Pix from the Primary schools

Faithlegg regain the Primary Schools Shield

The Waterford regional Primary schools event was held at Newtown School on December 4th with a total of 9 schools participating. There 74 teams of 4 (and sometimes 5) entered. The weather held off and eveything went off smoothly. A big thanks to all the teachers who supported the event; to Transition year students from Newtown school who put out and collected controls and acted as stewards on the courses; to club members Hugh Dobbs, Veronica Purcell and Jana Cox who looked after registration and download; to my fellow staff who lent a hand when they were not teaching and to thePrincipal of Newtown who allowed the event to go ahead.
The overall shield was recaptured by Faithlegg National School. Full results can be found on the IOA website
The following teams will receive prizes. This constitutes the first 3 teams in each category plus the leading team from each school. Teachers should contact me next week to arrange to get the prizes. Pictures will be uploaded at the weekend. If anybody has some nice pix, please send them to me.

Boys
1. Dunhill (Jonathan,Robert,Chris, Dillon) 19.36
2. Butlerstown (Mark,Daniel,Martin,Jack,Corey) 19.45
3. Faithlegg (Stephen,Simon,Luke,Shannon) 19.59
4. Faithlegg (Jamie,Darragh,Ruari,Jack) 20.42
5. Christchurch (Kyle, Jake, Ciaran,Fiachra) 23.53
7. Grangemockler (Phelim,Padraic,Patrick,Aisling) 28.06
8. Waterpark (David,Patrick,Brian,Valdrin) 29.07
14. Gaelscoil (Florian,Harry,Devin,Oisin) 52.16

Girls
1. Faithegg (Niamh,Annie,Emily,Amy) 23.47
2. John of Gods (Hayley,Hope,Jessica, Sarah) 30.32
3. John of Gods (Abresa, Susan,Aoife,Doireann) 31.41
7. Grangemockler (Caoimhe,Aine,Maria, Shauna) 34.22
10. Mercy (Ciara,Ciara,Sally,CJ) 38.53
12. Christchurch (Claire,Sophie,August,Bevin,Martha) 40.04
14. Waterpark (Catherine,Alimerl,Urte) 41.09
18. Butlerstown (Doireann,Sarah,Orla,Emily) 46.06
21. Gaelscoil (Jessica,Ciara,Emma,Aoife) 49.40

Overall results
1. Faithlegg: 18 points (Shield winners)
2. John of Gods: 49 points
3. Grangemockler: 52 points
4. Waterpark: 69 points
5. Mercy: 100 points
6. Christchurch: 104 points
7. Butlerstown: 116 points
8. Gaelscoil: 143 points

Davmore event, November 16th, 2008

Full results can be found on the IOA website
Thank you to Pat O'Connor (Planner), Norman Storey (Controller and Start), Elizabeth Storey (registration), Jana and Laura Cox (Computer download)

Yellow course results (punching)
Zach O'Sullivan Hourihan 46.30
Hannah O'Mahony 68.00
Isabella O'Mahony 68.00Hannah Roche 68.00

Tower Hill results

Planner: Andrew Cox; Controls out/in: Con Murphy

Download: Laura Cox; Registration: Jana Cox, Con Murphy; Start: Andrew Cox

Apologies to everyone on the Green course for the missing control (201). I have adjusted the times below...not quite sure how to do it on the IOA website. I have allowed 10 minutes as an average time between control 1 and 3. I have deducted any time spent over this (for instance Niall took over 57 minutes!).

Full results for all courses can be found at : http://orienteering.ie/builder.php3?MoreResults-662

Green Course (amended results)
1: Lisa Honkasaari, W40: 100.44
2: Niall McEvoy, M16: 104.12
3: Roger Johnson: M65: 105.14
4: Laura Cox: W16: 126:20
5: Ray McEvoy: M45: 136.35
6: Ian Heggs: M55: 140.08

There was a wood, a rare wood, a rattling wood...

Members of the De La Salle Scout troop took part in orienteering training at the Minaun, Faithlegg. Part 1 was a Trail O course where they had to choose the feature at each control site. Part 2 was a normal timed cross country event.

The main thing that most of the Scouts learned was that the feature shown is in the centre of the circle on the map!


