JWOC ~ Middle Final

Today at the Junior World Orienteering Championships (JWOC), Team Canada participated in the middle final. The middle distance is the only race at JWOC that has a qualification race. All the runners are split into 3 groups for the qualifications. Within each group, those who place between 1st and 20th go on to the A Final, those who place 20th - 40th go into the B Final, and the rest go into the C Final. Alex, Jen, and Kendra raced in the B Final, with Adam, Robbie, Trevor, and Pia racing in the C Final.

Today was a mixed bag for the Canadians, some had their best race of the week and others had problems and mistakes in the rocky and very difficult slope. Alex did a great job, finishing 49th in the B final for the men. In the C Final, Robbie finished 24th, Adam finished 37th, and Trevor finished 41st.

Adam finishing strongly!

"The race went great after I got across the boulder fields, but boulders were big and they tripped me up." --Adam

Alex in the finish chute

Robbie bringing it home in 24th!

 "I was a lot more focused today and it really paid off."  --Robbie

Trevor killing that finish chute!

On the women's side, Kendra ran a fantastic race to finish 19th in the B Final. Jen finished 52nd, and Pia finished 13th in the C Final.

Pia looking fast!

Kendra ran a great race today!

Go Jen Go!

"Rocks are mean! " --Jen
 
Please join us in congratulating our athletes on their races today!

Spectator arena!

It was a beautiful day where a large crowd followed the Women's and Men's finals on the big screen in the arena, complete with GPS tracking and TV controls in the terrain. The race will be broadcast on Czech TV tomorrow Thursday.

You can view the full results, maps, GPS tracking (for A Final only), and check out the photos on the JWOC website. 

Tomorrow, Thursday, is a rest day. There will be a prize giving ceremony for the middle and long distance races, as well as a chance for the athletes to practice on the sprint and relay model maps. The next race is the sprint on Friday. All the women will wear GPS trackers, so you can follow along online, or re-watch the action if you don't want to get up early!

Stay tuned to the Team Canada blog for all the behind-the-scenes action! You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter. You can catch all the JWOC action on their website, and also on Facebook.

2013 Canada Cup Series Starts With A Bang!

In an event filled weekend, Sage Stomp hosted the first Canada Cup of 2013. This long distance race was held at McQueen Lake near Kamloops. The open grassland area challenges all runners, even those who have visited the area in the past. 

Damian Konotopetz of Manitoba ran a strong race, beating second place Will Critchley by only 6 seconds! Eric Bone of Team USA came in 1:02 behind Will for a close 3rd place (Eric is not eligible for Canada Cup points). The 3rd place Canadian was junior team member, Adam Woods. Congratulations to Damian, Will, Eric, and Adam for each running an impressive race!

M21E - Standings after Sage Stomp
Athlete                       Club   Score
Damian Konotopetz CdeB 25
Will Critchley                EOOC 20
Adam Woods        GVOC 15
Graeme Rennie        GVOC 11
Mike Rascher        GVOC 8
Wade Tokarek        SAGE 6
Jiri Krejci                GVOC 4
Ian Collings                GVOC 3
Jared Kestevan        GVOC 2
Sergio Fernandez        GVOC 1

On the women's side there was a small field of only 4 runners. Vancouver's Louise Oram gave a convincing win, over 18 minutes ahead of second place Catherine Hoofd. Jackie Bonn of Kamloops came in 3rd, with Tori Owen of Calgary in 4th place. 

W21E
Athlete                Club Score
Louise Oram          GVOC 8
Catherine Hoofd    GVOC 6
Jacqueline Bonn    SAGE  4
Tori Owen          FWOC 3

In the Best Club in Canada category, GVOC holds its top spot after the first race, with 58 points, ahead of Coureurs de Bois with 25 points!

Club
Club        Score
GVCO          58
CdeB          25
EOOC          20
SAGE         10
FWOC           3

Here's the link to the full, official standings. You can view the results and splits on WinSplits! There are also some photos up on the GVOC Facebook page. 

