Published 11th September 2014

54 members of SYO travelled to the West Midlands to enjoy two days of orienteering in pleasant warm weather.

The Sprint race consisted of two races, heats and Finals, around Keele University campus. These type of races are not about technically challenging orienteering but about fast decision making, not about route choice but about not getting it wrong. Having got into the A final by the skin of my teeth my race in the Final was all about poor decisions and getting it all wrong!

Other SYO members got it right. Euan Tryner became M10 Sprint Champion and Jenny Peel W45 Champion. Lucy Wiegand  came 2^nd behind Jenny and Dave Peel was 2^nd in M40 and Peter Gorvett 2^nd in M65. Alex Rothman was third in M35 and Pippa Dakin 3^rd in W16.

The Middle race took place at Brereton Spurs on Cannock Chase in glorious sunshine. I started early and found the bracken in the south of the area a bit of a handicap but other SYO members rose to the challenge. Euan Tryner and Jenny Peel repeated their successes and became Middle Distance champions as did Andrew Preston (M35) and Bll Edwards (M45). Lucy Wiegand repeated her result from the Sprint race and came 2^nd in W45 and Brian Shaw had a good run to come 2^nd in M70. Michael Adams came 3^rd in M18 and Aidan Smith also came 3^rd in M20 and Jenny Johnson 3^rd in W35.

Perhaps the best non-podium run of the day was that of Ian Cooper who managed to beat Peter Gorvett and come 4^th in M65. 

Published 29th July 2014

 Martin Ward has stepped down as Equipment Officer and John Franklin has taken over the position. Thank you to Martin for all his work as Equipment Officer over the last few years and best wishes to John.

Steph Young has resigned as Membership Secretary and we would like someone to take over the role - a temporary position to take us through to the AGM would be one scenario but a permanent replacement would be better. Please contact Colin Best (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) for a chat if you would like to volunteer on ether a temporary or longer basis.

Published 1st July 2014

SYO's Pippa Dakin was one of the stars of the Great Britain team at the European Youth Championships in Macedonia last week.  Her 15th place in the W16 Sprint event was the best performance of the British team at the Sprint, and in the technical and tough Long event she very nearly went even better as she was in the top 10 until a mistake with just two controls to go dropped her back to 37th.  Pippa ran a very solid 1st leg in the relay - leading for the first 3 controls and inspired the rest of her W16 team to get on the podium  in 6th place.  

Hear Pippa being interviewed after the races by GB Coach Jackie Newton   Post Sprint Interview   Post Relay Interview

Pippa had the 4th fastest time on leg 3 - which way would you go?

Pippa started orienteering just a few years ago and has benefited from the excellent support of SYO members who have put on the local events and training sessions which have been key to her success.

This weekend the older juniors including our own Aidan Smith will be training in Sheffield ahead of the Junior World Championships in Bulgaria later this months,  and local Student and SYO coach Kris Jones will be competing in the World Championships Sprint in Venice.  Check out the British Orienteering web site if you want to follow their progress.