Starting from Wagga Beach participants had to visit specific locations around central Wagga to find the answer to questions within a set time limit. Course setter Julie Sunley put an interesting slant on the St Valentine’s Day event with the answer to most questions being a date. Points were awarded for correct answers and deducted for exceeding the time limit.

Participants had to plan their courses well. There were numerous point scoring opportunities clustered around the Wollundry Lagoon including a couple of higher valued tempters. However once these had been taken participants were faced with a long run either north or south to the next logical batch of controls. This took them away from the finish area and increased the risk of exceeding their time limit. To the south there were numerous lower valued control sites along the river to the railway viaduct but this pretty much forced a zig-zag return through the CBD again risking exceeding the time limit. To the north were a few tempting high valued controls sites after which participants were faced with a long run to get any further points.

Briohny Seaman chose to head south towards the railway viaduct and then come through the CBD to the Civic Theatre precinct. The tactic worked well and she picked up answers at regular intervals to amass an excellent 125 points within her 30 minute time limit. 

The Priest family, Bernadette, Charlotte and Harriet, finished second with 80 points. They chose to follow the river part of the way south to Tony Ireland Reserve and then headed across to the Wollundry Lagoon area but did get caught out finishing 1½ minutes late.

Pauline Moore also did very well finishing in third place on the 30 minute course with 70 points and scored the bragging rights over husband Bob who finished fourth with 60 points. She also won the handicap honours for the second week in a row.

John Oliver won the 45 minute course with 130 points. He took a very similar route as Briohny Seaman and finished with just 5 points more although he had the advantage of an extra 15 minutes. Waggaroos junior Jack Janetzki finished second with a good 105 points. Bryan Hardy from the Wullundigong orienteering club in Western Australia finished third with 100 points. Bryan took a similar route to the Priest family but in reverse and managed to pick up 10 points more.

The next event in the Waggaroos Summer Orienteering Series will start at 6 pm in Burns Way next to the Civic Theatre.

Briohny Seaman had a superb win in event 7 of the Waggaroos Summer Orienteering Series in Estella last Thursday evening.

As usual participants had to visit specific locations in the area to find the answer to questions within a set time limit. Questions included identifying particular features within laneways, particulars about various signs, and numbers on electrical sub-stations. Points were awarded for correct answers and deducted for exceeding the time limit.

Starting from the playground in Manneke Park the course included a number of lower value control sites in the northern part of Estella and some higher value ones further away to provide participants with the option of running further to sites with higher value or obtaining a high score by visiting many more sites close by. Although the numerous laneways and open areas allowed reasonable access between the various cul-de-sacs most found themselves doubling back and retracing footsteps during their course.

Briohny Seaman chose to participate on the 30 minute course to pick up many of the higher valued sites and in spite of returning 3 minutes early amassed an outstanding 215 points.  This was 75 points more than second placegetter Alex Davey who has been consistently winning summer series events this season and just 15 points fewer than John Oliver who participated on the 45 minute course for 12 minutes longer.

Pauline Moore also did very well finishing in third place on the 30 minute course and won the handicap for the evening.

The next event in the Waggaroos Summer Orienteering Series will start at 6 pm at Wagga Wagga Beach on Thursday 14th February.

The event was held around Bourkelands and involved visiting specific locations in the area to find the answer to questions within a set time limit. Because of the warm weather participants were restricted to a 30 minute time limit to find as many answers as possible. Questions included identifying particular features in gardens, specific wording on signs, and the numbers on specific power poles. Points were awarded for correct answers and deducted for exceeding the time limit.

Starting from the playground at the southern end of Yarrawah Crescent the course was designed with a number of lower value control sites close by and fewer higher valued ones further away. This was in anticipation of warm running conditions and provided participants with the option of running further to sites with higher value or obtaining a high score by visiting many more sites close by.

Alex Davey chose to run further afield to higher valued sites whereas Wes Campbell and the Sunleys chose to stay closer in. Interestingly Alex was the only one who managed to finish within the allotted time limit. As the time limit approached, those closer in were tempted to take one more site for a few extra points because it did not seem to be far out of the way.

The next event in the Waggaroos Summer Orienteering Series will start at 6pm at Manneke Park in Pugsley Dr, Estella just north of Doman St.

All courses included a number of short legs in tricky rocky terrain that required accurate navigation as well as long legs across hillsides that required vigilance to avoid clambering between the boulders or fighting the blackberries. Most participants wandered off their line across the hillsides at some stage and placings largely reflected skills at recovering to get back on track.

Alex Davey had a comfortable win on the 6 km Hard course finishing some 17 minutes ahead of John Oliver. Both men navigated satisfactorily to most target features but found some parts of the forest very slow to traverse. Alex’s main mistake was towards the end of his run when he wandered offline to an adjacent parallel spur. John Oliver came second after a mistake mid-course when he misread some boulder features and ran well past the target rock.

Newcastle orienteers Peter and Maria Orr finished first and second on the 4.6 km Hard course well ahead of Waggaroos first runner, Wes Campbell. All three had some difficulties navigating and getting through the rough undercover in the early parts of the course.

Ed McDougall made a rare appearance and showed he still has orienteering talent by being the only competitor to finish the 4.1 km Moderate course. Other participants on this course lost direction attempting a riskier cross-country option rather than a hillier track option.

Kath Oliver had a very narrow 2 second victory on the 2.6 km Easy course just holding out Lachlan Granger. Tom & Will Kerr were not far off the pace finishing in third place just ahead of April Granger.

With two courses on offer being only 1600 m and 1100 m long speed was of the essence. However the zig-zag nature of sprint orienteering courses creates many changes in direction which with the lagoon and garden beds providing natural barriers to direct running meant competitors had to think carefully about the most efficient way to approach each target control site.

The challenge was increased with the control site markers were located in various nooks and crannies or in a way that competitors did not have a direct line of sight. Nonetheless most participants completed their course with minimal difficulty and several were enthused enough to do both courses.

Julie Gooding was fastest around the 1100 m course finishing just over 2 minutes ahead of Rob McDougall. The Farquhar family finished third just ahead of Cameron and Lachlan Granger.

On the 1600 m course Stuart Young took the honours finishing almost 3 minutes ahead of Trent Seaman. John Oliver finished third and Ian McDougall finished fourth.

Event 8 was conducted at Nail Can Hill on the outskirts of Albury. Because of the steep terrain courses were a little shorter than normal. The forest had splashes of colour throughout with the early season wildflower starting to bloom. The numerous bike tracks were a mixed blessing; simultaneously assisting negotiating the hillsides and confusing the navigation. Most courses led participants initially along an open hillside visiting numerous little gullies and then swung straight across a significant ridge line and demanded some serious thinking about route choice. Waggaroos managed the challenges extremely well and did well on all courses capturing a bevy of bonus points.

Waggaroos juniors were at the forefront. Jack Janetski and Cameron McDougall finished second and third respectively on the 3.4 km Hard course, Joannah McDougall finished second on the 2.4 km Moderate Course and Rob McDougall won the 1.6 km Easy course.

Senior orienteers also did well with Alex Davey (W) winning the 4.6 km Hard Course and Stuart Young winning the Moderate Course.  Some of Albury’s orienteers did very well. Matt Flower and Peter Mousley challenged Alex Davey strongly on the 4.6 km Hard course but fell just short, and Ricky Armstrong just held off the Waggaroos juniors on the 3.4 km Hard course. However, most of Albury’s usual high performers were under par on the day.

The excellent all-round contributions by Waggaroos orienteers resulted in Waggaroos winning the day 46:42 and the series 370:313.