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Orienteering Australia is pleased to announce that Paul Prudhoe has been appointed as Executive Officer. Paul has previously served as Executive Officer and President of Orienteering NSW, as well as in a number of significant roles in the corporate sector, and we look forward to his joining Orienteering Australia. He will take up his position as of 1 November.

Paul will be supported by an Administrative Support Officer who will be appointed in the coming weeks. With Paul’s appointment, the Orienteering Australia office will also be moving to Sydney over the next few months.

Orienteering Australia also wishes to sincerely thank John Harding for his service as Executive Officer over the last eight years, and wishes him well in his retirement.

With the forthcoming retirement of John Harding after years of outstanding service, Orienteering Australia is seeking an Executive Officer to lead the sport into the coming years in Australia. We are also seeking an Administration Support Officer to support the Executive Officer in their work.

Applications are sought for suitable candidates to fill these positions. The Orienteering Australia office is currently located in Canberra but alternative locations will be considered for suitable candidate(s). Some knowledge of orienteering is essential for the Executive Officer, and desirable for the Administration Support Officer. Both positions are part-time. It is possible for both positions to be filled by the same person.

Detailed position descriptions and selection criteria for the two positions are on the OA website.

Applications should be sent to the Orienteering Australia office at orienteering@netspeed.com.au, or at PO Box 284, Mitchell ACT 2911. Applications should be accompanied by the details of two referees.

Applications close on Friday, 22 September, 2017.

For further information about the position, please contact:

John Harding (Executive Officer), orienteering@netspeed.com.au or 02 6162 1200.

Blair Trewin (President), oa_president@netspeed.com.au or 0413 849 309.

In an extraordinary day of results at the World Masters Orienteering Championships sprint final in Auckland, Australia won 12 of the 23 gold medals on offer. This included a clean sweep of the medals in W45, and a double in W35. So complete was the dominance of the green and gold that Ugly Gully on its own, with three gold medallists, was above any other country in the medal tally.

The Australian gold medallists were:

W35 – Anna Sheldon (also Shannon Jones 2nd)

W40 – Jo Allison

W45 – Natasha Key (also Cathy McComb 2nd, Jennifer Enderby 3rd)

W50 – Su Yan Tay

W60 – Jenny Bourne

W85 – Sue Healy

M35 – Matt Crane

M45 – Grant Bluett

M55 – Warren Key

M60 – Geoff Lawford

M70 – Greg Chatfield

M90 – Hermann Wehner

Other Australian medallists were Bruce Arthur (3rd, M40) and Dale Ann Gordon (3rd, W75).

Competition continues on Wednesday with the first long distance qualification race.

Results and splits are available on the WMOC 2017 results page.

Jo Allison has taken out the Oceania Long Distance Championship in W21E in today’s event in tough sand-dune terrain in Woodhill Forest near Auckland. In a fluctuating race in which the top four were separated by just over a minute, she recovered from a mid-course mistake to edge out Susen Loesch (Germany) and Imogene Scott (New Zealand), with Krystal Neumann just behind. The win carries with it a place in this year’s World Championships long distance should she take it up.

The hosts did better in the men’s event and both sprints. Gene Beveridge led Matt Ogden home in the long, with Simon Uppill the best Australian in third, a place he also occupied in the sprint behind a different pair of locals (Ross Morrison and Cameron Tier). Scott was the lead Oceania runner in the women’s sprint, although the two fastest times were run by current Australian residents not eligible for the Oceania title, Charlotte Watson and Liis Johansen. Belinda Lawford and Natasha Key were tied for second Oceania.

The Australia-New Zealand Challenge is dead level after two days of individual competition and will come down to the middle distance on Monday. Australia edged out New Zealand 13 classes to 11 in the sprint, but that result was reversed in the long to leave it 24-24.

Competition continues with the relay tomorrow.

Results are available at the Oceania 2017 page.