Fresh off a successful campaign on the Kapiti Coast, Ryan Clifford and Harrison Edwards teamed up once again and with the addition of new team member John-Kyle Baltazar came out standing tall and proud as Orienteering Relay Champions.
John-Kyle had done exceptionally well, topping the Year 9 boys sprint series and so was asked to join the team after Tyler Halliday who was previously on the team, moved schools.
The trio competed in the Auckland Secondary Schools Relay Championships held at Cornwall Park last Thursday, going up against over 10 other schools. When asked about the challenge they were faced with during the event they said that having to run a very long course was a bit hard with all the running they had to do and hysterically said that their favourite part of the day was “finishing and coming first.”
The Relay Championships involved each team member running a separate course and then returning and tagging the next person who would then continue onto a different leg. Their times were recorded and combined for an overall result. The boys were outstanding and finished with a time of 1 hour and 11 minutes.
They said that they felt pretty good being able to win the relay and were ever so humble, saying that they were at the same time surprised that they came out on top. They like to take a quite relaxed approach when preparing for a competition and love the fact that as training for their big competitions, they get the chance to compete in weekend events.
The boys will be taking part in another competition in Christchurch close to the Term 2 school holidays and excitedly anticipate their forest event next week.
Shontelle Matano
