In Garczyn near Kościerzyna, in Kashubia, the 35th Youngest Competitors’ Cup was held. In orienteering, the Youngest Competitors’ Cup is the Polish championship for athletes under 14. Thirty-one clubs from across the country came to Kashubia. Our club was represented by a modest nine-person team, aged 9–13. Most of the group has been training for a second season. – Last year at the Youngest Competitors’ Cup, we won only one individual medal and one in the relay. So we went to this event with some hopes, but also with a great deal of concern – says Dariusz Pachnik from Orientpark.pl.
The sprint race took place on Friday. It began promisingly. Jędrzej Pachnik won a silver medal in the M10 category, while Karolina Zawada won bronze in K11. – We also counted on Stasia Pachnika (M13), but a minor navigation error deprived him of a medal and left him in fifth place – coach D. Pachnik reports. Also finishing in the top ten were Wiktoria Kowalczyk (K12; eighth) and Honorata Kowalczyk (K10 – tenth).
The coach: – We knew that the classic-distance race could go just as well, or perhaps even better. But hopes do not always translate into results. Most of our athletes were assigned early start times, with staggered starts, which is not a favorable circumstance for achieving good results. However, we had no choice and had to accept our draw without complaint. A quick breakfast on Saturday morning, packing the equipment and traveling to the competition site, then warming up and starting.
Jędrek Pachnik set off into the forest in the third minute, as the second competitor to start in his category. He reached the finish first and did not relinquish the lead. He recorded the best time and won the gold medal; immediately behind him was Tymoteusz Bultrowicz of KS Hades Poznań, who had finished ahead of Jędrek in the sprint. Karolina Zawada started shortly after Jędrek. Upon reaching the finish, she had the best time in her category, but two competitors from UMKS Kwidzyń, who started later, ran even faster, securing a one-two finish for their club. Karola was happy with her second bronze medal.
The times recorded by the successive young runners confirmed to the coaching staff that the terrain was demanding for the children and that flawless runs were extremely rare. Wiktoria Kowalczyk (K12) also made minor mistakes, but none were serious, which was enough for a silver medal. She was beaten by the local rival Wiktoria’s Joanna Banasiak (MOS Wrocław), who dominated the field and won her second gold medal. Staś Pachnik ran disastrously by his own standards, but even so, he finished in the top ten, in ninth place. Julia Halewicz also made the top ten (10th place).
After two days, the team from Iwiny had five medals and a high position in the team standings – 11th place, with only small gaps separating them from Kometa Gliwice, OSiR Góra Kalwaria and Orientuś Łódź.
On Sunday morning, three of our relay teams entered the competition:
- K10 – Sonia Szeliga, Julia Halewicz and Marcelina Zawada
- K12 – Honorata Kowalczyk, Karolina Zawada, Wiktoria Kowalczyk
- M14 – Jędrzej Pachnik, Stanisław Pachnik and Emilia Piecek (the rules allow a girl to compete in a boys’ relay).
The first two relays had medal chances, while the M14 relay had little chance. Jędrek ran the first leg of this relay, and a course four categories higher was a very difficult task for him. – The course length alone, 4.4 km as the crow flies, is quite daunting, and the number and placement of the control points offered no chance against boys four years older – the coach explains. – There was only one task: to complete the course. Jędrek is a very ambitious boy and fought as hard as he could. The time deficit was enormous, but our “Jędro”, despite being the youngest in the field, did not finish last. “Jędro” earned the respect of the entire orienteering community and praise from the event announcer, who interviewed him and congratulated him on his ambition and fighting spirit.
His brother Staś took the second leg. He ran well and improved our relay’s position by several places. Emilia Piecek ran the third leg; she never gives up either and fought the boys to the very last meters. The effort of the entire relay team was enough for 11th place out of 23 teams, just behind the boys from MKS Paulinum Jelenia Góra.
Our girls’ relays fought for podium places, although the beginning was difficult. Honorata ran the first leg of K12 and, like Jędrek, was younger—10 years old among twelve-year-olds. Honorka arrived in seventh place and passed the proverbial baton to Karolina Zawada (in orienteering, the changeover takes place by tagging the incoming teammate). Karolina ran very well, as planned, and caught most of her rivals. She reached the finish in second place, almost level with the rival in third from HKS Azymut Mochy.
The deficit to the leading relay from Wrocław was already very large, but so was the advantage over the fourth-placed team from Kwidzyn. The outcome seemed clear, but in orienteering nothing can be taken for granted until the very end. One mistake or punching the wrong control point is enough for the chances to disappear. This time, however, nothing like that happened. Wiktoria narrowly lost the battle for second place, but won a bronze medal for her relay team as a consolation—and the sixth medal for our club.
The youngest girls started with a very large deficit because Sonia Szeliga ran rather poorly on the first leg, and Julka Halewicz set off on the second leg more than eight minutes behind the leading relay. Julka ran significantly better than Sonia, improving our position. Marcelina Zawada then ran even better, but it was enough only for fourth place. Dariusz Pachnik: – The girls were disappointed, but this is a sport that teaches humility and how to overcome the bitterness of defeat. The girls very much wanted to win a medal and could not be persuaded that fourth place was also a very good result; all that mattered was the medal they wanted to win. All three are nine years old, so next year they will be able to compete in the same category with much more experience, and I am convinced that they will be favorites!
Ultimately, Orientpark.pl finished 8th among 31 clubs. It was the best Youngest Competitors’ Cup in the history of orienteering in Iwiny.
It was also the first major success of the entire very young Orientpark team (Małgosia Szeliga, Wojciech Pachnik, Matusz Madej, Marek Wojnowicz), who also actively practice orienteering but, above all, work for their younger teammates.
Full results of all races are available on the organizer’s website – UKS “Azymut 45” Gdynia.
Dariusz Pachnik/ii