal a week before the World MTBO Championships, in time for a 4-day training camp. The events were all near Águeda, which is about 60 km SE of Porto. We were lucky that temperatures for the first few days were only in the high 20’s for by competition week the temperatures were nudging 40 degrees. This was particularly tough on the Elites (Ricky), who always had their starts after midday.

We quickly got the hang of overgrown, rocky, sandy and surprisingly, sometimes wet tracks. Pretty well every ride we all came back bloodied from blackberries and various vicious vegetation!

We raced in a local club event near Pombal before the Championships, and Lucy and Fergus came out starring with a 3rd and 1st place. Great start, and a fun event in which to find their rhythm.

The World Championships kicked off with the Sprint on a hot day in and around Cantanhede. The terrain was a great mix of sandy forest, industrial area and urban.

Fergus had a brilliant race, only 2mins off the world’s best and finished 17th. Lucy also had fantastic splits for all but one control, but unfortunately lost a lot of time on just this leg. Ricky had a steady race, but a few too many small errors.

The next day was an unofficial mass start event near the stunning Bucaco Palace, and we all treated this as a fun training ride, and doubly so looking at the hills surrounding us!

The Middle Distance day dawned cooler, so the Juniors were the lucky ones today as riding conditions were perfect. Lucy made

the most of it and had a brilliant race to take 5th place and give Australia a podium finish, (and 1sec ahead of 6th!!). Fergus also had a great race, coming in less than 5mins off the lead, and going two places better than the Sprint with 15th. Ricky again had the hot part of the day, plus the misfortune to be ‘forgotten’ by the starters as another competitor has SI issues on the start line.

He managed a steady ride, but never quite got it all together.

The rest day saw us off to Porto, a fascinating town that has a great mix of history and a busy port and markets on the river.

The Long Distance race was right on the edge of Águeda, and in fact the last few legs finished in the town. This map included some of the Middle Distance area. It was fantastic terrain for the Long Distance with ever-changing navigation challenges, some big 15 year old Fergus Mackie had some great rides at his first Junior World Championships.

SEPTEMBER 2016 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 39

MOUNTAIN BIKE ORIENTEERING

All photos: Joaquim Margarido – www.portugueseorienteeringblog.blogspot.com

hills, small farms, river crossings, logged areas, complex track networks, tough route choice, and the now familiar sandy rocky riding.

Mixed fortunes for our Team today. Lucy was riding really well, but badly slashed her tyre pretty well as far from the Finish as possible. It was irreparable, so she faced a long walk, but luckily upon reaching a water point after walking 2km she got a lift back to the Finish.

The splits show that Lucy was in 3rd place at the time her tyre gave up, and well ahead of the eventual silver and bronze medallists.

Fergus pulled out another great ride given his young age, and such a long tough race, coming 25th. Ricky finally had a great ride, nailing route choice and felt strong coming in 38th which is fantastic considering the depth of the Elite field.

Relay day saw us field an odd team of one Elite and two Juniors in Elite Men. All three had strong rides and came in 14th official team! Even the Coach and Manager formed a team with an Austrian guy and won our category in MX120.

This World Championships saw our two talented Juniors take it up to the rest of the world. Lucy still has two more years in Juniors, and Fergus an incredible five years. Exciting times ahead for Australian MTBO. MIDDLE – ME 1 Anton Foliforov RUS 46:35 2 Vojtech Ludvik CZE 47:18 3 Ruslan Gritsan RUS 47:22 58 Ricky Thackray AUS 1:01:12 WE 1 Olga Vinogradova RUS 44:02 2 Emily Benham GBR 44:05 3 Camilla Soegaard DEN 44:43 M20 1 Samson Deriaz FRA 40:43 2 Sauli Pietikainen FIN 40:46 3 Nojus Kalvaitis LTU 41:00 15 Fergus Mackie AUS 45:38 W20 1 Veronika Kubinova CZE 37:10 2 Alena Fedoseeva RUS 39:47 3 Doris Kudre EST 40:30 4 Olga Mikhaylova RUS 41:47 5 Lucy Mackie AUS 42:09 6 Viktorija Michnovic LTU 42:10 A fifth place finish for Lucy Mackie in the Middle Distance.

