Oceania Middle Distance  

The championships opened on Saturday 26 September at Bogong Creek, south of the Australian Capital Territory, on a warm 26-degree day with abundant mobs of kangaroos grazing around the competition area. The terrain featured native eucalypt bush, rolling hills and granite boulders. New Zealand made a strong start to the Oceania Orienteering Championships, with individual performances in the middle distance with Rachel Baker finished in first place and Zefa Fa’avae taking second in 21E .

Zefa Fa’avae finished second in the M21E middle distance, just 10 seconds behind South Australia’s Leith Soden. Victorian Aston Key was just behind in third, making for a tightly fought men’s race.

In the W21E, Wellington’s Rachel Baker produced the winning run, finishing 20 seconds clear of local Canberran Grace Crane, with South Australia’s Emily Sorenson third. Baker’s Oceania title also secured New Zealand an additional individual place for WOC27 in Hungary, alongside the additional Australian place secured through Soden’s men’s victory.

The official opening followed the middle distance, including a welcome from a representative of the Ngunnawal people and a tribute to Hania Lada. The championships also officially welcomed New Caledonia, expanding the Oceania competition.

Oceania Relay
On Sunday the Oceania Relay moved to Honeysuckle Creek with a 20 degree drop in temperature and sprinkle of rain making it hard to warm up before the event. Sub-alpine vegetation and heavily reduced visibility created a very different challenge with subtle contours demanded accurate compass work and strong map contact.

NZ Team 1 finished second in the M21E relay, with Jakob Knoef, Zefa Fa’avae and Joseph Lynch finishing 3:31 behind the Australian team of Leith Soden, David Stocks and Aston Key. Orienteering Victoria Team 1 took third.

NZ women take first and second – New Zealand women dominated the W21E relay, with two NZ teams fighting it out for the top two places.
NZ Team 2, Katherine Babington, Briana Steven and Kaia Joergensen, took the win, finishing just 38 seconds ahead of NZ Team 1 with Lara Molloy, Zara Stewart and Lizzie Ingham. Orienteering Australia Team 1 finished third.

The final Oceania events move terrain with different physical demands next weekend, with the long distance at Stromlo Forest Park followed by the sprint at Australian National University.

Results can be found on Eventor. 
Middle distance:
https://eventor.orienteering.asn.au/Events/ResultList?eventId=22900&groupBy=EventClass

Relay:
https://eventor.orienteering.asn.au/Events/ResultList?eventId=22902&groupBy=EventClass
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Ngā mihi,
Joolz Moore