Estimated distance.
Full day with TOC up in Mansfield for the Cadet Championships.
120ish of the 'best of the best' in Ontario.
One 14 year-old from Trenton (Tristan Gazaille) hammered through a 2.8km yellowish course in 19 minutes. I spoke to him after the race - he said he loves running but especially loves orienteering. Apparently he lived in Georgia for a bit and did a whack of JROTC races down there. Whenever he goes up to Ottawa to visit family, he tries to go to an O meet. It was great to hear! I got his mom's email to direct them to O stuff around Ontario.
He was the only cadet to visit all the controls in this portion of the score event:
Also of note:
There are 6 categories at the cadet events. (Junior, Intermediate, Senior - male and female for each.)
The two categories with the most participants??
Junior female (35), intermediate female (33).
68 females aged 16 and under (I believe) competed yesterday. Shocking!
And these girls were the best of the best across 5 regions in Ontario, so there are a lot more out there.
Anyhow, I was pretty surprised considering the lack of junior female participation in our sport in Ontario.
Overall, a great event and a program with a tonne of potential as a feeder system for orienteering in Ontario. I'm super proud that my Dad, Lyndsey, Dylan, and Annette kept it trucking all these years.
And good on OOC and TOC (specifically Oliver Tabay), for pulling off the events this year with short notice.
In terrible news:
My knee is feeling wonky and wacky - I wonder what's the heck down there.