SPRINT – ME 1 Anton Foliforov RUS 2 Luca Dallavalle ITA 3 Cedric Beill FRA 53 Ricky Thackray AUS WE 1 Emily Benham GBR 2 Marika Hara FIN 3 Henna Saarinen FIN M20 1 Adrian Jaeggi SUI 2 Sauli Pietikainen FIN 3 Sakari Puolakanaho FIN 17 Fergus Mackie AUS W20 1 Veronika Kubinova CZE 2 Olga Mikhaylova RUS 3 Constance Devillers FRA 22 Lucy Mackie AUS 40 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2016

22:08 22:40 22:45 28:18 17:17 17:19 17:59 20:31 20:33 20:55 22:35 14:12 14:38 14:56 26:14

LONG – ME Final A 1 Anton Foliforov RUS 1:41:10 2 Krystof Bogar CZE 1:41:42 3 Davide Machado POR 1:41:54 38 Ricky Thackray AUS 2:06:28 WE 1 Emily Benham GBR 1:29:10 2 Gaelle Barlet FRA 1:29:48 3 Maja Rothweiler SUI 1:31:35 M20 1 Leonid Tsvetkov RUS 1:27:40 2 Samson Deriaz FRA 1:29:24 3 Sauli Pietikainen FIN 1:30:35 25 Fergus Mackie AUS 1:46:05 W20 1 Veronika Kubinova CZE 1:16:28 2 Constance Devillers FRA 1:23:39 3 Viktorija Michnovic LTU 1:24:47

Ricky Thackray had a solid return to WMTBOC.

Middle Distance W20 map Valongo do Vouga – Águeda 1:10.000 5m (map printed here at 85%) Route shown on map Lucy Mackie AUS 5th 42:09

BIKE SHORTS From Peter Cusworth

2016 Australian MTBO Championships

M

ake sure you take part in this year’s Australian MTBO Championships being held in Western Australia. Based at Dwellingup, about 100km south from Perth, Sprint, Middle and Long Distance events will be contested over the weekend of 14-16 October with a warm-up event on the Friday afternoon.

Entries are open on Eventor. Check out the latest bulletin and event information on ausmtbochamps.com

New Zealand MTBO Championships

R

otorua, New Zealand’s mountain biking mecca, is hosting the 2016 New Zealand Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships over the weekend of 19-20 November, using three new maps for the Sprint, Middle and Long Distance events.

The Middle and Long Distance events will be the first races in the 2017 World Masters Series.

Fun training and adventure rides can be supplemented with the North Island MTBO Championships being held the weekend before (12-13 November), and the Huka Challenge, which is part of the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge, the Saturday after (26 November). Easy to string together a week or two of great mountain biking! The new SPORTident Air timing system will be used for the championship events.

More details here: events.orienteering.org.nz/mtbochamps/

World Masters Series

T

here are three Aussie entries that I know of so far for this year’s World Masters Championships being held in Lithuania in late October, but next year is shaping as a very good opportunity for MTBOers from the southern hemisphere to take in 3 rounds of the Masters Series in a four week block in July in Europe. Added to this is the NZ Championships being held this November, and part of the 2017 series, which will enable riders to compete in 4 rounds comprising 10 scoring races for the series with your best 7 of a possible 15 counting.

The World Masters rounds next July: 5-9 July 2017: Czech 5 Days MTBO, Pilsen, Czech Republic (2 races) 15-16 July 2017: Vienna, Austria (3 races) 30 July- 4 Aug 2017: World Masters Championships, Orleans, France (3 races) Check out the Master Series here over the coming months: www.mtbo-commission.com

MTBO at the Christmas 5 Days

T

here will be three MTBO events at this year’s Christmas 5 Days based near Newcastle – Tuesday 27 to Saturday 31 December. The MTBO events will be held in the afternoon so should be plenty of recovery time after the foot events. Events will be: Wednesday 28th Mining Mystery, Pelew Main; Thursday 29th Barnsley; Friday 30th Glenrock.

