British Orienteering

The British Sprint Championships Weekend proved to be worth the wait!

24 August 2021

Fourteen months later than planned, the British Sprint Relays Championships and the British Sprint Championships finally took place in Skelmersdale in Lancashire.  The weekend competition terrain was made up of complex housing with numerous cut throughs and included part of the Tawd Valley Park.

The Relay took place in showery conditions but that did not dampen the spirits of the competitors. Competition was fierce and saw the South Yorkshire Orienteers (SYO) team of Kim Baxter, Euan Tryner, Jonathan Crickmore, and Laura Robertson take an unassailable led in the elite class by producing the fastest laps for Legs 3 and 4 to produce an eventual victory.

Elite - Top 3 results

1st

SYO Killer Bees

SYO

Kim Baxter, Euan Tryner, Jonathan Crickmore, Laura Robertson

2nd

LOC Scafell

LOC

Karen Heppenstall, Noah Howlett, Matthew Horne, Anne Edwards

3rd

HALOgen Bright Light

HALO

Charlotte Ward, George Van Dam, David Jolly, Elspeth Jolly

Veteran (40+)

1st

FVO Flying Vets

FVO

Roger Goddard, Beccy Osborn, Will Hensman

2nd

SYO Beehave

SYO

Richard Baxter, Amanda Crawshaw, Martin Ward

3rd

SNow Storm

SN

Sarah Rollins, Melanie Slade, Richard Barrett

Super Veteran (55+) 

1st

INT2

INT

Phil Murray, Jane Ackland, Paul Caban

2nd

SYO Beekeenie

SYO

Tim Tett, Robyn Stanyon, Mark Chapman

3rd

DEE supervets 1

DEE

Mike Smithard, Elizabeth Jackson, Duncan Harris

Ultra Veteran (65+) 

1st

HH Antelope

HH

Alan Rosen, Janet Rosen, Mick Smith

2nd

SLOW Bobcats

SLOW

Paul Street, Sarah Brown, Alan Leakey

3rd

BL UV2

BL

Stephen Eastley, Christine Kiddier, Andrew Bell

Junior (16-) 

1st

SYO Bee Awesome

SYO

Jamie Lightfoot, Imogen Pieters, Conrad Reuber

2nd

SYO Bee Good

SYO

James Bryant, Freya Tryner, Olmo Combley

3rd

FVO Junior Flyers

FVO

Jamie Connor, Lucy Hensman, James Hammond

Young Juniors (12-)

1st

SYO Bumble Bees

SYO

Pasco Reynolds, Ella Baxter, Charlotte Chapman

2nd

SYO Mini Bees

SYO

Hannah Chapman, Louis Bryant, Freddie Guy

3rd

SYO Beetles

SYO

Oskar Woods, Sophie Howsam, Jack Baxter

Ad Hoc (Mixed age classes) (Not a championship class. Non-competitive teams from combined clubs allowed).

1st

WCOC Tyan

WCOC

Charlie Rennie, Helen Rennie, Jamie Rennie

2nd

WSX Raiders

WSX

Jolyon Medlock, Lyra Medlock, Gavin Clegg

3rd

WCOC Yan

WCOC

Joe Sunley, Alex Crawford, Stuart Crawford

Congratulations to all the champions in these Sprint Relay classes. 

Thanks to West Lancashire Borough Council who gave their permissions and support for the running of this event. A huge thank you also to the members of Deeside Orienteering Club and other Northwest clubs whose willingness to give their help made the event possible. 

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The weekend continued on the Sunday with the British Individual Sprints.  With better weather for the individual sprints, the unique setting of a new town housing estate made keeping contact with the map essential as there were many twists and turns to negotiate with many alley options and dead ends to catch out the unwary. 

Jonathan Crickmore (SYO) took the Men’s Open title by just 22 seconds over Chris Smithard (FVO) and Nathan Lawson (OD), who tied for second place, while Alice Leake (AIRE) took the Women’s Open title with a 58 seconds victory over Charlotte Ward (HALO) and Laura Robertson (SYO).

Congratulations to Jonathan Crickmore (SYO) and Alice Leake (AIRE) on their winning performances.  

Full results are on the British Sprint Championships results page.

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Sadly, this was to be the last event that Andy Munro and Chris Poole would provide commentary for as they have now done what they have been threatening to do for some time by retiring from commentating after 19 years and a huge number of major events. We can only applaud their dedication and thank them for such sterling work.

Thank you to all those who travelled to compete at the British Sprint Championships Weekend making it a great competitive weekend. 

British Orienteering would like to take this opportunity to thank Norman Hall (Deeside Orienteering Club) and all his organising team.  Thank you also to West Lancashire Borough Council who gave their permissions and support for the running of this event and to Delph Side School for use of their facilities.  Thank you to all the volunteers and other support from all the Northwest Orienteering Association Clubs for all their hard work which made this a great competitive orienteering weekend to remember.  Thank you.

Photo credits:  Wendy Carlyle (Airienteers)