Sunday, 11 October 2009: Neil Schafer today added to his orienteering laurels with a bronze medal in the 2009 World Masters Games.  Neil won the bronze medal in the M80 division of the sprint event which was held in the Olympic precinct at Homebush.  Congratulations to Neil.

There were many other Garingal members who qualified for the finals and had a very successful day:

Sue Thomson - 16th in the W65A after an exciting run to qualify for the final;
Peter Annetts - 10th in a hotly contested M40A division;
Barbara Hill - 4th in W35A after a 3 way race in the stadium;
James Lithgow - 23rd in the popular M50A division;
Ross Barr - 25th in the well contested M60A division;
Ron Junghans - 25th in the M65A division (the same placing as Ross);

Photos from the event can be found below.  Further information and full results can be found here.

The sprint final was a classy orienteering experience.  The start of the sprint was just outside the main Olympic railway station.  The course wound its way through some very complex gardens, small buildings and large stadiums before finishing at the woodchopping arena at the showground.  There was a 3 dimensional element to the map with some controls on different levels of buildings. 

Saturday, 10 October 2009: The university was the scene of the qualification for the sprint event.  There were around 1,100 competitors in the event.  Garingal was very well represented on the day.  James Lithgow, Tim Cox, Briony Cox, Russell Taylor, Lloyd Gledhill, Michael Free, Ross Barr, Sue Thomson, Karin Hefftner, Peter Annetts, Barbara Hill, Tony Hill, Ron Junghans, Barbara Junghans, Neil Schafer and Christa Schafer competed in the event. 

Barbara Hill, Peter Annetts, James Lithgow, Ross Barr, Sue Thomson, Ron Junghans and Neil Schafer all qualified for the "A" finals. 

The woodchopping arena was the perfect venue for the 1,000 odd spectators and competitors to watch the final stages of the event.  You could see the last 4 or 5 controls of the race from the top of the woodchopping stadium.  The finish was a u-shaped sprint sprint in a stadium full of spectators.

With such a big event, there is a stack of organisation required. There was a great deal of support from Garingal members in becoming volunteers for the games and helping out with the organisation of the event.  Thank you to the Garingal volunteers which included Barbara Junghans, Stuart McWilliam, Aidre Long, Huon Wilson, Barbara Dawson, Graeme Dawson, Michele Dawson, Rod Eckels, Carol Jacobson, Ken Jacobson,  Dennis Sparling, Tony, Barbara, Matthew and Daniel Hill.