SEPTEMBER 2016 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 41

Spot the Difference

The Sprint season will be upon us soon so it’s a good time to test your skills at reading a complex Sprint map. This map has been used several times for major Sprint events. You may recognise it.

The scale is 1:4,000 and there are 25 differences in the two otherwise identical map sections.

CAN YOU FIND ALL 25 ???

42 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2016

PARTICIPATION

Wilderness Wanderings

by Jimbo (name withheld for security reasons)

O

rienteering brings out the best in participants. Fierce competition, strong friendships and happy families are the norm.

However, there can sometimes be an event that shakes the very foundations of Orienteering, something that questions the very realms of possibility. Such an event took place at this year’s QBIII competition at Coffs Harbour.

Something that many long-time participants would have deemed impossible had they not been there to witness it! Despite many people not being willing to talk about it, this correspondent has been able to piece the event together.

The three events run over the Queen’s Birthday weekend at Coffs Harbour were admirable in their differences. The navigational difficulty of the narrow strip of sand dunes with their thick vegetation and complex structure contrasted with the apparently open, fast terrain of Bom Bom forest. Link this with the Sprint runs within the sprawling education facility of Coffs Harbour and all the ingredients for a superb event were present.

Day 2 saw the competitors gathering on the western edges of Bom Bom forest. The day promised to be fine for running, with the surrounding area showing open eucalypt forest and clear ground. The gently rolling slopes were intersected by meandering watercourses. It promised to be fast and furious.

Although some thunderheads were gathering in the west, there were still patches of bright sunlight dappling the area.

Pre-race activity was normal. The seriously keen did their warm-ups to ensure loose muscles and circulating blood. The casually keen strolled to the Start. (Their warm-up consisting of the run to the first control.) The VERY casually keen relaxed in their chairs with the final cup of coffee.

T-h-e-n! from the West! In he came! With sheepish smile and aching legs he moved slowly to the Finish tent. With barely disguised embarrassment he inserted his SI stick to have the computer print out those dreaded words. Did Not Finish.

I know those of you who were not there will find it hard to believe. We could barely believe it ourselves! But it is true!

Clive Pope had run off the map! He admits he had become lost! Will we ever see the like again? Old hands were flabbergasted! We gathered around to commiserate with him.

We took away all the sharp instruments. Just in case! The trip back to Coffs Harbour was very muted.

The Start area eventually thinned out as all were sent on their way. It was then wait and see who came where and begin checking the times. After a better than usual run, this correspondent came in and immediately checked the results.

With some surprise and not a little jubilation, I noted that CP had not yet arrived. With a sense of happy anticipation I settled down to await the arrival of said CP. It wasn’t long before it was noted that several of the ‘old and bold’ were casting looks to the Finish and then at their watches. A little muttering began, and then small groups of said ‘old and bold’ began asking questions: ‘When did he leave?’

‘How long has he been out?’

‘Looks like the sun will be down soon.’

‘Should we notify an organiser?’

‘It’s been over 2 hours!’

Everyone ‘in the know’ was now looking to the east to the Finish.

SEPTEMBER 2016 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 43

O-SPY

“Today we showed the world our strength and determination, but more importantly our love for this sport and community.”

o-spy

T

World Rogaining Championships

he 2016 World Championships were staged in July at the Ross River Resort in the East MacDonnell Ranges, some 100km from Alice Springs. Many orienteers took part in the 24-hour event and several came away with World Championship titles.

