WUOC was a fun-spirited event designed for university students, but the competition was very fierce, with a large number of WOC-level runners. The team felt it was refreshing to race against athletes who were also students, as opposed to the full-time professionals seen in the World Cup and WOC. Unfortunately, some team members faced illness and a bout of food poisoning, so there was a bit of quarantining within the team. It was also very hot despite being 1000m in elevation and near a ski field.

The sprint through the historic part of town was interesting with its cobbled streets, but the heat took some of the wind out of people’s sails.

The middle and relay terrain was lush and complex, with Joe finishing16th despite some early course mistakes, and Felix securing 21st place.

Kiwi student team results below, but also we also would like to congratulate previous NZ Coach-in-Residence Inès Berger. Inès was in the Swiss sprint relay team that placed second, and won gold in the middle distance. We like to think that summer training in NZ proves to have its benefits! And kudos to the Aussie sprint team with Nea Shingler, Angus Haines, Ewan Shingler and Caitlin Young  finishing inside the top ten placing 9th and the women’s Aussie female forest relay team also placing 9th.  

Results:

SPRINT Thursday 1 August
Men:
19th Joseph Lynch +0:41
78th Jacob Knoef +2:56
79th Felix Hunt +2:58
92nd Cameron Bonar +3:41
MP Nicholas Green
Women:
42nd Kaia Jorgensen +1:56
65th Zara Stewart +2:58
79th Briana Steven +3:55
97th Kate Cory-Wright +6:26

SPRINT RELAY Friday 2 August
14th team: Kaia Jorgensen, Jacob Knoef, Joseph Lynch, Zara Stewart +5:22

MIDDLE DISTANCE Sun 4 August
Men:16th Joseph Lynch +3:13
21st Felix Hunt +3:43
96th Jacob Knoef +17:37
104th Nicolas Green +21:10
114th Cameron Bonar +30:47

Women:
60th Kaite Cory-Wright +12:21
68th Kaia Jorgensen +15:51
71st Briana Steven +16:26
100th Zara Stewart +29:22

FOREST RELAY Monday 5 August
Men:
12th team:  Jacob Knoef, Felix Hunt  Joseph Lynch
Women:
15th team: Kaia Jorgensen, Kaite Cory-Wright, Briana Steven