New Zealand Sprint Orienteering Championships

Speed and youth were on show at the National sprint orienteering championships as junior elites Toby Scott and Kate Morrison posted the fastest times of the day, surpassing former champions Darren Ashmore and Lizzie Ingham.

Twenty year old engineering student Toby Scott dared to run up in the elite grade and was fully justified with a emphatic win by 48 seconds over 7 time champion Darren Ashmore.

Already selected for the Junior World Championships team, Scott is looking to qualify for the World Championships team - a likely prospect if he repeats this form at the longer distances.

Speed and fast thinking was the key to Scott’s win:”We’ve been doing a lot of sprint specific training in Auckland, looking for ways to shave a few seconds of time here and there by clever route choice.”

His junior team-mate Tim Robertson also posted a time some ten seconds faster than Ashmore for his M20 win over Matt Ogden and Duncan Morrison.

An effort more impressive given Robertson’s age of only fifteen, albeit coupled with excellent tactics: “Whenever I got to the technical sections I took an easy route choice and ran as hard as I could.”

Three time elite champion Karl Dravitzki made a solid return to the podium with third place behind Scott and Ashmore and will be hoping to improve by a place or two over the middle distance this Saturday.

But the level of competition will jump a notch as sprint race course-setter and defending champion Ross Morrison joins the middle distance fray.

Ross Morison, 2010 middle distance champion, was short a few hours of sleep after setting the sprint courses but ready to defend his title: “It would have been good to race Toby in the sprint but I’m really looking forward to a tough middle distance race.”

Junior elite womens winner Kate Morrison elected to race her own grade but still managed to post a faster time by 3 seconds over elite winner Lizzie Ingham, after some very intensive preparation: “ We had a sprint training day in Auckland - 15 races over the day, each a kilometre long. So I was hoping for a good race and it all went to plan. ”

Lizzie Ingham was pleased with her return to the top of the elite womens podium after nine months on the sidelines: “Though I heard the commentator say I was well ahead and eased up on the last stretch!”

Results
2011 NZ Sprint Orienteering Championships, Hawkes Bay. 22 April, 2011.
Elite Men
1 Toby Scott AK Auckland 14:54
2 Darren Ashmore BP Bay Of Plenty 15:42
3 Karl Dravitzki TA Taranaki 15:43
4 Thomas Reynolds NW North West 15:49
5 Jourdan Harvey CM Counties 15:58
6 Jamie Stewart WN Wellington 16:00
7 Carsten Joergensen PP Peninsular & Plains 16:11
8 Tane Cambridge PP Peninsular & Plains 16:23
9 Bryn Davies HV Hutt Valley 16:25
10 Jason Markham HV Hutt Valley 16:35
11 Michael Adams PP Peninsular & Plains 17:01

Elite Women
1 Lizzie Ingham NZL100 88 WN Wellington 14:10
2 Piret Klade EST138 83 HV Hutt Valley 15:08
3 Penny Kane NZL41 81 WN Wellington 16:39
4 Georgia Whitla NZL104 89 PP Peninsular & Plains 17:03
5 Imogene Scott NZL7 89 AK Auckland 17:04
6 Yvette Baker 67 WN Wellington 17:28
7 Rebecca Smith NZL25 77 BP Bay Of Plenty 17:32
8 Rita Homes NZL8 86 HB Hawkes Bay 17:50
9 Tessa Ramsden NZL6 88 RK Red Kiwi 18:00
10 Amber Morrison NZL60 87 HB Hawkes Bay 18:08

Junior Elite Men
1 Tim Robertson HV Hutt Valley 15:32
2 Matt Ogden NW North West 15:40
3 Duncan Morrison HB Hawkes Bay 15:55
4 Nick Hann WN Wellington 16:18
5 Gene Beveridge NW North West 16:46

Junior Elite Women
1 Kate Morrison HB Hawkes Bay 14:07
2 Angela Simpson BP Bay Of Plenty 14:19
3 Laura Robertson HV Hutt Valley 16:00
4 Jaime Goodwin HB Hawkes Bay 17:08
5 Selena Metherell PP Peninsular & Plains 17:28