Orienteering joy for New
Last Saturday a fresh-faced team of runners from New College fended off stiff competition from strong Pembroke and Christ Church teams to win the annual Orienteering Cuppers competition in the University Parks. The event was a time trial format, with runners starting at one-minute intervals and racing to complete a course made up of 22 checkpoints scattered around the Parks.
The college rankings were compiled by combining the three fastest times from each team, with girls receiving a 20% deduction to their time. New College used this rule to their advantage, fielding an A-team consisting of two females, Jenny Harley and Anair Beverley. Beverley’s adjusted time of 20:08s was good enough to claim Best Female Novice in the event, and was also the second best female time of the day.
Williams was awarded best male novice with a time of 23:34s, and Harley rounded out the winning trio with an adjusted time of 22:32s on the afternoon. New’s overall time of 66:14s edged out second place Pembroke (69:07s) and Christ Church (73:58s). Spearheading second-placed Pembroke was GB Orienteering Squad member Joe Mercer.
Mercer came second overall in the individual rankings in 17:46, falling out of first place due to a navigational error on the last checkpoint that cost him over a minute. Seizing opportunity and placing first was Chris Millard of Lincoln College in a time of 17:19. Former president of the Oxford University Orienteering Club Millard demonstrated how crucial concentration and navigation are in the event.
Mercer and Millard had placed one-two (second and fourth overall, respectively) for the OUOC in the first TVOC event of the summer earlier in the week, but Cuppers witnessed a flipped finished for the two club mates. Students will have another chance to orienteer on May 27 in an ‘Urban Street Event’, which will see competitors race between checkpoints placed throughout the Parks and colleges of central Oxford — while staying off the grass, of course.
18th May 2006