TOP END CHAMPS

Sunset at East Point after the warm-up event. Jeffa Lyon helps with the results

Trewin, Haarsma inaugural NT Champions

The very first Northern Territory Championships went off very successfully in early July, with about 120 competitors gathered from all parts of Australia and beyond (including a significant New Zealand contingent). It was a new Orienteering experience for all the visitors – which is why most of them were there. It was also a very enjoyable one for most, although many found the courses long, particularly as the weather, in addition to being as hot as everyone expected it to be, was also rather more humid than is usual for the middle of the “dry” season. Blair Trewin reprts:

NT Champs course setter Jon Potter presents land custodian Speedy McGinness with an orienteering map of his land (holding it upside down though)

THE action opened with an afternoon event at East Point, a popular Darwin reserve, which gave competitors their first chance to experience the local forest, as well as mangroves and mudflats (neither as formidable as they looked at first glance, but it was the middle of the “dry”).

The real reason most were there, though, was the Championships event the next day. This was at Lok Cabay, about 100 kilometres south of Darwin, and provided an interesting variety of terrain – low rocky ridges typical of much of the Top End, flat blacksoil plains in between (with some very big termite mounds – anything shorter than 2 metres didn’t rate as worthy of the mapper’s attention - some were up to 3.5 metres), and in the middle of it all some very complex areas of stromatolite rocks. In addition to being highly interesting from a geological point of view, these made for some good Orienteering, being large detailed boulders in the middle of essentially flat terrain.

Overlaying all of this was standard Top End vegetation – a dense grass understorey everywhere that wasn’t burnt. About 90% of the area was burnt (something normal in the Top End, where most areas experience a burn of some kind every dry season), and some competitors who took a straight line across some light green on the way to the last control were left wishing they hadn’t!

It is an area which is normally difficult to get access to, and our ability to use it owed a lot to Top End Orienteers’ excellent relationship with the traditional owners, which extended to a much-enjoyed bush tucker night the evening before the event.

The elite fields were thinner than might have been hoped for, given the possibilities that Darwin offered for hot-weather training en route to the World Championships. M21A was still reasonably competitive for two-thirds of the race. Rob Vincent, keeping pace with Blair Trewin through the middle third, was less than five minutes in arrears with 4km to go, but that gap blew out over the last part of the course, in the distance range that M21s are used to running and M45s aren’t. Vincent was second, but his time was just pipped by Murray Scown, running the same course in M20A. Kay Haarsma was the only finisher in W21A after her lone competitor (TEO local Katie Webby) pulled out with a bad leg gash, requiring a quick trip up to Darwin Hospital. W35 Mani Berghout got close to her on the same course in one of the better local performances of the day.

Amongst the older age groups, the best race was in M60, where three New South Welshmen fought out a close battle, Dave Lotty scoring by two minutes over Ron Junghans and Dick Ogilvie. M65 was also close with Barry Sampson just ahead of Neville Cobbold, whilst there were also strong performances from Leigh Privett (M50) and Paul Hoopmann (M55). The New Zealand women had a good day with two wins, to Ann Scott (W65) and Bunny Rathbone (W60) and four other placings. Sue Healy upset Maureen Ogilvie in W70, Lynn Dabbs had one of the day’s better runs in W50, and only 25secs separated second, third and fourth in W55, with Carol Jacobson taking the runner-up’s position behind Jennie Bourne.

The competition week finished with a rogaine at Adelaide River the next weekend (with a few hair-raising stories heard about nocturnal river crossings, uncrossable rivers being something to be taken seriously in that part of the world thanks to the local wildlife). The rest of us spent the week admiring the terrain to be found elsewhere in the Top End (and, in the best Orienteering tradition, trying to work out which bits would be worth mapping given the chance). It was a week with a difference but one which just about everyone was glad to have done, and definitely worth doing in the future if you want something very different to the Orienteering you’ve experienced in the southern states.

Joel Sullivan during the East Point event - Joel is a TEO junior and came 3rd on the short course

Bush tucker provided by the Acacia community

Susi’s reflections

THE success of the NT Championships carnival was due in no small way to the energy and enthusiasm of Top End’s Susi Bertei. With the carnival over and most of the dust now settled, Susi reminisces:

Some of my enduring memories include: • East Point: Everyone descending on us - some coming straight from the airport! Meeting all the faces whose names I knew quite well by then. Quite a number of visitors opting down a course, from long to medium, or medium to short – the heat factor always gets you … • We had a special prize for Maureen Olgilvie, who had quite a few people worried when she hadn’t returned from her short 3km course after a lengthy time. Turns out she was new to the scatter-O format and though she needed just 8 of the 22 controls, she ended up getting them all! We created a new ‘extra long’ category just for her. • Bush Tucker Dinner was an experience not to forget, local wildlife including wallaby, goose, turkey and various fish cooked in the ground in the traditional manner. Our chefs were from Acacia community, neighbours of Lok Cabay custodian Speedy McGinness. • NT Champs: Locals enjoyed the chance to participate in a more upscale event, making comment about both the number of extra orienteers and extra controls dotted around. • Visitors loved the different terrain, the 4+ metre termite mounds, and the unique stromatolite formations. Many went back for a walk among the stromatolites afterwards; some went back for a good look the following morning. It’s easy to understand how they can be seen as sacred. We were so fortunate to be allowed to get in among them; orienteers were seen by the landowners to be caring and sensitive. • Jon Potter negotiated permission for us to run on this land, set the courses, made the control stands, etc, etc; spending untold hours to make this event a success. Was it he who enticed ‘Southerners’ and ‘Kiwis’ to come to Darwin when he attended events interstate? • The fact that Orienteering is “a sport for all ages” was clearly demonstrated by the number of entries in M65A, M70A, M75A, W65A, W70A, & W75A categories. It’s always inspirational to see them out there competing.

Locals who did well include: • Mani Berghout who won W35A despite hobbling around the last few controls with an ankle injury, posting a very creditable time only 9 mins behind W21A winner Kay Haarsma (same course). • Marj King with stiff opposition just 3 mins out of 2nd place in W55A. • Juniors Joel Sullivan in M16B and Kelly Bertei in M12A who both won their classes on challenging courses. • Isabel Guthridge in W10A – first time competing on her own, and Gordon Campbell in M10N – first official orienteering event ever. • Other impressive performances: Bunny Rathbone from NZ running up 2 classes and winning W60A, Owen Coffee from SA winning the challenging M14A course, Max Earnshaw age 7 from PAPO (NZ) winning M10N. • Breakdown of entries by state/country: NT 45; NSW 24; SA 19; Vic 14; NZ 12; ACT 10; Qld 6; WA 2; UK/Ireland 2.

The “feel good” story of the NT Championships involves a young lad who competed in the M10N class and a very kind and caring official. The young fellow came in after being out on the course for about an hour appearing hot, distressed and upset since he hadn’t managed to locate the first control in that time so had turned back “empty handed”. After consultation the official suggested that they go for a drive in his car to the area where the elusive control was located. The extra height gained by being in the car seat enabled our young competitor to see the control easily and he jumped out of the car and finished the course.

There are several very impressive lessons here. The action of the official ensured that the boy had a positive and enhancing experience associated with the NT Championships and Orienteering in general, in contrast to negative feelings and low self-esteem that he would have suffered had the official not helped in that way. The young lad is most likely going to come back and compete in future events now, where otherwise he may have been lost to the sport forever – assuming that he was no good at it. The young lad should be congratulated as well since he had the eagerness and tenacity to finish the course after the initial unfortunate start. The lad showed the characteristics of a true NT Champion!