Coach Dariusz Pachnik
The first competition of the season (the so-called Central Competition Calendar of the Polish Orienteering Association), “Tajemnice Dolnego Śląska”, organized every year by UKS “Orientpark.pl” Iwiny, was canceled in April for obvious reasons. Instead, only training sessions were held as part of individual physical activity. A week later, another event, “Izery Cup”, was canceled.
Following government decisions in the second half of April that made it possible to organize competitions, the long-awaited start of the competitive season took place. The “Bukowa Cup” competition was scheduled for the May holiday weekend and was held in Puszcza Bukowa (hence the name of the competition), near Szczecin.
The athletes from UKS “Orientpark.pl” Iwiny could not miss such a dose of orienteering (six stages over four days).
The Iwiny club was represented by a six-person team: Martyna and Maja Nikołajuk, Oliwia Hetnar, Julia Halewicz as well as Jędrzej and Antek Pachnikowie. D. Pachnik:
Friday’s competition began with a sprint held in one of the housing estates in Szczecin itself. We recorded good results already at this stage. Jędrek confidently won the M16 category, Martyna won K12, Antek took second place in M12, Maja (K14) and Oliwia (K12) came fifth, and Julka was eleventh.
On Saturday morning, we began the forest section of the competition. A middle-distance race was held in the Kołowo area. The Pachnik brothers won their categories, while the Nikołajuk sisters both finished in second place, Oliwia was fourth, and Julka was eleventh again.
A night race was also held on Saturday. Coach:
The start was at 9:00 p.m. This is not our strongest discipline, as we rarely have the opportunity to train for this type of race, but the approaching Polish Championships in the night-race discipline determined that we would also compete in these stages. Jędrek narrowly lost first place and finished second, Maja was third, Antek was also third, Oliwka fourth, and Martyna sixth. So, as a team, we did quite well!
The team from our county had little time to recover. Dariusz Pachnik:
Already at 11:00 a.m. the next day, we were back in Puszcza Bukowa to compete in a middle-distance race. Jędrek recorded his third stage victory, Antek took third place, Martyna was fourth, followed immediately by Oliwia. Maja performed somewhat less well this time, finishing eighth.
How did the runners perform on Sunday?
Coach: “Saturday’s routine was repeated on Sunday: returning to our accommodation in Szczecin after the morning race, taking a shower, having lunch and recovering our strength, especially since the weather was terrible and did not encourage us to pursue our sightseeing plans. In the evening, it was back to the forest and another night race.”
He added:
The terrain, just as on the previous evening, was very demanding physically and technically. Fatigue was already making itself felt. This was our weakest race. No one avoided mistakes, and they were substantial ones. Navigation errors at night very often result in major time losses; with visibility so limited, it is difficult to identify the terrain accurately and quickly. Jędrek was second, but a major error meant that he lost his lead after four stages and dropped to second place with a considerable deficit, essentially losing his chance of overall victory. Maja, who had been third before this stage, fell to eighth after the fifth stage. The exception in the team was Oliwia, who finished second. Martyna was fourth and Antek third.
The sixth and final stage was another middle-distance race held in the same area as the previous races (although each race took place in a different part of Puszcza Bukowa). With his sporting ambition rekindled, Jędrek outclassed his rivals and won decisively, reducing the deficit from the night race, but ultimately this gave him only second place in the overall standings. Oliwia, meanwhile, won a race for the first time in her career and moved up in the overall standings, making the podium. This came at the expense of her club teammate Martyna, who ultimately took a high fourth place in the overall competition. Antek was third in the stage and third overall. Maja made a strong comeback and won second place, ultimately moving up to fifth!
He concluded:
The long weekend was very intense, as you can see from the report. The time passed in the blink of an eye. The results achieved were very satisfactory. Three podium places and two just behind (fourth and fifth). The results were not actually the most important thing. The priority was the training aspect and preparation for the most important events of the season. In a week, the Polish Championships for juniors, seniors and masters in the night and middle-distance races will be held near Szydłowiec (Masovian Voivodeship). Meanwhile, the youngest athletes will have their main event at the beginning of June near Zielona Góra: the Youngest Competitors’ Cup.
Photos from the gallery: Marcin Szymkowiak, https://fotopoligraf.pl.