2013 Canada Cups (scheduled to date)
August 3-5 ~ Western Canadian Championship, Manitoba (sprint, middle, long)
August 23-25 ~ Eastern Canadian Championship, St. John, NB (middle, long)
September 20-22 ~ Ottawa O-Fest, Ottawa, ON (combined Saturday/Sunday results)
October 11-14 ~ Canadian Champs, Hamilton, ON (sprint, middle, long)

Elites Series 2012 ~ and the winners are.....

It's been an exciting year for 2nd Canada Cup Elite Series! We've had many different leaders and stiff competition over 23 races throughout 2012. But in the end, there can be only one winner... well two actually, but you know what I mean!

In the men's standings; in third place with a grand total of 150 points is Graeme Rennie of the Greater Vancouver Orienteering Club! Second place is Will Critchley of the Edmonton Overlanders Orienteering Club. In first place, with a very decisive 84 point lead, is Eric Kemp of Ottawa Orienteering Club! Congratulations to Eric on a strong season, with a great finish!




In the women's standings, up and coming junior Molly Kemp (Ottawa Orienteering Club) secures third place! Second by a mere 5 points is Carol Ross of Orienteering New Brunswick. Winning for the second year in a row, despite an early season ankle injury, is Louise Oram (Greater Vancouver Orienteering Club). Congratulations to Louise!

In the club challenge, the Greater Vancouver Orienteering Club once again gained the most points, and retains “bragging rights” as the best club for elite orienteering in Canada!

Here are the full final standings!

Louise and Eric both win $300 for their achievement. This year the High Performance Committee is extending cash prizes to second and third places. Carol and Will will receive $150 each, with Molly and Graeme receiving $50. Nice!

What did our winners have to say? We interviewed them both! Check out the videos below. A big Orienteering Canada CONGRATULATIONS to Louise and Eric!

Please join us in wishing a huge Orienteering Canada THANK YOU to the Canada Cup race organizers from coast to coast. There were 23 Canada Cup races in 2012! We're definitely looking forward to the 2013 Canada Cup season!

Canada Cup Update ~ Lots to report with 5 races to go!

With 5 races to go, it's still anyone's guess as to who will win the Canada Cup Elite Series.... here are the latest standings after the 3 Canada Cup races held in conjunction with the BC Orienteering Championships.

In the women's standings, the 2011 Canada Cup Elite Series champion Louise Oram is back on top after winning the sprint, middle, and long races at the BC Champs. Carol Ross ran some excellent races to boost her in to second place, with Pam James holding on to third. Kerstin Burnett, Emily Kemp, and Molly Kemp are not far behind, which means all could change in these last few races...

In the men's category, Adam Woods won his first Canada Cup race in the middle distance on Whistler Mountain. Adam ran a confident race, commenting afterwards that his race was "excellent", and he enjoyed the challenge of the open, rocky terrain. In terms of standings, Graeme Rennie and Brian May both ran excellent races to close the gap to leader Will Critchley and second place Eric Kemp, but Will and Eric are still far enough ahead it's unlikely either Graeme or Brian can take over the lead in these last few events.

Since this was the BC Champs, the Greater Vancouver Orienteering Club (GVOC) amassed a good amount of points to have a comfortable cushion over Ottawa Orienteering Club (OOC). However, with all 3 sprint, middle, and long distance races at the Ontario Champs next weekend being designated Canada Cup races, OOC does have the opportunity to make up the difference. Can GVOC hang on to the "Best Club in Canada" crown for a second year??

The final Canada Cup races for 2012 are:
October 6-7: Ontario Orienteering Champs - sprint, middle, long
October 14: New Brunswick Champs - long
October 28: Blue Nose Classic, Nova Scotia

It's still anyone's Cup to win... stay tuned!

