Victoria and the Canberra Cockatoos took out the senior National Orienteering League titles at today’s final round relay at Broulee. The senior women started the day with any of the Cockatoos, Victoria or Southern Arrows able to take the title with a win, and after two legs the three were only separated by three minutes, but Belinda Lawford’s fine second leg had given Canberra a useful lead and Grace Crane was able to finish it off. The Victorian men had a more straightforward task, only needing to finish in the top three, and led the race throughout after Aston Key gave them a flying start, although Matt Crane cut the gap from five minutes to one on the second leg to add a bit of excitement.
The Victorian junior men had a harder task than the seniors, needing to beat the NSW Stingers to take the season’s honours. It looked a difficult challenge after the first leg when Ewan Shingler opened a ten-minute gap on the Victorians (and eight on the Cockatoos). Mason Arthur cut that in half on the second leg, but Jensen Key still had to run down five minutes on Sam Woolford, which he was able to do. The Southern Arrows junior women got the second place they needed, although after a close race for two legs, the Stingers ran away with it on the last leg to take the honours on the day.
Results for the event are available.