Last weekend, the Macroregional Youth Orienteering Championships were held near Oleśnica. The nine-member team from UKS Orientpark.pl Iwiny performed very well.
The championships began with a relay race in Białe Błota. Sixteen teams were entered in each category—girls and boys. Coach Dariusz Pachnik:
We had one girls’ relay team and one boys’ team, although the latter included a girl—Julka Halewicz (the rules allow a girl to compete in a boys’ team). The boys’ relay was completed by Gracjan Dwojak (second leg) and Jędrzej Pachnik (third leg).
The girls ran in succession: Wiktoria Kulka, Sonia Szeliga and Maja Nikołajuk. Relays, as in athletics, have their own rules, and you need a team with evenly matched potential. Unlike athletics, however, navigational skills are just as important as running ability, and the result cannot be considered certain until a competitor reaches the finish.
He reports:
The first leg, which the best competitors completed in about 20 minutes, did not fill us with optimism, as both relays were near the bottom of the top ten. The objective for the boys’ relay was to minimize the deficit. Julka Halewicz fulfilled her task.
Although a six-minute deficit may seem substantial, we knew that none of the teams had three strong competitors.
The calculations proved correct. Gracjan Dwojak started the second leg and immediately began making up ground. He finished second and reduced the deficit to three minutes behind the leading team, MKS MOS Wrocław. The final leg was a frantic pursuit by Jędrek Pachnik, who caught the young competitor from Wrocław at the penultimate control point and gave him no chance in the final stretch. We won our first medal—and it was gold!!!
What about the girls’ relay? D. Pachnik:
The girls also performed increasingly better, which was ultimately enough for seventh place. It should be noted, however, that two girls in our team are 12 years old, making them two years younger than the age limit for the youth category.
A sprint race was held in Dobroszyce. The coach of the Orienteers:
As in the relay, we were counting primarily on the boys—and they did not disappoint. Jędrzej Pachnik took first place, while Gracjan Dwojak stood on the second step of the podium. Antek Pachnik (9) finished in the fourth ten.
Among the girls, Julia Halewicz performed best, taking a high sixth place. Her chance at a medal was lost at the beginning of the course, where Julka made a significant error and, despite a good run afterward, was unable to make up the deficit to the podium. Sonia Szeliga—17th, Wiktoria Kulka—19th, while Oliwia Roman and Maja Nikołajuk finished in the fourth ten.
On Sunday, a classic-distance race was held in Sadków. Dariusz Pachnik:
The draw for the starting list, with interval starts, worked out in such a way that one of the main favorites, Amadeusz Cupryś (HKS Azymut Mochy), started right at the beginning. He ran flawlessly and very quickly, setting a very high bar with a time of 20:54.At the same time as the Macroregional Championships, the Lower Silesian Championships were being contested. The Orienteers won four medals here. Jędrek Pachnik (M14), Antek Pachnik (M10) andOur competitors already knew Amadeusz’s result and knew they also had to run flawlessly. The competitors who finished afterward did not even come close to Amadeusz’s time. After Jędrek and Gracjan started, we nervously counted the time at the finish.
When it seemed that they would not manage it either, we spotted Jędrek’s silhouette among the trees. We knew he was running a time very close to that of his rival from Mochy. The cheering was deafening, and Jędrek raced toward the finish. Despite our own time measurements, we could not determine which competitor was faster. After the electronic control card was read, it turned out that Jędrek had missed another gold medal by just one second!!!
Tymoteusz Bultrowicz of Hades Poznań took third place, already nearly four minutes behind, while the next rival was more than seven minutes back.
The race did not go well for Gracjan Dwojak, who finished seventh—a result below Gracjan’s expectations and capabilities (he was fourth at the Polish Championships in the M13 category).
While we were focused on the boys’ competition, Julia Halewicz was fighting for a medal and, unfortunately, missed bronze by just 16 seconds and silver by 20. She ultimately finished fourth. The remaining girls achieved the following places: Sonia Szeliga 13th, Wiktoria Kulka 22nd, Oliwia Roman 26th and Maja Nikołajuk 36th.
Kornelia Kulka (K10) won gold, while Julia Halewicz (K12) won silver.
The coach adds:
In the medal standings of the Youth Championships, we finished second behind HKS Azymut Mochy (Greater Poland), and ahead of MKS MOS Wrocław and Hades Poznań.If the boys were counted separately, we would be clear winners. Jędrek Pachnik was undoubtedly the best competitor—two gold medals and one silver.