Our crew spent four days at the NZ Secondary Schools Orienteering Championships in Canterbury, and it was a good week to be around junior orienteering. Competitors from Year 7 through 13 came to Christchurch to test their map reading and their legs.
The courses asked for everything, from split-second decisions on fast campus sprints to honest physical work through coastal dunes and steep hill country.
Four terrains in four days
The week opened with the relay near Kairaki and Pines Beach, where slick handovers and smart route choice set the pace. Day two moved to the technical dune terrain of the long forest event at Waikuku, which rewarded sharp focus and punished a wandering mind.
Saturday brought urban navigation to Lincoln University, where route choice around courtyards and campus buildings decided sprint times. The week finished on the Port Hills at Victoria Park for the rogaine championship, with real elevation gain and views across the Canterbury Plains.
Thanks where it's due
Congratulations to every student who took it on, to the coaches and families who travelled to support them, and to the volunteers and host club, Peninsula and Plains Orienteers, for putting on a week that ran properly from start to finish.
Two partners helped us sponsor the event:
- SPORTident, who helped us put SPORTident Airs up as prizes, which added something to every prize-giving.
- Oland, who helped us make custom event buffs for every student, well used in the Christchurch cold.
The sportsmanship, resilience, and navigation on display all week showed again how healthy junior orienteering is in New Zealand.
See you at the next start line.
