'One of the best NZ Mountain Bike Orienteering Champs ever'

Jorja Simpson, 13, takes part in the NZ MTB Orienteering Sprint Championship. 20 November 2016 Rotorua Daily Post Photograph by Ben Fraser

Competitors from Europe, Australia and New Zealand are all on a high, after a great weekend of mountain bike orienteering around Rotorua.

Orienteering Bay of Plenty hosted the New Zealand Mountain Bike Orienteering Champs over the weekend with the sprint distance around the Toi Ohomai campus and in Tihiotonga Centennial Park, the middle distance at Tui Ridge Park, and the long distance at Cougar MTB Park, Tokoroa.

It was "one of the best New Zealand Mountain Bike Orienteering Champs ever in terms of variety of areas, quality of the courses, the number of people attending and with an awesome atmosphere", said top New Zealand mountain bike orienteer, Marquita Gelderman.

While Gelderman retained her New Zealand champion status across all three women's open events for the different distances, she had to relinquish actual first place to Camilla Sogaard, from Denmark, who dominated the women's field.

Sogaard has finished in top places in previous World Championship events. Up and coming star, Georgia Skelton,15, from Auckland, who placed third, has the potential to do well on the international stage.

From left: Denmark's Camilla Sogaard and New Zealand's Marquita Gelderman (centre) with Georgia Skelton, 15, from Auckland (right). Photo/Supplied.

The men's open events were also dominated by an overseas competitor, with Australian Angus Robinson, a Junior World Mountain Bike Orienteering champion, winning the sprint, middle and long distance events.

Robinson enjoyed all the competition and the "great riding". Tom Spencer placed second, to be the New Zealand champion, with Gene Beveridge, a national foot orienteering champion, third.

New Zealanders placed well in other age grades, with David King (Wellington) leading the men's 50 grade and Rob Garden (Helensville) winning all three events in men's 60.

Brent Simpson (Taranaki) did well in men's 40 and Jacqui Sinclair (Taranaki) was to the fore in women's 60. Ryan Moore, 13, (Auckland), was the one to beat in the men's 16 and under grade, and Kate Salmon (Auckland) dominated the women's 20 and under grade.

Two of the events qualified as part of the World MTB Orienteering Masters Series, with co-ordinator and International Orienteering Federation official, Keith Dawson, describing the weekend as fantastic and the sprint event particularly as "world championship quality".

Overall, event organiser Pete Swanson was delighted with how the weekend went in Rotorua.

"It's so great to hear all the positive feedback. Everyone seemed to have a great weekend," he said.

Rotorua vet Anna Goodman, who placed well in the women's 40 grade, summed up her experience. "I had a blast and I am certainly hooked [on mountain bike orienteering] now."