Event report: Secondary School Championships

Manning Park, Spearwood

The Orienteering Association of Western Australia (OWA) held the 2023 Secondary Schools Orienteering Championships at Manning Park on Wednesday 7th June. The organising team and participants were happy that the terrible weather finished in time for the event to be rain free. Over 300 students from 15 schools participated. Twenty-one volunteers from OAWA helped run the event and Nathan Johnston from City of Cockburn ensured the event went smoothly.

Feedback from the students and their teachers was very positive. We tried a new format to help ensure more students completed their course. The 15 pairs and 16 pairs ran a score event, and all students had a result which was very pleasing. The vibe when about 100 students mass started was exciting for the students and spectators. The results of Shenton College’s students showed that Rachel West’s coaching really made a difference to their orienteering skills. Overall, Quinns Baptist College retained their position as Champion School with 48 points from Shenton College with 42 points while La Salle and Ellenbrook Secondary College tied for third with 15 points.

As with past schools championships, a large and wonderful team of current and past OWA members worked hard on the event. There are simply too many to list, but you know who you are and thank you for giving up your time to introduce orienteering to secondary school students. Nick Dale visited Manning Park many times to update the map and set the courses. Melinda Richards, Rosalie McCauley and Christine Howitt organised the event. Jan and Ian Fletcher provided valuable help and advice to Nick, Melinda, Rosalie and Christine.

Sincere thanks to Schools Sports WA for helping promote the event, teachers for their participation, City of Cockburn for allowing access to the map area and facilitating the event, and to OWA for sponsoring the event.

Results are available on the OWA webpage.

Photo: Winning school Quinns Baptist College, taken by Pamela.