麻豆社区

Nearly 50 orienteering athletes gathered at the Carcross Desert on Wednesday night for the Yukon Orienteering Long Distance Championships.

It was the second time the club competed in the Carcross Desert after hosting the Canadian Champions there last year.

This time around the course was mapped across a different portion of the challenging desert and dunes.

Six categories competed in both the recreational and championship divisions, ranging from Novice to Elite.

Leading the way in the Elite category was Brent Langbakk who completed the 8.2-kilometer course in 1:02:01, just 25 seconds ahead of Forest Pearson.

Langbakk also serves as the head coach of Canada's High Performance Program (HPP), which works with athletes who have the potential to represent Canada at the Junior World Championships and World Championships.

Five Yukoners are on the HPP squad including Pia Blake, Trevor Bay, Kerstin Burnett, Jennifer MacKeigan and Kendra Murray.

Murray led the way in the expert category, competing as an Elite woman and burning through the 5.5-km course in 51:30.

The long distance event is the first discipline of the 2012 Yukon Championships.

The sprint and middle distance championships will be held this Sunday at Lewes Lake.

Ross Burnett, who helped map the course, doesn't want recreational athletes to be scared off by the championships title, saying the events are open to all those who are interested.

"We like to encourage everyone to come out and not be afraid,鈥� he said.

"We like to host it for our competitive members but we think of it as more of a festival. People don't have to be competitive, there's enough recreational categories that people can choose what suits them.鈥�

Leading the way in the 3-km Novice course was Amanda Thomas, who put in a time of 19:42. Caelan McLean led the Intermediate 3.7-km distance with a time of 49:04 while Sean Mather topped the Advanced 4.1-km distance in 37:56.

Nesta Leduc, who was crowned world champion of the Womens 75+ category at the World Masters Orienteering Championships in Australia, led the Seniors division, completing the 2.2-km course in 50:20.

Burnett said the feedback he received about the Carcross course has been positive.

"We started from a completely different part of the map so the courses were totally different,鈥� he said. "I think everyone enjoyed themselves whether they were competitive or recreational. We had a lot of recreational people out as well which is always good.鈥�

Six different courses spread across the terrain, ranging from 3-km to just over 8-km in straight-line distance.

Competitors usually cover 15 to 20 per cent more distance than that though, as they weave their way through the different features and contours of the courses.

By creating new maps, the club is able to re-use a piece of land multiple times

while still providing a new experience in each competition.

Burnett said the club is now gearing up for Sunday's championship event.

The difference between the long distance championships and Sunday's middle distance event comes down to terrain and route choices, said Burnett.

"The long distance courses are more about the distances between the control points so there's more route choice involved,鈥� he said.

"In the middle distances, the distances between the points are less. It's generally more complex terrain so there's more contour differences that have to be addressed.鈥�

Members of the club alternate setting the courses, being sure to include the different standards for the different ages and categories.

The open land makes the Yukon one of the best places in the country to be an orienteering athlete.

"We have good terrain here,鈥� said Burnett.

"They did an informal canvassing of all the HPP athletes about a month ago asking what their favourite orienteering maps in Canada were and of the five listed, three were in the Yukon.鈥�

With plenty of land to be utilized, it's no wonder the Yukon keeps churning out top tier orienteering competitors.

Three of the local athletes from the HPP program: Bay, Murray and Burnett, will also be competing in Slovakia this July as members of the national junior team.

Membership for the club is on the rise this year, which Burnett attributes to a new lower club fee of $5.

"It's been a good season so far and we're trying to encourage membership,鈥� he said.

"We're looking forward tog getting back out this weekend.鈥