Rob Jessop (Auckland) and Rachel Smith (Christchurch) won the Orienteering Superseries
at the weekend, Smith for the second time in a row. The final two events were held on Saturday and Sunday in the Wairarapa.
As well as the handsome trophies crafted by national squad coaches Wayne and Trish Aspin,
the winners received merino thermal tops by Icebreaker.
Jessop extended his two-point lead over world-class Dane Carsten Jorgensen to underline his return to form after several years out of top ranks. Although the two races were won by Wellington's Stu Barr (who missed several events due to sickness) and NZ's other top male Jason Markham (Christchurch), Jessop's 2nd and 4th placings kept him on top. The 35-year-old will lead a promising NZ team to the World Championship in Switzerland in August.
Smith displayed the consistency that has seen her close to the top of NZ women
since her senior debut in 1997, winning both races at the weekend. After winning the first
two series events she didn't have it all her own way, conceding placings during
the middle five events to Dunedin's Penny Kane (series runner-up) and
Tania Robinson (Auckland, third). Smith will also compete at the World Championship.
Extremely close competition for the third mens slot was not completely resolved, as Markham and rising star Chris Forne (also Christchurch) gained equal points, with the other contender, Helensville's Mark Lawson, five points adrift.
A similar battle for fourth woman was won by Jenni Adams (Christchurch), with Magdalena Danielsson (a Swede studying in Wellington) and Lara Prince (Christchurch) tied three points behind. Danielsson, Adams and Kane finished Sunday's race 8 seconds apart after two hours racing!
In the teams competition, the first time it has been held, Southerly Storm extended its lead over Northern Knights to win by 95 points. Storm established an early lead in the first round in Canterbury, and were able to withstand the Knights in the second round in Kights' terrain near Auckland, before moving further ahead in the Wairarapa. The "home team" for this final round Central Raiders was a distant third, and must look to the expected transfers of Markham and Smith next season and emerging younger talent for hope of advancement.
The final round consisted of a sprint-distance race in Masterton's Queen Elizabeth Park won by Smith and Barr in 18 and 15 minutes respectively; and a long-distance race in rugged hill country near Mount Bruce won by Smith and Markham in 1hr59min and 2hr21min.
The updated result table has been posted, and full results are available via the event listing.