SYO lift the trophy at the Yvette Baker Final!
Last weekend the junior section of the club travelled en-masse to Northumberland - one of the most Northerly orienteering areas in England – to compete in the Yvette Baker Trophy competition.
Due to the long drive, most of the team travelled up to Druridge Bay on the Saturday, stopping off at the training event for some pre-event practice on the sand dunes. Post run the team decamped to the beach for football, paddling and dune jumping whilst the adults relaxed in the sunshine. Next stop was the Alnwick youth hostel where we enjoyed an early dinner, before Jacky gave an inspiring team talk. The team meeting was followed by cake, hot chocolate and nail painting in the team colours!
Sunday morning saw those that had stayed at the youth hostel head to Druridge Bay to meet up with the rest of the 32 strong team. It was a relaxed start for the juniors so they had plenty of time to socialise and apply face paint while the adults tested the courses. Those adults that made it out were rewarded with stunning views of the coastline, sparkling in the sunshine and surprisingly challenging courses in the small strip of dunes. Soon it was the turn of the juniors to race. Spectators had a great view of the competitors racing round the bottom of the lake to their penultimate controls and there was lots of cheering for the juniors as they ran into the finish.
Analysis of the results revealed lots of top 3 positions so expectations were high for a good result. In lieu of any official results, Dom got his pencil and paper out calculating a victory for SYO! Finally official confirmation arrived in the form of the prize giving where SYO were presented with the Yvette Baker Trophy for the first time in the club’s history!
Well done to all the juniors who ran – every result makes a difference by reducing the scores of other clubs and the large supportive team helps spur everyone on to achieving great results. However, particular congratulations must go to those whose scores counted in SYO’s overall result:
Henry McDonald – yellow boys - 100
Freya Tryner – yellow girls – 100
Robbie Lightfoot – yellow boys – 99
Olmo Combley – yellow boys - 98
Imogen Pieters – orange girls - 100
Max Mobus – orange boys – 99 (missing the win by 3 seconds!)
Jamie Lightfoot – orange boys – 98
Euan Tryner – light green boys – 99 (missing the win by 2 seconds!)
Alex Elliott – light green girls – 98
Dom Dakin – green boys - 98
A special mention must also go to Sam Doyle who won the yellow but was then deemed non-competitive because he was too old – a recent rule change that we hadn’t picked up on.
Thanks to Jacky for organising such a fantastic trip and for all the parents who acted as chauffeurs and cheerleaders – we couldn’t have done it without you. Next year’s final will be held on Sunday 1st July in the West Midlands. Please put the date in your diary now as we will need a super strong team to defend our title.
