Great results for Yukon orienteerers at 2008 Canadian championships

Twenty two hardy souls didn't let the rain put them off and came out to enjoy the forest for the Yukon Orienteering Associations' Wednesday night meet.

Twenty two hardy souls didn’t let the rain put them off and came out to enjoy the forest for the Yukon Orienteering Associations’ Wednesday night meet.

The Intermediate course was the popular choice. An interesting development was the three father/son combinations where the sons all came out on top.

Logan Roots had a great time to be first and finish well ahead of his dad Charlie, Young Caelan McLean was ahead of his dad Bruce and Trevor Bray squeaked in ahead of his dad Darryl.

Roots finished the intermediate 2.5-km, 10 control point course with an impressive time of 21:00.

Other results in the intermediate category included a second place finish by Justine Scheck, who recorded a time of 27:56, while Charlie Roots wasn’t too far off, rounding out the top three at 28:32.

The Blake /Schweiger family, still suffering from jet lag after returning from the Canadian Orienteering Championships in New Brunswick, let the children do the map reading and make the route choice decisions.

The sporadic pouring of rain didn’t affect Pam James from taking top spot in the advanced category. James completed the 4.5-km, 14 control course with an incredible time of 57:38, while Ryan Kelly came in 73:03.

The novice course was won by the team of Finn and Forest Pearson, who came in at 19:17. Atlin and Brendan Shopland finished in second, completing the 1.5-km course at 27:23.

In other orienteering news, 10 Yukoners travelled east to New Brunswick’s Fundy National Park to test their skills in the incredibly thick forest.

Erik Blake said it was the first time he had navigated through forest so thick you couldn’t see the contours of the ground around you.

On the other hand his partner Sabine said it was a great feeling when you found your controls exactly where you thought they should be.

The Yukon contingent had some excellent results, particularly young Leif and Pia Blake who at only nine and 11 years old were both competing in the under 12 categories. Pia finished in first place with a time of 22:59, while Leif came in fourth at 27:06.

Dahria Beatty was consistently strong on her Course 3 in the W 15-16 category. Beatty finished in first place with her time of 19:58. Karen McKenna won the gold medal in the middle distance in a very large strong field. Her time was eight and half minutes faster than her nearest competitor.

Erik Blake earned Bronze in the M45 in the classic distance race. This race also featured a large and strong field, which made his third place finish even more impressive.

Nesta Leduc continued to show her mettle with good results. Nesta is now participating in swimming at the Canadian Senior Games. She won her category with a time of 19:11.

The Yukon Orienteering Associations next meet is on Sept. 10 on the Riverdale map. For more info call Barbara Scheck at 668-2306. Also coming soon will be the registration forms for the Golden Aspen Orienteering Festival which incorporates Part 2 and 3 of the Yukon Orienteering Championships.

Story provided by Barbara Scheck.