ORIENTEERING: Ashmore gets its right triumph

The inaugural Sprint the Bay orienteering event in Hawke's Bay was promoted as a Twenty20 version of the sport.
Indeed it was. Six short and sharp races with heaps of sprinting and really spectator-friendly.
But as Rotorua's Darren Ashmore was quick to point out ... it didn't necessarily mean young speedsters like junior world champion Martin Hubmann from Switzerland were going to dominate the Dirty D Design-sponsored event which attracted 140 starters.
Ashmore, 37, a seven-time national open men's elite champion and veteran of five world championships used his vast experience to triumph in the open men's elite grade.
"This isn't your traditional out in the forest type of orienteering where you have time to recover should you make a mistake. There's no chance of winning if you make a mistake ... you are on the edge of the envelope all the time, it's 110 per cent concentration and you are running to the max," said Ashmore.
Hubmann was one of four open men's elite grade competitors who mispunched on yesterday morning's course at EIT and blew their chances of winning the yellow singlet which Ashmore took home. A Hawke's Bay-bound former Estonia-based entrant Bryn Davies, Wellingtonian Jamie Stewart, who was third overall after the previous two days and former world champion Carsten Jorgenson of Christchurch were the others.
"I'll be back to try and retain my title next year. I'm sure a lot of the country's other clubs will follow this concept ... six short races over a weekend was a fantastic idea," said Ashmore.
Entrants were able to drop their worst race points in the battle for overall honours. Ashmore dropped the second race which counted as the first in the national Super Series which continues until Labour Weekend.
"I'll have to make up for that in the next round," added Ashmore.
Hawke's Bay's best hope in the open men's elite grade, Scott McDonald, focused on the green singlet for the top sprinter. McDonald and Hutt Valley's Bill Edwards were tied on points after the six races so agreed to a sprint off.
Two slow punch-ins from McDonald resulted in the pair clocking the same time. They didn't want another sprint-off and after a countback of split wins on all courses McDonald was declared the winner.
Hawke's Bay's best hope in the open women's elite grade, Amber Morrison, blew her hopes of a top three finish when she mispunched on Saturday. With that error she couldn't be accused of having inside info from her brothers Ross and Duncan and sister Kate who organised the event and designed the courses.
A cousin of these four Morrisons, 12-year-old Sean Morrison, captured overall honours in the under-14 boys' grade. He hopes to continue this form when he tackles the Otago-hosted national championships at Easter.
Junior girls' world champion Maja Alm won the open women's elite grade. Alm and Hubmann are rated the two best orienteers to compete on New Zealand soil for 10 years.
Along with Sean Morrison other Hawke's Bay title winners were Bradley Ivory and Harriet Baxter in their respective boys' and girls' under-18 divisions. Bay club members to record second placings were Sarah Baxter in the girls' under-14 section, Sarah Davidson in the under-18 girls' division, Cairn Coghill in the men's 30 division, Phillip Herries in the men's 45 division and Steve Armon in the men's 30 division. Bay's third placegetters were Ieuan Edmonds in the under-14 boys' grade and Pam Morrison in the women's 45 division.