FVO take top spot in qualification event Orienteers bid to win national trophy once again
Forth Valley Orienteers progressed in some style to the final of the Compass Sport Cup when they won their qualification round at Callander Crags by 72 points from ESOC.
FVO took on the organisation of the event for the fourth time in nine years, and the newly-mapped area above Callander brought more than 400 orienteers from all over Scotland in their bid to make it through, with the carrot of the final being back in Scotland this year.
The Compass Sport Cup is the premier club competition for UK teams, and FVO has a proud record in the event, having won the cup three times since 2015.
The cup competition, for clubs with more than 150 runners, was a straight shootout between FVO and ESOC, and the local club displayed its strength in depth by winning nine of the 12 available classes.
Prominent amongst the victors were Jason Inman, who had a 90 second winning margin (53.42) over clubmate Ben Stansfield, and James Hammond, who was forced by the competition rules to drop down to the junior classes for the first time this season, and sped round the hilly 3.8km course in under half an hour.
Scarlett Kelly came close to joining the pair in heading all runners in her class as she led by four seconds in the Junior Girls class within sight of the finish line, but fell with victory in sight and lost the lead by a single second (20.52).
The trophy competition for smaller clubs, was the most chaotic of the eight national qualification rounds, with no fewer than 15 clubs chasing one of the three final berths.
Many of the clubs have a single specialist in one course, and the competition lead changed hands over and over again as key runners logged their scores.
Three time winners Edinburgh Interlopers topped the pile at the end of the day, with their victories including success on both Open courses, and they were joined in the final by northern powerhouses MAROC and Moravian, who were separated by only four points at race end.
The five finalists won’t have a long trip in their search for glory in October, as FVO has been handed the hosting rights for the final, which returns to Scotland for the first time since 2012, and will be held at Devilla, Fife.