JK Long - The wonders of Wharncliffe
A bumper day at the Jan Kjellstrom International Festival of Orienteering in Yorkshire brought ten A class medals for FVO athletes after racing at Wharncliffe, on the edge of the Peak District.
James Hammond's "reward" for a mispunch two from home while in a comfortable lead yesterday was to cut turf as the first starter in M20E today, but he set a standard of 66.10 that was more than ten minutes ahead of the bronze medal, and collected the Long distance title.
Will Hensman also had mispunch woes yesterday, and also while leading, but wasn't asked to take the first start on this occasion, with only the WRE classes seeded. However he showed his class once again to claim the gold medal in a time of 72.04
Andy Llewellyn remains undefeated as a JK M35, as he notched his sixth straight festival medal, coming back in 70.27 for a twelve minute margin over the nearest runner.
James Edward, meanwhile, went into the race in bronze medal position, but raced like a demon to claw his way to the top of the standings, with a time of 43.27 in M14.
Sophie Edward wasn't quite able to make it a hat-trick of wins in W12, but finished the day with the silver (36.41), while Emma Cheyne backed up yesterday's medal with a second silver, this time in 30.44. Vicky Thornton saved her best for last, with the W60 silver coming in 55.25.
Dave Coustick was just two seconds off a spectacular victory in M80, as he returned to the arena in 62.12, and Grace Molloy had the W21E silver, in 82 minutes exactly. Marcus Pinker, meanwhile, rolled back the clock with his first JK Long medal in nine years, the M50 bronze in 75.56.
There were Short course wins for Jack Cheyne (M45), Jon Marsden (M50), Rona Molloy (W55) and Geoffrey Hensman (M75). Scott Baikie was 2nd in M50, as was Liz Owen in W45, and Pierre Lardet (M21) and Brad Connor (M55) were both 3rd.
There were also a host of event PBs on the day, with Natasha Conway (4th in W50), Alexander Hunt (5th in M16), Esme Kelly (5th in W16), Alison Cunningham (6th in W60), Lucas Baikie (8th in M14), Dom Edward (8th in M45) and Paul Hammond (14th in M45) all having their best JK Long run, while Ben Stansfield (5th in M55) and Lindsey Hensman (7th in W75) both equalled their previous PB.
The JK awards forest medals only for the combined results of the Middle and Long days, but there were nine FVO athletes on the podiums, including two overall class winners.
James Edward roared through to take the overall M14 crown, and leave Lucas Baikie in silver medal place. Andy Llewellyn secured his third M35 title from three outings, in relative ease.
Despite winning two of the stages, Sophie Edward has to settle for the W12 silver this time, by just 17 seconds overall, while Emma Cheyne had the W10 silver on her JK debut. These results are testament to the great work being done in our junior academy, both at Stars and SWAT levels, and the future looks bright for FVO with talent like this at our disposal.
Grace Molloy was 2nd in both W21E stages, and took the silver medal by ten minutes, and there were bronze medals for Janine Inman (W45), Marcus Pinker (M50) and Alison Cunningham (W60).
No medals are awarded for the Short courses, but Jack Cheyne (M45) and Rona Molloy (W55) headed their class, and Pascal Lardet (M21L), Brad Connor (M55) and Liz Owen (W45) were all 2nd.