1st Mixed (and 2nd outright): Rob Preston & Kathryn Preston 1st Women’s Youth: Kelsey Harvey & Alison Burrill 1st Men’s Super Veteran: Geoff Lawford & Rod Gray 1st Women’s Ultra Veteran: Robin Spriggs & Sharon Crawford (US) 1st Men’s Ultra Veteran: Merv Trease & Vic Sedunary The event was won by the Kiwi pair Greig Hamilton & Chris Forne, covering 90.3km.

Competitors came from countries as far away as Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Canada, USA, Italy, Japan, Hong Kong, South Africa, Czech Republic, Spain, and a large contingent from New Zealand. In all, 304 teams of mainly two or three competitors started. Congratulations to all who took part.

Brooms Up! Aussie Dropbears win Quidditch World Cup

I

n July, 24 national teams descended on Frankfurt, Germany, for the 2016 Quidditch World Cup. And the Aussie Dropbears were victorious.

The Dropbears took out America 150*-130 in the United States’ first ever loss. Over the last year, coach Gen Gibson has worked the team from the ground up with the express purpose of taking on the best team in the world.

44 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2016

The Dropbears’ victory was even sweeter as they were previously defeated by the US in the 2014 Final. On the road to glory, they notched up decisive victories against Germany (150*-20), France (110*-60) and Canada (90*-40).

The real-life sport of Quidditch has been running for more than a decade. The rules have been adapted from those invented by author JK Rowling to better suit “muggles” people with no magical abilities. Instead of flying, players run around with a broomstick between their legs, sprinting, tackling, throwing and chasing that all important golden snitch.

The Quidditch World Cup is held every two years and suggestions are that Quidditch could become an Olympic sport within 10 to 15 years.

50km and 2000m climb to celebrate 80th birthday

B

ritish fell running legend Joss Naylor recently turned 80 years of age. To celebrate his 80th Joss arranged to run for charity choosing a favourite route which traversed the Lake District north-east to south-west covering 50km and 2,140m of climb. Along the way he raised money for the Brathay Trust, a charity helping disadvantaged children.

In years gone by Joss was a fell running pal of two who each had a hand in introducing Orienteering to countries on opposite sides of the world – Chris Brasher in the UK and your Editor in this country. Both had run with Joss in the mud, slush and rocky slopes that is fell running in northern England. Neither could hope to match Joss as he tried to teach us to run downhill.

Joss is a true legend. Among his records are his coverage, in 1986 at the age of 50, of all 214 of the summits listed in Alfred Wainwright’s Lake District guides, in seven days, one hour and 25 minutes, clipping half a week off the existing record.

His record was unbeaten for 28 years.

Technology

SPORTident at Easter Matthew Purcell, Head of Digital Innovation and Teacher-in-Charge of Orienteering; Canberra Grammar School.

T

he 2016 Australian 3-Days was a carnival which aimed to fully embrace the latest technologies including video production, a big screen, live results, and the use of SPORTident AIR+ punching. The success of these aspects was largely attributed to the excellent collaboration between many people, including Toph Naunton and the Living it Live team, Colin Price from Aussie O Gear, along with Bill Jones and Bob Mouatt from Orienteering ACT. Canberra Grammar School was also very pleased to be involved in the carnival, providing the team which operated the Finish tent and results systems.

Canberra Grammar School has been involved in Orienteering for many decades, being one of the few schools to offer Orienteering as a winter sport for their students. There is (uncoincidentally) quite a bit of crossover between students interested in Orienteering and those interested in computing and technology, which the school also offers in many forms including our Code Cadets group providing students the opportunity to engage in extra activities beyond the school curriculum to further enhance and extend their knowledge and experience towards technology.

Some of these opportunities include our tour to San Francisco and Silicon Valley, participation in hackathons and programming competitions, and attending Apple’s WWDC. When the opportunity arose to run the IT systems for the Australian 3-Days Orienteering Carnival, this seemed like an excellent opportunity for our students and they were certainly keen to assist.

