Whitehorse Daily Star

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Photo by John Tonin

CHECKING IN – Orienteerer Martin Slama clocks in at the first control during the final race of the Yukon Orienteering Association’s Coast Mountain Sports Sprint Series on Thursday. The course took races along the river and out to Second Avenue.

Orienteerers race in final sprint series

The Yukon Orienteering Association (YOA) concluded their Coast Mountain Sports Sprint Series on Thursday,

By John Tonin on May 21, 2019

The Yukon Orienteering Association (YOA) concluded their Coast Mountain Sports Sprint Series on Thursday, fitting since it was World Orienteering Day. The series was comprised of five races all done on different courses.

The skies looked threatening but the rain held off as 49 competitors hit the course with their map and compass. The course was a long narrow run between 2nd Avenue and the Yukon River.

The course had 17 controls for the orienteerers to punch in at. Some were tightly spaced but the race saw very few mis-punches.

The athletes started the course behind the Yukon government building and took the racers past the library. North of the library, the orienteerers had to flip their map over and make their way to seven more controls, before finishing at Rotary Park.

The race had a few newcomers but most runners had been out for the previous sprints. Over the duration of the series, the racers will accumulate points towards their final score after the five races. The best four out of the five races will be used to calculate the runners’ overall scores.

It was the first time a sprint series has been held in the Yukon. Erik Blake told the Star at the first race of the five-week series was modelled after a series he would participate in while living in Norway and that the Yukon Orienteering Association decided to give it a try this year.

YOA president Afan Jones said the sprint series was a good precursor to the mid-distance races which began May 8.

“My hat goes off to Erik (Blake) and Sabine (Schweiger) for organizing it and kind of energizing us at the beginning of the season,” said Jones. “At the beginning of the season to have short distance races right in town it really gets us up and going and now we still got a regular season of 12 events ahead of us.”

Jones said sprint orienteering offers different challenges when compared to the races in the woods.

“It’s almost considered a different sport for some of us,” said Jones. “We are used to doing it in the forest where you are primarily in the forest and in more advanced courses you’ll be going straight through the bush.

“In the city, it is very fast and it’s over in 15 minutes. You are mostly on asphalt but it’s a different kind of challenge because of all the buildings and structures you are up against. You have to be very smart and thinking how do I get around these various obstacles?”

Martin Slama said the sprint series was a neat experience as he could use his prior knowledge of the cityscape to his advantage.

“I liked it,” said Slama. “You are working in familiar areas so you can use your own little advantage of your experience in the area to have shortcuts and whatnot.”

The overall winner with the best cumulative score during the sprint races in the 12 and under category was Stian Langbakk. His fastest time was 19:46 and he posted it in the fifth race. Throughout the series, he continued to get faster. Micah McConnell and Kieran Horton came third.

Colin Abbott won the M21E class. Abbott competed in all but one of the races. The races he did participate in he posted the best time. In his race on Thursday he reached the finish line in 11:26. Leif Blake and Caelan McLean were the other top finishers.

Pia Blake narrowly edged out Jane Hollenberg in points to win the F21E category. Pia Blake’s quickest time came on Thursday when she completed the course in 13:46. Jennifer MacKeigan rounded out the top three.

Forest Pearson was the top M35+ athlete. His fastest time came on the final day as he reached the 17 controls in 12:22. Benoit Turcotte was the second quickest orienteer and he was followed by Darren Holcombe.

The F35+ division was taken by Lara Melnik. Her quickest time was posted during the last race and was 20:57. Judith van Gulick and Rima Khouri were a close second and third.

Bruce McLean had the best cumulative score of the M55+ orienteerers. Like his fellow racers, he posted his best time on the last course, completing it in 20:57. Bob Sagar had the second best score and Jones came third.

Barbara Scheck finished the final course of the series in 18:06 as she cruised to the top of the W55+ category. Deb Kiemele and Nesta Leduc were the next best scores.

The Little Red Running Shorts were the top scoring team after the five sprint series races.

Their best time came during the second race and was 33:57. Salix and Madsen was the second highest scoring team and Selena and Scott third.

With the sprint series over the YOA will be turning their focus to the B Meets. The next event will be this Wednesday.

The meeting point is at Raven’s Ridge.

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