It's always exciting to see so many keen children at the Schools O' events. About 8 schools with over 180 children took part in the events in the past 2 weeks
Not only are the children racing individually to make it through to the final, they are also fighting it out for the Schools trophy. Each runner is given points according to their times on the courses with the winners receiving 1000 points. The best 5 runners from each school count towards the log
After 2 events defending champs Fourways are in the lead. Randpark is in second and St Davids is third.
There were some great performances at Zoo Lake, the first event of the series. Timothy Chambers and Christie Courtnage (both club orienteers) were winners of the junior courses. On the junior girls course Michaela Bramhall and Shannon Denton both did well coming 2nd and 3rd respectively. On the boys course Devon Els and David Avierinos had good runs to make it into the top 3
Bradley dominated the senior boys course in 12:10 with Michael Wilson in second and Alpheus Ramphele in third. The senior girls course was dominated by Fourways High. Nicoletta Andrea, Raffaella Montali and Thabile Sithole made up the top 3.
Heron Bridge on the 14th of February was an exciting event! The organizers had learned how to deal with the large number of people and the courses designed by junior squad member Steph Courtnage were nice and tricky.
Once again Timothy Chambers from Fourways had a great run on the junior boys course but David Avierinos (Cornwall Hill) wasn't far behind him in second place. In third also not far behind was Brandon Inkley from Randpark.
On the junior girls course Cian Oldknow showed why she was selected as a national youth squad member for 2011 and young Kirsten Chambers had a very good run to finish second. In third was Shalom Chitanda from Randpark.
The senior boys course was hotly contested. Brad took the win once again but was almost beaten by Greg Averinos who managed the fasted time on the course but missed the last control. Jason Georgiou was in 2nd and Rowan Terry from St Davids was in third.
The senior girls only had 18 finishers with Nicoletta Andrea winning once again. Jessica Thiels was second and Kim Caboz was third.
It's encouraging to see such great performances but more importantly the enthusiasm shown by all the competitors. Hopefully we'll see lots of these talented girls and guys at a few of the club events.
Few people realize the amount of effort required to pull off these events smoothly and the massive role the league plays in the development of orienteering in SA. Many of our top juniors are a product of the schools league. So a huge thanks to everyone who makes these events possible!!
In the next few weeks there are events at the Wits Education Campus and Saint Stithians. The final is on the 7th of march at the Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens.
Check out the blog after next weeks event for results and hopefully a few pictures.