Results:
1st : Matthew Carrick; 120 points; 25.42 minutes
2nd: Jana Cox; 120 points; 34.17 minutes
2nd: Kathia O’Rourke; 120 points; 34.17 minutes
2nd: Shauna Kavanagh; 120 points;34.17 minutes
5th ; Mark Duffy; 110 points; 25.42 minutes
6th: Ciara Murphy; 110 points; 38.56 minutes
7th: Cathal Ryan; 100 points; 25.42 minutes
8th: Jessica Carrick; 100 points; 38.56 minutes
9th: Bill Power; 100 points; 41.01 minutes
9th ; Darryl Drohan; 100 points; 41.01 minutes
11th: Jack Power; 100 points; 44.38 minutes
12th: Ben Murphy; 100 points; 44.38 minutes
13th: Eoin Falconer; 80 points; 40.01 minutes
14th: Ciaran Kelly; 70 points; 40.01 minutes
Michael Simpson: 110 points:Mp
Ryan Hennessey: 110 points; Mp
Tom Deegan: 110 points; Mp
Emily Costello: 100 points;Mp
Sarah Lawrence: 100 points; Mp
Aaron Mooney: 100 points; Mp
Robert Jacob: 100 points; Mp
Ross Phelan: 80 points ; Mp
Robert Parle: 70 points;Mp

BOC (Brambles on Course)

A small number of Wato members headed up to Curragh chase Forest park for this years Munster Championships. The event was hosted by BOC...the amount of brambles in the forest gave rise to a new nickname....Brambles on course.

One of the controls in particular gave rise to problems....the crag feature was not in the centre of the circle and many competitors searched up and down the appropriate vegetation change without immediate success.

Vincent Morgan was runner up on the M21s and I managed to blitz the M50 field (for a change!) to end up as 2008 champion.

Full results can be found on the IOA website: http://orienteering.ie/builder.php3?MoreResults-659

Munster League 2 results

Well done to Wato members who performed admirably in difficult weather conditions and some bingo controls.
http://orienteering.ie/builder.php3?MoreResults-655

Brown Course: Andrew Cox, 2nd
Blue Course: Andrew Pim, 2nd
Green Course: Norman Storey, 1st

Training Answers

Control 1: Turning Circle (widening of path, where cut logs may be stored)
Control 2: Clearing (where there is a gap in the forest plantation)
Control 3: Path/Wall junctionControl 4: Boulder (large rock in the forest)
Control 5: Earthbank end (look for the linear feature with trees on it)
Control 6: BenchControl 7: Pit (large hole in the forest, not as large as a depression)Control 8: Crag (rocky linear feature, somewhere between a loose boulder and a cliff)
Control 9: Between 2 bouldersControl 10: Boulder cluster (group of large stones)Control 11: Path/track junction
Control 12: Depression (a hole, larger than a pit)
Control 13: Boulder Cluster