O-Races as a competitor and as an organizer

I was tired after the Canadian Championship races last weekend near Edmonton in Alberta. It was a challenging bunch of races with the heat, the tall grass and the mosquitoes. I was also tired from the couple of weeks before when I was doing a lot of planning for the Ontario Orienteering Championships. My club the Stars are hosting the Ontarios this fall in the Kitchener-Waterloo area. Things are coming along nicely, but organizing an orienteering event takes a lot of energy and effort. I am responsible for the course setting of two of the three races that weekend and along with all the other technical aspects organizing an event definitely takes a toll on my training. On the other hand, I know how much effort goes into hosting an orienteering event with planning, mapping, course setting, dealing with registration and lots of other issues. It makes me grateful to the organizers of all the other events I participate in each year.

 

As competitors we want to be successful, and as event organizers we want success as well. That means many happy competitors. As an organizer I think about what I want as a competitor from a race and try to offer a nice challenging course. That’s what I am going to do for the Ontarios. Our club will do our best to give our competitors good orienteering challenges, and we hope we have lots of participants to make it a good event.

 

Register (http://baleka.org/stars/events/20121006), plan your trip, train hard and come out and compete. Use this event as your last test before the North American Orienteering Championships and then treat yourself to a beer at the largest Oktoberfest celebration outside of Germany happening in Kitchener that weekend. We have a brand new area for the middle distance, a nice campus map for the sprint, and a tough technical terrain on an updated Hilton Falls map, which Golden Horseshoe Orienteering has very kindly allowed us to use. This technical terrain is adjacent to the site of the NAOC 2006 and will be very challenging.

 

I promise not so much heat, not so much tall grass, and definitely no blood donations to the mosquitos! And all three  races are part of Canada Cup where you can score more points. For you and for your club .

Train hard, stay healthy

Nick Duca

Canada Cup Elite Series ~ Another Update!

Well we warned you last week that this Elite Series would go right down to the wire, and we weren't wrong! Forget what you read last week ~ it's all change at the top of the standings! For those of you who aren't aware, the Canadian Orienteering Championships were held this past weekend in Edmonton, AB. That meant there were 3 more races to run hard and score some good points.

In the women's standings, Pam James has taken the lead with 108 points, with Carol Ross moving up in to second place with 95 points. Emily Kemp is right behind Carol with 94 points, with her sister Molly trailing in fourth place with 83 points.

Top 5 women scorers at the COC's:
5. Jennifer MacKeigan (YOA) ~ 30 points
4. Kendra Murray (YOA) ~ 40 points
3. Pam James (OANS) ~ 53 points
2. Carol Ross (ONB) ~ 70 points
1. Emily Kemp (OOC) ~ 86 points

On the men's side, Will Critchley has taken the lead from Eric Kemp by only 1 point! Will and Eric have pulled away from the rest of the pack now; Eric has a 72 point lead over third place Graeme Rennie of North Vancouver.

Top 5 men scorers at the COC's:
5. Brian May ~ 49 points
4. Damian Konotopetz ~ 53 points
3. Eric Kemp ~ 61 points
1. Mike Smith ~ 80 points
1. Will Critchley ~ 80 points

In the club standings, Ottawa OC have taken over GVOC, and now lead with 495 points over 431. Can GVOC come back to clinch the club crown once again?! Here is the full list of standings to date.

There are only 5 Canada Cups left to go ~ BC Championships Sprint, the Ontario Championships, and the New Brunswick Long distance. Looks like it'll be a nail biter to the last race!

Canada Cup Elite Series ~ Standings Update

The latest tally for the Elite Series is in, and we have a new leader in the women's standings! Molly Kemp has overtaken Louise Oram for the top spot, with Kerstin Burnett now tied with Louise for second place. In the men's race, Eric Kemp is still at the top of the standings, with Eric and Will Critchley now pulling away in points from the rest of the field. There are still a few races left to go this season, so make sure you stay tuned! You can view the full standings as of August 13th here.
In the group standings, Ottawa OC is creeping up towards GVOC's dominant position. GVOC is determined to hang on to the "Best Club in Canada" crown, and won't give up without a fight! It'll be tough though, given the lack of GVOC representation at the elite level at COC's this year...

Stay tuned for updates as the season wraps up... it'll be one to watch!