The Australian Championships carnival concluded with two contrasting terrains.  The Australian Long Championships at Gumeracha Gold Fields on Saturday Oct 6th was held on a mixed spur gully terrain with open fast pine forest, slower native forest and young pine plantation and some open areas with rocky detail.  Course planner was Vince Loye.  Winners of the elite classes were Natasha Key from Victoria and Henry McNulty from WA, his first senior open win at an Australian Championships

For all the resutls see the Results page, this page has links to some GPS tracking for the 4 elite classes.

Victoria was the winner of the OA shield.

The SA Middle Championships at Keynes Gap was on terrain with complex rock detail in othewise open terrain.  Course planner Steve Cooper set some challenging courses for the final carnival event on Sunday October 7th.  A spectacular view to the rocky ridge from arena was even shared by those in the Finish tent.

All results are available.

The Natonal League results were also announced at the event, with Simon Uppill from SA 1st in M21E. Other winners were Natasha Key for W21E, Aston Key for M20E and Tara Melhuish for W20E.

Lots of pictures from all 8 events on the carnival Facebook page.

Orienteering SA would like to thank all our volunteers who have been working toward the carnival over the past 2 years or more. In particular Ken Thompson for all his work behind the scenes managing entries and all the queries from competitors.

View from the Finish tent at Keynes Gap by John Nieuwenhoven

The Australian Schools Championships was held over three days from Oct 2nd to Oct 4th. The three events

• Sprint Championships on a warm day at Keithcot Farm - complex school buildings with many stairs and different levels, courses by David George
• Long Championships at Wirra Wirra - the day was much cooler for the competitors to navigate the at times low visibility pines, areas of complex rocks and a steeper section for the longer courses. Courses by Andrew Kennedy
• Relay Championships at Mount Crawford, a mix of lower and more open pines and some eucalypt forest. Fantastic effort by the teams to avoid any mispunches. Courses by John Nieuwenhoven

The ACT won the interstate competition for the 3rd year in a row, with South Australia second, and New Zealand again won the Southern Cross Challenge

The honour team is

Senior Girls - Joanna George, Abigail George, Emily Sorensen, Ella Cuthbert (3 SA runners who dominated the senior girls events)
Senior Boys - Dante Afnan, Noah Poland, Aston Key, Patrick Miller
Junior Girls - Mikaela Grey, Justine Hobson, Nea Shingler, Lila Lehtonen
Junior boys -  Alvin Craig, David Stocks, Torren Arthur, Toby Cazzolato

All the event resutls are here.