Primary Training Results

			School	Time
Place/Points
1/120	Catherine	Mason	Faithlegg	34
1/120	Rebecca	Power	Faithlegg	34
3/110	Kelly	Goodey	Faithlegg	32
3/110	Emily	Quane	Faithlegg	32
5/110	Emily	Lalor	Butlerstown	34
5/110	Alice	Costello	Butlerstown	34
7/110	Shane	Walsh	Holy Cross	53
7/110	John	Harte	Holy Cross	53
9/100	Ciaran	Joyce	Faithlegg	17
9/100	Christopher	Connolly	Faithlegg	17
9/100	Darragh	Lynch	Faithlegg	17
12/100	Eimear	Duggan	Butlerstown	28
12/100	Aoife	Horan	Butlerstown	28
12/100	Megan	Taheny	Butlerstown	28
12/100	Martin	Costello	Butlerstown	28
12/100	David	Payne	Butlerstown	28
12/100	Jack	Tyrell	Butlerstown	28
18/100	Jack	Murphy	Holy Cross	40
18/100	Dylan	Sawyer	Holy Cross	40
20/100	Sophie	Rudi Kent	Holy Cross	59
20/100	Steffi	Brennan	Holy Cross	59
22/90	Ruari	O'Dwyer	Passage East	20
22/90	Sean	Darcy	Passage East	20
22/90	Michael	Flynn	Passage East	20
25/90	Annie	McCarthy	Faithlegg NS	23
25/90	Niamh	O'Donnell	Faithlegg NS	23
27/90	Zack	Daly	Faithlegg NS	26
27/90	Shane	Doherey	Faithlegg NS	26
29/90	Daniel	Pender	Butlerstown	31
29/90	Mark	Shanahan	Butlerstown	31
31/90	Adam	James	Butlerstown	54
31/90	Michael	Nugent	Butlerstown	54
33/90	Orla	Lacey	Butlerstown	55
33/90	Doireann	Hannigan	Butlerstown	55
35/80	Stephen	Lynch	Faithlegg NS	16
35/80	Jack	Doherty	Faithlegg NS	16
37/80	Adam	Duffin	Passage East	29
37/80	Michael	McG	Passage East	29
37/80	Cathal	Walsh	Passage East	29
40/80	Johnny	Lefter	Faithlegg NS	30
40/80	Conor	O'Brien	Faithlegg NS	30
42/80	Grainne	Kavanagh	Butlerstown	33
42/80	Sarah	Jordan	Butlerstown	33
44/80	Ellen	Conway	Butlerstown	36
44/80	Emily	Cox	Butlerstown	36
46/80	Peter	O'Neill	Passage East	37
46/80	Sean	Hayes	Passage East	37
48/80	Calum	Bolger	Passage East	65
48/80	Joshua	O'Brien	Passage East	65
50/80	Emma	McGee	Holy Cross	80
50/80	Samantha	Coffey	Holy Cross	80
52/70	Simon	Molloy	Faithlegg NS	28
52/70	Luke	Nolan	Faithlegg NS	28
54/70	Corey	Doyle	Faithlegg NS	28
54/70	Tom	O'Brien	Butlerstown	30
54/70	Nico	Clarke	Butlerstown	30
57/70	Conor	Walsh	Faithlegg NS	35
57/70	John	Phelan	Faithlegg NS	35
59/70	Craig	Hoban	Passage East	36
59/70	Kean	Kervick	Passage East	36
61/70	Emmet	Kelly	Holy Cross	53
61/70	Will	Butler	Holy Cross	53
63/70	Darren	O'Neill	Holy Cross	54
63/70	Emmet	Bergin	Holy Cross	54
63/70	Sam	O'Shea	Holy Cross	54
63/70	David	Doyle	Holy Cross	54
67/70	Ella	Fleming	Holy Cross	69
67/70	Aoife	Sludds	Holy Cross	69
67/70	Niamh	Conway	Holy Cross	69
70/70	Rachel	Heffernan	Holy Cross	??
70/70	Niamh	McGivney	Holy Cross	??
72/60	Jack	Bolger	Faithlegg NS	23
72/60	Ruari		Faithlegg NS	23
74/60	Abbie	Kennedy	Faithlegg NS	26
74/60	Amy	Orpen	Faithlegg NS	26
74/60	Emily	Unsworth	Faithlegg NS	26
77/60	John Joe	Flynn	Holy Cross	52
77/60	Rob	O'Connor	Holy Cross	52
77/60	Ingar		Holy Cross	52
77/60	Aisling	Dillon	Holy Cross	52
77/60	Nicola	Quilty	Holy Cross	52
77/60	Rachel	Pierce	Holy Cross	52
83/60	Shane	Rellis	Holy Cross	65
83/60	David	Hartery	Holy Cross	65
85/50	Anna	Pollard	Holy Cross	54
85/50	Molly	Smyth	Holy Cross	54
87/50	Ciara	Hayes	Holy Cross	62
87/50	Rebecca	Stone	Holy Cross	62
89/50	Chloe	McCarthy	Holy Cross	68
89/50	Emma	Rockett	Holy Cross	68
89/50	Lisa	Church Ward	Holy Cross	68
92/40	Colm	Kelly	Holy Cross	66
92/40	Luke	Cummins	Holy Cross	66
92/40	Luke	McNamara	Holy Cross	66
95/40	Alex	MacSweeney	Holy Cross	68
95/40	Alex	Purnell	Holy Cross	68
95/40	Shibeal		Holy Cross	68
95/40	Darragh	Stone	Holy Cross	68
95/40	Ryan	Flaven	Holy Cross	68
100/40	Lorraine	Connolly	Holy Cross	69
100/40	Erica	Collins	Holy Cross	69
100/40	Roisin	Finnegan	Holy Cross	69
103/40	Dean	Maher	Holy Cross	77
103/40	Sam	O'Sullivan	Holy Cross	77
103/40		Jordan	Holy Cross	77
106/40	Karen	Flanagan	Passage East	94
106/40	Emma	Walsh	Passage East	94
108/40	Kellie	Meade	Passage East	97
108/40	April	Roche	Passage East	97
108/40	Niall	Walsh	Passage East	97
111/30	Tabi	Roche	Holy Cross	44
111/30	Ciana	Butler	Holy Cross	44
113/30	Jenny	Morrison	Holy Cross	62
113/30	Katie	Kelly	Holy Cross	62
113/30	Mollie	Pamler	Holy Cross	62
116/30	Jamie	Savage	Holy Cross	70
116/30	Seanie	Martin	Holy Cross	70
118/30	Aoife	Fitzgerald	Holy Cross	79
118/30	C	Walsh	Holy Cross	79
120/30	Kristen	Elliott	Passage East	92
120/30	Ultan	Duggan	Passage East	92
122/30	Rachael	Croke	Passage East	94
122/30	Katie	Raferty	Passage East	94
124/30	Nicole	Hutchinson	Passage East	97
124/30	Aisling	Dower	Passage East	97

