Queensland Sprint Champions blow the cobwebs out of UQ St. Lucia.

The Queensland 5 event Park O series concluded this weekend, with the Sprint Championships on the St Lucia Campus of the University of Queensland.  All events have taken place in very hot and humid conditions, making the courses very trying for all athletes.  The series, totally organised by members of the Cyclones squad, was a huge success with over 80 competitors at each event and they not only raised funds for the team but proved to be a great boost in the search for new competitors.

For the Championships the St Lucia campus was brilliantly mapped by Jon Sutcliffe who also set courses to match the standard of the map.  In most park events the runners have an easy task against the technical orienteers but in this event it was clear that athletes needed to be technically competent as well as fast.  The two long legs with multiple route choices proved to be the difference for the winning competitors.

In the M/W17-20, Matt McGuire took out the men’s class and Ainsley Cavanagh the women’s class.  The W21 class saw a great battle between Anna Sheldon and Julia Davies resolved in favour of Julia with an excellent 23 minutes for the 4.4Km course.  The M21 class was an incredible battle after the 3Km mark with first Oliver Mitchell leading, then joining in a battle with Dane Cavanagh and Kieran Sullivan before Jukka Oikarinen took control to win in 20 minutes from the fast finishing Matt Bourke in 2nd and the consistent Ian Anderson in 3^rd.