The SA Sprint Championships was the final event in 6 weeks of sprint orienteering events, with 5 events in Sprint Adelaide over the Australia Day Long Weekend, followed by 4 Arrows sprint series events.
The map area of Aberfoyle High School and the adjacent Happy Valley Sports Park was updated to sprint mapping specification by Oliver Williams, here over the summer from the UK to assist OSA with mapping and coaching. The event required negotiation with the school so that perimeter gates were open for the duration of the event.
The event was presented by Onkaparinga Hills OC, with courses planned by Craig Colwell. Hot muggy conditions were the order of the day. Fortunately the overcast cloudy conditions protected participants from the sun for most of the event, except for a short spell in the middle, which combined with a short violent “whirly whirly” saw the destruction of one of the clubs pop-up tents. when it went airborne in a Mary Poppins fashion.
Courses for all classes except the sub-juniors had two maps, to enable the complex school campus to be visited twice over the course. All courses are available on Route Gadget, overall results for classes on Eventor and splits by course on WinSplits. The latter show that many orienteers had small errors due the technical orienteering in the school campus section of the map. Winners of the open classes were Simon Uppill in M21A ahead of Olly Williams and Will Kennedy, and in W21A Olivia Sprod ahead of Bridget Anderson and Lanita Steer.
Course planner Craig Colwell at the start
Lanita Steer follows Jenny Casanova on the school campus