Sunny Southeast lives up to it's name!

Results for the event at Slievecoilltia can be found at the IOA website

http://orienteering.ie/builder.php3?MoreResults-635

Family fun in Uslar, Germany

The Cox family headed off to Germany to compete in the Uslar 5 day event from July 28th to August 2nd. This was a return visit after great memories of 2004, the last time the region held this event.






A family event with some 18 countries represented. Local knowledge proved a big advantage to the German contingent. Trying to complete 5 days without injury and mispunching is a challenge in itself. On a personal basis I had a disaster on one control on the first day and was playing catch up after that. I managed to pull up over 20 minutes on the competitor ahead of me to finish 8th out of 16 on the M40 course. I reckoned if I was travelling that far, I would prefer to attempt courses between 7 and 8 km rather than around 6km which was on offer for the M50's.
Angela was 5th out of 10 on the W50, Jana 6th out of 9 on W14 and Laura 5th out of 8 behind 5 Germans on the W16! None of us had reckoned on the steep climbs on some of the days and heat!

Fitting Conclusion to National Heritage Week

Sunny weather, at least one wheelchair and some enthusiastic families took part in a Trail O event at JFK Arboretum amongst the fuschia, budhlia and butterflies. A further 11 experienced the joys of a Score event.

Please see map and results below

Trail O = maximum score 100 points; Score O = maximum of 250 points
Andrew Pim 100+250 = 350 (42 minutes)
Ed Niland 100+250 = 350 (42 minutes)
John Casey 90+240= 330 (36 minutes)
Niall McEvoy 90+ 240 = 330 (56 minutes)
Ray McEvoy 90+ 230=320 (53 minutes)
Laura Cox (90, planner of Trail O) + 200 = 290 (58 minutes)
Angela Cox 90+ 100=190 (60 minutes)
Con Murphy 80 +120-10 =190 (63 minutes)
Ronan Kelly n/c + 250-150=100 (110 minutes)
Lisa Larkin 50+30=80 (60 minutes)
Nicola Reville 50+30=80 (60 minutes)

Trail O only (max 100)
Ian McHardy 100
Liisa Honkasaari 90
Brid Casey 90
Jana Cox 90
Hugh McEvoy 90

Eileen McEvoy 90
Ita McEvoy 90
Jacob Pim 90
Jonathan Pim 90
Emma Pim 90
Cathy McEvoy 70
Mick McEvoy 70
Richard Roche and Rachael 40
Pat and Ellen Carroll 30
Johnson extended family (8) 30
Joan and Jack Hanafin 30

Answers for Trail O event.
1= B; 2=C; 3=B; 4=B; 5=C;6=A;7=B; 8=A (on corrected version) B (on original version); 9= B; 10 = C (or B on appeal!)

Use Orienteering to discover your Natural Heritage

We are looking for all our regulars to join many people new to the sport on Sunday 31st August at the end of National Heritage Week. We have even organised a sunny day at Kennedy Arboretum.
Starts between 11 and 2. Full explanation of Trail O is posted below.
For regular orienteers, there will also be a Sprint Orienteering event.There will be a mass start for this at 2 p.m. The only stipulation is that you must have first completed the Trail O course. Participants will have a maximum of one hour to get all the controls. Each control will be worth points and time penalties will incur for this event for those who take longer.
Note the full Autumn fixture list is posted on the right side of the Blog.

What is Trail O?

For a full description of Trail O check out the Trail Org website.

