Oceania Orienteering Championships

New Zealanders dominate in the heat of Canterbury

Kiwi Jamie Stewart (Christchurch) handled the heat and pressure easily in his return to international competition today at Lincoln University to win an Oceania Sprint Orienteering Championship medal by the closest of possible margins today, defeating the pre-race favourite Simon Uppill (Australia) by one second.

Stewart lost 4 seconds to Uppill in the first leg leading out from the start but regrouped immediately and led virtually all the way from then.

"I made an early error running around the university buildings but that got me in the groove and focused for the rest of the course." said Stewart, who was a finalist at the World Orienteering Championships in Japan in 2005. "It's great to be back in form and to win an Oceania title".

James Bradshaw (Auckland), returning from injury, also made the selectors take note with his third placing, leading the New Zealand Pinestars team to an emphatic victory over the Australian Bushrangers (30-19) in the first of the three Elite Test Match series races.

Wellingtonian Lizzie Ingham, 2008 National Superseries Champion, confirmed her New Zealand number one ranking with a 25 second win over young New Zealander Amber Morrison (Hawkes Bay).

Another large points margin between the New Zealand Pinestars and Bushrangers for the women (34-19) means that in the overall tally, the Australians will be on the back foot for the next twoTest Matches at Craigieburn and Duntroon.

Results: Oceania Orienteering Championships Sprint Distance. Lincoln University, Canterbury.

Elite Men 3.32 km: 1 Jamie Stewart (New Zealand) 16:15, 2 Simon Uppill (Australia/Bushrangers) 16:16, 3 James Bradshaw (New Zealand/Pinestars) 16:35, 4 Nicolas Simonin (New Caledonia) 16:55, 5 Carsten Joergensen (NZ) 17:03, 6 Eric Morris (Aust), 7 Michael Adams (New Zealand/Pinestars) 17:08, 8 Jim Russell (Aust) 17:11, 9 Simon Jager (NZ) 19.58, 10 Henryk Dobslaw (Germany) 17:14.

Elite Women 2.8km: 1 Lizzie Ingham (New Zealand/Pinestars) 15:45, 2 Amber Morrison 16:10, 3 Mari Vaananen (Finland) 16:23, 4 Penny Kane (New Zealand/Pinestars) 17:05, 5 Lara Prince (New Zealand) 17:12, 6 Tania Robinson (New Zealand/Pinestars) 17:19, 7 Line Soderlund (Denmark) 17:20, 8 Rita Homes (New Zealand/Pinestars) 17:37, 9 Laurina Neumann (Australia/Bushrangers) 25.44, 10 Rebecca Smith (New Zealand).

The Oceania Orienteering Championships continue tomorrow with Relays at Kairaki Beach, north of Christchurch where the Australians challenge New Zealand in all age-classes.

The next Elite Test match will occur at the Long Distance Oceania Orienteering Championships at Craigieburn on Wednesday 7 January.