National secondary school orienteering champs in Hastings: Students prepare to chart their own course to title

The New Zealand Secondary School Orienteering Championships will take place this weekend over three days at various locations in Hastings. Photo / Supplied

Havelock North High School students are charting their own course, hoping to find glory at the New Zealand Secondary School Orienteering Championships in Hastings this weekend.

Year 13 student Cameron Potts and Year 12 student Lorcan Rabbitte will be among 350 students from more than 60 schools around the country taking part in the competition.

Rabbitte, 16, said he had been orienteering for a long time after having become interested during a taster course at primary school.

"I just enjoy all of it - the map reading and running," he said.

"Everyone gets the map and that's when it starts. You run around and go to different checkpoints in order."

The time-based competition involves map reading to navigate their way around a course, he explained.

Havelock North High School students Lorcan Rabbitte (left) and Cameron Potts (centre) were both nervous but excited for the weekend's events. Photo / Supplied

Rabbitte said was feeling a little bit nervous and excited to take part in the competition.

"It's a little bit of both."

Potts, 17, was equally excited, having been orienteering for about five years.

"It's not just about how fast you can run or how fast you can read a map."

He said the school had a "very strong" orienteering team which encouraged him to "give it a shot".

The team practises on different courses, including over farmland and through forestry.

His favourite terrain is hill country farmland.

"It's good that it's going to be on a home front," he said.

The championship event will take place over three days, with the spring champs to be held at Splash Planet in Hastings on Friday.

The long and relay champs will take place over the weekend at Awapai, near Whanawhana, about 45km west of Hastings.