Conventional orienteering combines fast running with precise navigation, typically through forests or over moorland. Trail Orienteering (Trail O) is a discipline of the sport designed so that people with disabilities could have meaningful orienteering competitions. It completely eliminates the element of speed over the ground, but makes the map-interpretation element much harder. Able-bodied people can compete on equal terms with the disabled.

Waterford Orienteers in association with the Office of Public Works will host a Trail Orienteering event as part of National Heritage Week on Sunday August 31st. The come and try it event will take place at Kennedy Arboretum with start times planned between 11 and 2. The event is open to all.

There will be 10 control sites in easy view of the main tracks so access is not an issue. There is no restriction on wheelchairs being pushed although the park is fairly flat. At each stopping point, the competitor will be given 3 choices (a, b, or c) to decide where the flag or kite should be correctly placed. There will be no timed control. The idea is to get all 10 controls correctly located. There is no time limit.

For details about the Arboretum check out the Heritage Ireland website.

More information will be posted later in the Summer on this Blog and also on the Disability section of Waterford Sports Partnership.

EMIT in Oak Vale

By kind invitation, I travelled up to Stradbally in the early hours of Thursday morning to observe the workings of the DFO All-Army Championships. As newly appointed Development Officer with the IOA, I was interested to see how the DFO organise their events.

On arrival at Oak Vale Forest, I was relieved to find there were Portaloos.

At the JK in Bristol, I had experienced the EMIT system but this was a chance to look at the alternative more closely. The photo shows how the tablet that you carry around with you instead of an SI card is placed on the control. It gives a reading of the control number which is always a help but it does not beep. For me it is another thing to read with my wonky eyesight and I prefer the beep on the Sport Ident system which I can hear.

At 9.15, I headed off on Course 4, a lengthy 7.5 km with almost 300 metres climb. Oak Vale forest has some nice deciduous blocks and is largely runnable. Some of the later craggy areas had a bingo feel due to the variability of ground cover. An enjoyable run even though there was sometimes more navigation in the circle than between controls!!

Download and then a welcome cup of coffee and roll and chat over the courses with other early runners who were doing a little bit of checking in return for the run. The early sun gave way to some heavy showers but as ever the army were prepared with their tents for shelter.

Back out with a camera to surprise a few runners. Settled into a depression and almost witnessed Ruairi Short taking his eye out with a branch.

Thanks to Pat Farrelly for his invitation and to all his team for their excellent organisation.

Results can be found on the DFO website.

Portlaw score event refixed

Please note that the Score event due to take place last Wednesday was postponed due to the awful weather. It has been refixed for Wednesday 25th June at Tower Hill, Portlaw.
We look forward to you being there. Scouts up to 7.30, everyone else mass start at 7.45.

Summertime on Bofin

The Irish 3-day event returned to Inishbofin after a two year absence. Once again the sun split the rocks. The lengthy car journey from Waterford up the river Suir to Cahir castle via Carrick and Clonmel is the easy bit. Heading onward to Limerick via ,that blink it and you miss it, Limerick junction, the road gets twistier. Limerick to Galway is not bad after all the investment on the infrastructure around Shannon airport and the need to whizz coachloads of Americans off to Connemara. Galway city to Clifden along the N59 has seen major improvements in recent years but is still slow through Moycullen and Oughterard. Reaching Maam Cross, you get the feeling of being in the real Connemara with peat bogs and spectacular scenery. Last sign of civilisation at Clifden before the islands. Take the ferry at Cleggan for the 45 minute trip to Inishbofin. You arrive in past Cromwells fort which guards the entrance to the harbour. Busy weekend, two weddings (and no funeral) has booked out the island. Negative effect in that it reduces the number of orienteers that can get non-tent accommodation and makes the ferry very busy. On to our accommodation at the excellent Galley B and B/cafe on the east end of the island. Do not mention the Corncrake to those bleary eyed residents who in the interests of preserving the habitat of the bird under the REP's scheme have to listen to that blasted noise all night. What does the east end have that the west does not?...the best two sandy beaches.

On to the orienteering...day 1, short and not too technical but very steep in places on the west end of the island. Day 2 in the Middle Quarter close to the new runway was the long day with the most difficult part being navigating the new tracks close to the runway. Day 3 was close to the harbour and mixed fast running around the fort peninsula with tricky open terrain further east.
All round an excellent weekend brought to a fine conclusion by the playful antics of a school of dolphins as we docked in Cleggan.

If you get the chance next time round, I would give it 1o out of 10 for fun (oh and some orienteering!)