Given the number of technologies involved the students took a leading role in understanding how it all worked when preparing prior to the carnival, and then coming together as a team during the carnival to ensure everything worked well. The Prologue was perhaps the most challenging day - being the first day of live operations

The Technology Team

of the carnival, and also quite complex in terms of being the only day where every new bit of technology was being used. Fortunately, having the expert assistance of Living it Live along with visiting SPORTident Managing Director, Siegfried Ritter, made the event run smoothly - particularly towards the use of SPORTident AIR+ being used for the first time in a major event in Australia.

Comments about the use of this system were very favourable amongst the Elite competitors (many of which had also used the system at Sprint Canberra earlier in the year).

The other technologies also worked very well - including the big screen, O-Lynx live results, and O-Lynx radio controls. Of course, using such a large amount of technology always comes with associated risks. Quite a bit of planning was done prior to the carnival, including a full 8 hours of system testing the day before the Prologue, to reduce these risks. However, you can’t always plan for everything - and we did encounter some issues, such as results display problems on Day 1 at Isaacs Ridge. Most importantly, we were able to analyse and understand the cause of these issues and resolve them for subsequent days - and also improve the corporate knowledge of Orienteering ACT and Orienteering Australia to avoid similar problems occurring again in the future.

SPORTident Tip Handy to know!

W

e all know that the SI11 and SIAC will beep several times after you punch a control but you may have wondered why this sometimes does not happen! You sometimes get only one beep which enables orienteers to CLEAR and CHECK in quick succession.

Why? If you program your CLEAR unit as number 1 the competitor’s stick will only beep once so enabling them to move forward and CHECK without holding other people up.

Handy to know!

Colin Price www.aussieogear.com Australian Distributor of SPORTident Timing Equipment.

To finish, a particular thanks needs to be extended to the nine students from Canberra Grammar School who gave up their entire Easter long weekend to play a large role in running the IT systems at the event.

SEPTEMBER 2016 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 45

BOOK LAUNCH

The Stewarts of Meredey (now Merridee) Peter Kreminski (President Wallaringa Orienteers)

T

his monograph tells the story of the Meredey Run in the mid north of South Australia beyond Burra, and the Stewart family who a hundred and fifty years ago called it their home.

In it is found much information on the land where the current owners, the Thomas families, kindly allow Orienteering to take place. The history of the land and its peoples is fascinating and gives an insight into the pastoral and family struggles that have resulted in the stations we know today. South Australian orienteers and all who have visited Merridee or Burra should read this story.

The main landowners – Andy and Robyn Thomas being presented with their copy of the book at the launch.

The compact book comprises fifty-six pages in full colour, including ten of 19th and 20th century maps, eight pages of photographs, a comprehensive index of names and numerous footnotes. Authored by Peter Kreminski, it is available for $15 from pvk@internode.on.net or phone 0414 81 0058.

ALL PROFITS WILL BE DONATED TO SOUTH AUSTRALIAN JUNIOR ORIENTEERS Merridee was used on Day 1 of the 2015 Easter 3-Day Championships and has been a regular venue for Orienteering since being mapped in 1990 by Basil and Jean Baldwin. The Baldwins delineated the ruins of a homestead/station which is not named nor does it appear on any other maps of either the 19th or 20th century. They named them ‘Meridee Ruins’.

Revisiting these ruins in 2015 I found them to be intriguingly different from what is seen elsewhere and my curiosity was aroused.

Andy Thomas, the landowner and fifth generation local, stated that they were a mystery to him as well and, although his property is named Merridee, he had not been able to find why, when, or who built that ruined complex. His wife Robyn, working for thirty years as a teacher at the Burra School (which also houses the District Library) also could not help.

This led to considerable research and finally, this month, to the printing of The Stewarts of Meredey.

THE STEWARTS OF MEREDEY Peter Kreminski The story of the Meredey (now Merridee) Run in the mid north of South Australia beyond Burra, and the Stewart family who called it their home

MeRRidee SouTh AuSTRAliA

FOR STOCKISTS CALL 1800 808 971

www.victorinox.com

Victorinox award This issue’s Victorinox Award goes to Lucy Mackie for her outstanding podium place in the Middle Distance event at her first Junior World Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships.

