The sprint series kicked off in February with over 120 students participating in 5 after-school events held at 5 different schools. After the last event, the 10 top orienteers in each grade were invited to the Auckland final. Twenty-six NX students qualified for the final, a two-race event held on the North Shore on Sunday 29th March.
The weather for the final was a mixed bag: low visibility in the morning due to heavy fog but bright blue skies and high temperatures in the afternoon. After the first race at Massey University, eight NX students were in the top 10 for their grade: Dorothy Leung, Kaitlyn McCarty, Rachel Rodney, Margot Silander, Agnes Jun, Hayley Gan, Hugo Jiao, and Harold Yang. These students were quarantined prior to the start of the second race to ensure details about the course were not passed on by other competitors.
After the second race at Orewa College, eight students had an overall top 10 placing. Dorothy was 4th, Kaithlyn 5th, and Rachel 9th in the Y8 Girls; Agnes and Margot claimed podium placings with 2nd and 3rd respectively in the Y7 Girls; Hugo was 6th with Ryan Deng sneaking in at 9th in the Y8 Boys; and Harold was 8th in the Y7 Boys. Excellent results given the number of competitors from across the region.
Louisa Grant – Orienteering Manager
