The 2022 Orienteering ACT Annual Awards Presentation was held at the conclusion of the final Runners Shop Twilight Series event at Commonwealth Park on Wednesday 16 March.
Thank you to Valerie Barker and Susanne Harrysson for organising and hosting the awards, to Chris Andersen for course setting the event, and to Tom de Jongh for providing the photos accompanying this story.
Audun Fristad Junior Encouragement Awards
- Girls: Ella Hogg, Katy Hogg, Katherine Maundrell, Naomi Penton, Mira Walter.
- Boys: Oscar Brown, Matty Maundrell, Xander Phillips, Max Walter.
A list of prior recipients can be found here.
Wehner Cup
Grant Bluett won the Wehner Cup for ACT orienteer of the year for the second year in a row, having tied with Matthew Crane in 2021.
The top ten points placings for 2022 are:
| 1 | Grant Bluett | 959 |
| 2 | Grace Crane | 946 |
| 3 | Martin Dent | 937 |
| 4 | Eoin Rothery | 914 |
| 5 | Justine Hobson | 902 |
| 5 | Paul de Jongh | 902 |
| 7 | Matthew Crane | 899 |
| 8 | Matt Doyle | 894 |
| 9 | Natalie Miller | 871 |
| 10 | Andy Hogg | 869 |
Services to Coaching Award
Paul de Jongh
Paul took on the Schools coaching role after a challenging couple of years, and made it his own. He undertook several targeted training sessions / days and took time to help each and every student to be their best, often spending considerable time with individuals one-on-one, for example to debrief after events. As well as being a highly proficient, young, friendly and enthusiastic coach, he had the students ‘on a string’ and they hung off his every word. The results of the ACT team at ASOC speak for themselves. Paul has natural leadership qualities and will continue to be a great mentor to many of the school team members down the track. It would be great to see him back in 2023 (no pressure Paul).
This award recognises Paul’s outstanding work with the ASOC team, both prior to and during competition.
A list of prior recipients can be found here.
Jim Sawkins Award for Event Management
Sue Garr
Sue Garr is nominated for the OACT Jim Sawkins Award for Event Management in recognition of her achievements over many years organising events from local community events to major carnivals. 2022 has been a big year for Sue’s organisational leadership and involvement. Whenever there is a major carnival, Sue is sure to be involved, quietly getting the job done. Sue’s achievements in 2022 include:
- Organiser for the NOL event held in April at the Gib.
- Along with Ann Scown, the organisers for OACT’s responsibilities for the QBIII events at Wagga. Responsible as the Day 2 organiser plus working with Waggaroos as party of the overall organisation team for the carnival.
- Leading the Start Team for the ACT Sprint Championships
- The Day 2 organiser for the Easter 2023 Long Distance event to be held at Nimmitabel. Even though this event is not until April 2023, the role as the Day 2 organiser has started.
- Sue is always one of the first volunteers for organising and assisting OACT events organised by Parawanga.
Sue is a keen orienteer and what many people don’t readily appreciate is how many times Sue has foregone competing due to her involvement as an event organiser, or the number of times that she is unable to complete a course our not perform at her best having been side-tracked to solve one issue or another. Sue is not into self-promotion and just gets on and does the job, quietly and effectively.
Jim Sawkins was ‘noted for his attention to detail and was the epitome of what an orienteering event official should be.’ The same could be said for Sue.
Sue Garr is a well deserving winner of the Jim Sawkins Award.
A list of prior recipients can be found here.
Mike Cassells Award for Services to Orienteering
Phil Walker
This award acknowledges both the length and breadth of service that Phil has given, and continues to give, to Orienteering ACT.
He served as the OACT Board Secretary from 2016 to 2018 and as President for the next three years, from 2019 to 2021. It was during this turbulent period of natural disasters (bushfires) (2019/2020) and the COVID-19 pandemic (2020/2021) that Phil negotiated the changes and restrictions, and led the management and continuity of, orienteering in the ACT.
In his own words,
“This may seem a strange remark given the turbulence and uncertainty throughout 2020, but I consider 2020 as being a good year for Orienteering ACT (OACT) as an organisation. … The early recommencement of our events was achieved through embracing technology, simplifying our event administration and through our participants changing behaviours to accept new ways of doing business…”
Indeed, when his tenure as President was completed, in 2021, Phil observed that two of those three years had been spent in those unusual times, leading the organisation as we adapted to the ever changing COVID situation. He did this quietly, efficiently and very effectively.
During his tenure as Secretary, Phil undertook the ACT Governance training (in 2016), demonstrating his commitment to the business of working productively for an organisation such as ours.
He remains not only an active competitor, but Phil has also undertaken Controller accreditation (now at Level 2), and is the Controller for Day 1 at the forthcoming Easter 23 carnival. He has organised a significant number of events on behalf of his club, Parawanga, and has planned courses at both local and national level, most notably the ASOC Long Distance Championships at Connorton in September 2019 as part of the Oceania 2019 carnival.
This award recognises Phil’s outstanding commitment to Orienteering ACT, both through his commitments to the OACT Board, and in his broader commitment to event management.
A list of prior recipients can be found here.