Scottish Championships 2022Glen Dye/Sluie 28/29 May
The 2022 Scottish Orienteering Championships took place on Deeside, with the Individual event organised by Grampian Orienteers and the Relays organised by Mar Orienteering Club. There were 2 Scottish champions from ESOC, plus other podium places at both events.
The Individual event was on Saturday 28 May, at Glen Dye, which is a large, varied area SW of Banchory. The forest is mostly Scots pine, with plenty of variety: complex moraine features and tricky contour detail, flatter open marshy areas, some vague slopes and rocky hillside. It was often quite rough underfoot. There was some storm damage, and the courses had been planned to avoid the worst-affected areas. The weather was cloudy and windy, but it stayed dry and there were a few sunny intervals.
Congratulations to ESOC’s trophy winners:
Alison Cunningham (W55) and Eleanor Pyrah (W75).
Other ESOC members in the top half of the results for their class were:
M60L (10 competitors) – Richard Oxlade 2nd
M70L (8) – Les Dalgleish 2nd
M75L (7) – Roger Scrutton 3rd
W14A (10) – Megan Brown 5th
W21E (14) – Helen Bridle 3rd, Katrina McLeod 5th
W65L (12) – Janice Nisbet 3rd, Sally Lindsay 4th
W65S (1) – Jayne McGregor 1st
W70L (8) – Margaret Dalgleish 3rd, Mary Williams 4th
Full results and Routegadget are available on the Scottish Championships 2022 results page of the GRAMP website.
The Individual event was the 17th in the 2022 UK Orienteering League – more details about this league are on the UK Orienteering League page of the British Orienteering website. With this event included, ESOC has moved up to 27th in the club competition. The score for each club is calculated automatically from the 15 best club members' scores (across various age class groups) - so the club members whose scores are included will change as the year goes on.
The Relay event on Sunday 29 May was a little further NW, at Sluie, E of Kincardine O’Neil. The assembly area was in a grassy field, a short walk through the woods from the car parking field. There was a good view of the spectator control, visited by the longer courses, as well as plenty of space for the handover area, which worked well. The forest was described as “a classic Deeside forest comprising five hills with abundant rock and contour detail.” Sadly there had been a lot of storm damage and forestry work, so some tracks were very rutted and rough, and there had also been motorbike activity in the forest, creating new unmapped paths. Other areas were unscathed and comparatively pleasant. Courses avoided the worst areas of windblown trees, but many found the going very rough and slow.
The weather was dull with a cold wind, and a few showers. It was reasonably dry underfoot, though there were a few big puddles.
ESOC had 8 competitive teams. Our best result was in Women’s Open, where Harlaw Harbingers (Helen Bridle, Katrina McLeod, Rona Lindsay) came 2nd.
Other ESOC results:
Women’s Open (8 teams)
Dreghorn Dispatchers 7th (Sabine Oechsner, Alison Cunningham, Alison O'Neil)
Cademuir Conquistadors 8th (Helena Nolan, Hanne Robertson, Fran Daley)
Age-class: 17+ (17 teams)
WINdsays 5th (Crawford Lindsay, Sally Lindsay, Andrew Lindsay)
Age-class: 20+ (21 teams)
Dalmeny Defeators 12th (Ian Pyrah, Judith Bell, Keith Brown)
Our other teams in the 20+ class were Bonaly Bashers (Ewart Scott, Margaret Dalgleish, Paul Clatworthy) and Saughton Subjugators (Eleanor Pyrah, Anne Thom, Leslie Dalgleish).
Also in 20+, Roger Scrutton ran 1st leg in an Interløpers team with Jane Carcas and Ian McIntyre, coming 13th.
In Junior 44- , Figgate Firebrands (Megan Brown, Rebecca Daley, Calum Robertson) unfortunately had missed a couple of controls despite valiant runs. Better luck next time!
In Junior 36- , Cammo Conquerors (Emma Daley, Ursula MacColl, Catherine MacColl) was a non-competitive team, as we didn’t have a junior to run third leg.
Full results and pre-event details are available on the Scottish Relays event page of the MAROC website.
Other entries categorised under: Event Reports