Dariusz Pachnik, coach of UKS “Orientpark.pl” Iwiny:
Since the beginning of May, there has been a real marathon of important orienteering events. Last week, the Polish Championships for Juniors, Seniors and Veterans were held over the classic distance. This weekend brought the most important event of the year for children under fourteen: the Polish Youth Championships, officially known as the “Puchar Najmłodszych”. It was the 40th edition of this event. This year, the young “orienteers” were hosted by Drzonków and Sulechów (Lubusz Voivodeship). We travelled with an exceptionally modest five-person team: Kornelia Kulka, Martyna Nikołajuk, Maja Nikołajuk, Oliwia Hetnar and Antoni Pachnik. Small does not mean weak! What the youngest generation of “Orientpark” athletes showed was truly amazing. Against nearly 400 children from across Poland, we were truly visible. Five medals won and eleventh place in the team standings is a really outstanding result.
But let us take it step by step. The competition began on Friday, 3 June. We left on Thursday so that we could also complete one sprint training session in Włoszakowice (Leszno County). The following morning, we rested until noon and then headed to the Modern Pentathlon Olympic Training Centre in Drzonków. The sprint race was held on the centre’s grounds. We won two medals in this race alone.
How did our runners perform on Friday?
Dariusz Pachnik: – In the M11 category, Antoni Pachnik won gold, while Martyna Nikołajuk took silver in the K12 category. Maja, the older of the Nikołajuk sisters, also performed very well. She finished 10th in the exceptionally strong K14 category. The girls in this category successfully compete against juniors two years older than them. They are truly among the European elite. In a year or two, these girls will be competing for European Championship medals. Returning to our athletes, Oliwia Hetnar (K12) also ran very well, but missed one control point and was not classified. Her time would have earned her fourth, perhaps fifth place. Kornelia Kulka ran respectably, finishing 20th in the K11 category.
Saturday, 5 June
Coach:
Saturday, 5 June, was one of the warmer days of the year. The temperature in the shade exceeded 25 degrees, and the classic-distance race was scheduled in a training-ground area belonging to the 5th Artillery Regiment in Sulechów. Consequently, a substantial part of the area was open terrain, where the sun beat down mercilessly that day. However, orienteering is a sport for people with strong character. Our athletes fought once again. Antek finished second this time and won silver, while Martyna took bronze. Oliwia Hetnar unfortunately finished just outside the podium places, in fourth. Maja repeated her good sprint result and finished eleventh. The conditions and terrain got the better of Kornelia, and she was not classified.
An accompanying event, the Sulechów Orienteering Cup, was held that day. Our youngest sport-orienteering trainee, Emilia Hetnar (eight), won a bronze medal in the K10N category. Slightly older Joanna Nikołajuk (Martyna and Maja’s mother), who was drawn into orienteering by her daughters, also finished third in the K35 category. Their father, Bartosz Nikołajuk, also competed in category 35, the men’s category, and finished seventh.
Sunday
Coach: – The organisers scheduled a relay race for Sunday. We were hoping to fight for the gold medal. Three weeks earlier, our M12 relay team, with two girls in the line-up, had won silver at the Polish Club Championships, losing only to the team from Kwidzyn.
And he adds excitedly:
What a race!!! Martyna Nikołajuk ran brilliantly on the first leg, coming in second… just 7 seconds behind the team from Gliwice. Oliwia Hetnar ran the second leg and had no intention of going home without a medal. This ambitious young athlete moved our relay team into first place! The next runner came in 19 minutes behind her!!! It was a complete domination. Antek Pachnik set off on the third leg. He had no idea what lead he had, so the pressure was enormous. Antek ran fantastically, lapping some of the teams on his course. He recorded the fastest time of all the competitors and was the only one to break 30 minutes. His time was 29:08. The athletes, coach and parents present all exploded with joy. The gold medal was a fact! It was our fifth medal, bringing us level with our best achievement from last year. However, the team was twice as large then.
He also adds: – Next week will be our first free weekend in a month and a half. Then we will compete again, this time in difficult terrain, in Jakuszyce, at the “Izery Cup”.