Forth Valley Orienteers

FVO shoots to Score

Some of the FVO medallists from the Scottish Score Championship

12 September, 2023

Forth Valley Orienteers had a memorable day at the Scottish Score Championships in Grantown on Spey, as the club's athletes claimed eight national titles on a 16 medal day in Anagach woods.

Clashes with national junior team training and the Senior Home International in Wales gave an opportunity for some less-heralded athletes to shine, and more than half of the FVO medallists were on a championship podium for the first time. Peter Owen topped M16, as he extended the FVO dominance of the class to six years, and was joined on the podium by his entire family, with John (M65), Liz (W45) and Matthew (M12) all taking the bronze in their class.

There was also a strong Inman family connection to the medals, as Jason (M50), Janine (W45) and Hannah (W12) all topped their class. For Hannah this represents a grand slam of national titles in a single year, having already won the top prize in the Long, Middle, Sprint and Schools championships.

Pierre Lardet headed all competitors on the long course, and won the M20 title, while Geoffrey Hensman moved age class since last year, but still topped the podium in his new M75 class. Dominic Edward only joined the club a few weeks ago, having come back into the sport in the spring with his kids, but he is a first-time champion in his first run-out in blue and gold, as he won M40, while Sean Truswell headed M10 in his first trip at championship level.

There were silver medals for Simon Finch (M40), Grace Polwart (W16), Lucas Baikie (M12) and Fraser Cheyne (M14), as well as Roger Goddard, who ran up two classes in M35, while Rob Truswell (M45) and Esme Finch (W12) claimed the bronze medal in their class.

Meanwhile, Scotland had a dramatic last-gasp win in the Senior Home International, which was only decided on points countback, by 54 seconds, as both they and England posted identical winning records over the two days of competition.

The all-FVO mens relay team of Mark Nixon, James Hammond and Graham Gristwood won the mens race, and it was Hammond's 2nd place in the individual M20 race which finally determined the result of the match. Dan Stansfield was also involved in the Scotland setup, while Stirling University's Holly Stodgell won valuable points for a Wales team which came from behind on the second day to take the bronze medal.