Orienteering: Dedicated siblings Will and Jenna Tidswell rewarded for long trip to nationals

Will Tidswell and his sister, Jenna Tidswell, recovered from almost 25 hours of flying to perform creditably at the national secondary schools orienteering championships in Christchurch. Photo / File

Hawke's Bay orienteering siblings Will and Jenna Tidswell were rewarded for completing almost 25 hours of flying to get to this week's national secondary schools championships in Christchurch.

Jenna won the senior girls sprint title and fellow Havelock North High School student Will the intermediate boys sprint title on Thursday.

Two days earlier they had arrived in Christchurch after a flight from Auckland which followed a 22 hour and 30 minute flight from Budapest to Auckland.

Yesterday Will won the long course title in his age group and Jenna was eighth.

"Will is handling the jet lag better than me ... he won his long course title by almost five minutes," Jenna said.

Today they will represent their respective school relay teams. Jenna's Havelock North High School senior girls team will aim for a second consecutive title.

The pair were in Hungary for the junior world championships. Both performed well in the middle distance event with Jenna finishing 11th in her B final and Will 24th in his B final.

In their respective sprint events Jenna was 71st and Will 129th. In the long course event Jenna, who can compete at this level for another two years was 99th and Will, who can tackle the junior worlds for another four years, was 126th.

"I was hoping for a top 100 on the long course and after a muck-up at the first control I was happy with the 99th," Jenna said.

Before competing in Hungary the Tidswells tackled the European Youth Championships in Bulgaria where they were up against competitors of the same age.

Jenna was 20th in the 18 years girls long course event and 23rd in the sprint. Will was 38th in the 16 years boys long course event and 57th in his sprint.

"Those championships were a good experience for us before Hungary," Will said.

More than 200 males were in action in Hungary and almost as many females. Jenna wanted to make A finals in all three disciplines while Will targeted top 100 finishes.

The New Zealand team in Hungary was coached by Auckland-based Hawke's Bay Orienteering Club member Devon Beckman who has had plenty of input into the progress of the Tidswells over the years. Beckman's mother and clubmate, Karen Beckman, managed the Kiwi contingent.

Hawke's Bay orienteers won three of the six sprint titles on offer in Christchurch on Thursday. Lindisfarne College's Ronan Lee shared the senior boys title with Isaac Egan of St Andrew's College in Christchurch. Tessa Burns of Woodford House was the Bay's other podium finisher on Thursday with a third in the intermediate girls.

Napier Boys' High School's Adam Barren and Havelock North High School's Cameron Potts did well to finish sixth and eighth respectively in the intermediate boys while Havelock North High School's Lorcan Rabbitte was ninth in the junior boys sprint.

The intermediate school age championships are also being staged in conjunction with the secondary school champs. Lindisfarne College's Hugo Till was ninth in the boys sprint and Havelock North Intermediate's Zoe Elliott was seventh in the girls.

By the time the national secondary school champs end today Will Tidswell is hoping to have helped Havelock North High School qualify for next year's world secondary school championships in Estonia.

With two titles already secured and a strong chance of his relay team making the podium Will is well placed to retain the most outstanding athlete award he captured in Wairarapa last year.