Lucy will receive a Victorinox Handyman which includes 24 tools and features – retail value $139.

46 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2016

top events July 30Scottish 6 Days Aug 5 Deeside, Scotland August 19-27 WMTBOC & JWMTBOC 2017 Vilnius, Lithuania. www.mtbo.lt Sept 232017 AUS Championships Carnival Oct 1 Hill End, Bathurst, NSW www.onsw.asn.au/auschamps2017 Dec 27-31 Xmas 5 Days, NSW www.onsw.asn.au

2016 Sept 10 Sept 24Oct 2 Sep 29Oct 2 Oct 1-2

Oct 8-15

Oct 14-16

Nov 12-13

Nov 18-20

Dec 27-31

City of London Race www.cityrace.org 2016 AUS Championships Carnival Gold Coast to Granite Belt SE Qld www.auschamps2016.com WMMTBOC 2016, Kaunas, Lithuania www.mtbo.lt XXVIII SUUNTO GAMES 2016 Haanja, Estonia www.woc2017.ee/suuntogames Alice Springs Masters Games Alice Springs, NT alicespringsmastersgames.com.au AUS MTBO Championships Dwellingup WA www.ausmtbochamps.com Venice City Race Weekend Venice, Italy www.orivenezia.it NZ MTBO Championships Rotorua, NZ events.orienteering.org.nz/ mtbochamps Xmas 5 Days, Newcastle area NSW www.onsw.asn.au

2018 March 30April 2 dates TBA June 1-3 dates TBC July 6-13

July 8-15

July 21-27 Aug 3-10

2017 April 14-17 April 22-29

April 29-30

June 10-12 June 17-18

June 29July 2 June 30July 7

Oceania Carnival near Auckland, New Zealand WMOC 2017 near Auckland, New Zealand worldmastersgames2017.co.nz 10Mila Göteborg, Sweden www.10mila.se AUS 3 Days & QBIII, NSW Jukola Relay 2017 Joensuu, Finland www.jukola.com/2017 European Youth Championships Banská Bystrica, Slovakia www.eyoc2017.com/ WOC 2017 Tartu, Estonia www.woc2017.ee

July 5-9

Czech MTBO 5-Days Pilsen, Czech Republic www.mtbo5days.eu

July 9-16

JWOC 2017 Tampere, Finland www.jwoc2017.fi FIN5 2017 Tampere, Finland

July 9-16 July 22-28

July 25-27 July 29Aug 4

O-Ringen 2017 Arvika, Värmland, Sweden. www.oringen.se The World Games Wroclaw, Poland WMMTBOC 2017 Orleans, France www.mtbo17.fr

Aug 4-12 dates tba Dec 27-31

AUS Easter Carnival, Tasmania www.tasorienteering.asn.au European Youth Championships Bulgaria www.eyoc2018.com/ WMMTBOC 2018 Nagykovacsi, Hungary WMOC 2018 Copenhagen, Denmark JWOC 2018 Kecskemét, Hungary www.jwoc2018.hu/ O-Ringen 2018 Höga Kusten, Sweden. www.oringen.se WOC 2018 Riga, Latvia woc2018.lv WMTBOC, JWMTBOC, Austria AUS Championships, South Aus Xmas 5 Days, NSW www.onsw.asn.au

2019 July 6-13 Aug 13-18

JWOC 2019 Silkeborg, Denmark WOC 2019 Sarpsborg, Østfold, Norway

Advertise your event You can have a 6 x 9 cm event ad for just $50 In colour, if we have room, otherwise black & white Send artwork to The Editor: mikehubbert@ozemail.com.au

In memory of Rex Saye, the orienteering software which he designed and wrote (OTrack and Corpse version 7 with new features) is now available free of charge at

www.o-ware.com SEPTEMBER 2016 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 47

60°19’10”N 12°2’29”E

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