Metro League Round 3 got underway on Sunday 23rd June, again with a good turnout from WHO. We were hosted by Bennelong at a fairly sodden Pennant Hills Park, but a little slipping and sliding on muddy tracks just added to the challenge. The map was a contrast to the previous round at Sydney Park, with the map featuring a lot of green and a reasonable amount of contour work. Let’s look at the WHO highlights.

Despite the (hopefully short term) absence of one our top runners, Seth Sweeney, our joint team with Uringa still managed to hand the host team Bennelong a walloping 38-14. Our president James McQuillan led from the front this round, picking up 10 points for a time of 43.34. This puts WHO-UR-CC at the top of the Div 1 ladder, well ahead of Garingal on points difference. Can we keep up the momentum? This is shaping up to be a great season at the toughest end of the contest.

Our WHO-UR-CC Div 2 team wasn’t quite as lucky, going down to Garingal 34-21. The fastest WHO runner was Savanna Sweeney who picked up 6 points for a time of 50.17. This sees us at 3rd place (out of 6 teams) in the Division 2 ladder, so we still have a good chance if we can pull off some good performances for the rest of this season.

We were back in the winner’s circle in Division 3, just edging out Garingal 29-25 in a close contest. Matthew Palmer was our fastest picking up 9 points for a time of 47.08. As a result, WHO sits in 2nd place on the Division 3 ladder, just behind SHOO-IKO on points difference. A great start to the year.

We were up against Garingal in Div 4 as well, and again we came out on top 32-23. The team was dominated by our juniors (and bolstered by the wisdom and experience of Anthony Saunders). Shay Sweeney was the fastest of the match up picking up 10 points for an incredibly quick time of 28.33. It has to be said all of our juniors in the team were in great form - this will be a team to watch. We now sit in 2nd place on the Division 4 ladder, just behind SHOO on points difference.

Div 5 saw yet more success for WHO over Garingal, with a commanding scoreline of 37-18. In another junior success story, Aiden McQuillan was the fastest picking up 10 points for a time of 36.07. In fact it was pretty consistently good performances across the team. Pleasingly, we sit at the top of the Div 5 ladder, so some more good performances will make us hard to beat this year.

We were well down on numbers in Div 6, so not surprisingly we lost 34-6 to Garingal, with the ever-dependable Janet Morris picking up 6 points for a time of 60.31. We are in 4th place (out of 5) on the Div 6 ladder.

WIth two rounds under our belt, this is one of the strongest starts to the season for WHO I can recall in recent years. Be part of the action, and join us at the next round of Metro League on July 28 at the Clay Pan.

Metro League 2024 finally got off the ground after Round 1 at Appin was cancelled due to wet conditions. It was looking like it would be pretty wet for Round 2 at Sydney Park as well, but fortunately not wet enough to keep us away. 

At face value navigation should have been fairly straightforward in this inner-city parkland environment, but there was some deceptively tricky legs on what is quite a detailed map. Apartment-dwelling dogs out to stretch their legs certainly enjoyed sniffing out these strange people running around their park with sodden maps in their hand. 

With our Div 6 team having the bye this round, we were able to field pretty full teams across the divisions. It was particularly good to welcome some Metro League debutants - welcome Tahlia Chapman, Matthew Palmer, and Sai Shing!

And pleasingly, WHO kicked off the season with a bang, pocketing plenty of wins in our head to head contests! 

Our joint WHO-UR-CC Div 1 team had a ripper, beating perennial Div 1 champions Big Foot 27-22. Not something we see too often - what a great result team. Seth Sweeney picked up the 10 points speeding around the course in 39.44 - he will be hard to beat this season. 

Our Div 2 team (also WHO-UR-CC) picked up an easy win against Garingal, who basically forfeited the round due to lack of numbers. Even so 34-0 looks pretty good on the scoreboard and a win’s a win. Savanna Sweeney continued the family’s winning ways, picking up 10 points with a time of 44.48. 

In Div 3, WHO was up against KNOX. Matthew Palmer made a real impression to kick off the Metro League season with 9 points for a time of 42.28. This helped see us home to a 27-22 victory over KNOX. 

Div 4 was a showcase for our juniors, and they certainly didn’t disappoint, beating IKO 32-23. The Sweeney’s were in the winners circle again with Shay picking up 10 points for a super fast time of 36.55. Special mention goes to debutant Tahlia Chapman who was our second fastest with a time of 42.38 for 7 points. Such a strong outing from our juniors bodes well for the future.

Finally, in Div 5 we were up against UR-CC and incredibly finished with a 27-27 draw. Karen Langan was in town and thought she would pick up 10 points while she was here, with a great time of 38.34. 

This must be one of WHO’s most successful rounds I can recall, and it was thanks to some great participation from everyone across all of our teams. Can’t wait for Round 3 in Pennant Hills on June 23 - this could be WHO’s year!

Well with Summer Series drawing to a close, its that time of year when we turn our attention to some of the best orienteering the Sydney region has to offer - Metro League!

Metro League is for everyone, whether you are a complete beginner or an elite competitor. It is also one of the best ways to meet your fellow club members. For those of you who aren’t familiar with

Metro League, it is a competition between the Sydney based clubs that takes place over 6 rounds across the winter months. There are 6 divisions, and clubs field teams of 5 in each division. WHO has a team in each division, although this season we will be teaming up with Uringa and Central Coast for our Div 1 and Div 2 teams. All club members can enter - and don’t worry if you aren’t selected you still get to run the course and prove to the captain that you are worthy of selection next time!

Every round, each of our teams goes head to head with a team from one of the other clubs. That makes 10 competitors across the two teams - and points are allocated by giving 10 points to the fastest time down to 1 for the slowest time. Whichever team accumulates the most points, wins the round!

If all of that sounds a little complicated, don’t sweat - all you have to do is turn up and run your course and have fun!

The beauty of Metro League is that you get a taste for bush orienteering without having to venture far from home. If you’ve only done Summer Series, then this is just the challenge you will be looking for over the winter months, and for those familiar with Saturday Orienteering Series, this is a natural progression. Some of you may even be wondering about State League - if so, then Metro League is a must to get used to the format and bush orienteering.

Round 1 kicks off next weekend at Appin (Sunday 7 April).

Get your entries in Eventor now. I’ll be looking to allocate teams early Saturday, so make sure you have your entries in by end of Friday if possible. I’ll then send details of teams and start times. All event information can be found on Eventor (including how to get there).

If you are new to Metro League and have some questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me.

See you next Sunday!

I’m reaching out to get an idea of who is interested in taking part in Metro League this year, so that we can work out how many teams we are likely to field.

Those of you new to the club might be wondering - what is Metro League?

Metro League is a competition held every winter between the Sydney-based clubs, including WHO.

But more importantly, it’s great orienteering in bush locations that are conveniently located on the outskirts of, or near Sydney. So you don’t have to venture too far from home to enjoy some great orienteering. In particular, if you have only done Summer Series events but are curious to progress to bush orienteering, Metro League is a great introduction. There are courses to suit all levels of experience, including beginners. And best of all you get to meet your fellow club members to get some tips, and compare notes. And you don’t need to attend every Metro League event - just the ones that suit you. If you’re interested, but want to find out more, reach out directly to me (joshuabraidwood1@gmail.com) and I can give you the full run down and answer any questions you might have. 

The scheduled dates for Metro League 2024 are setout in the table above - please note some of the proposed venues may be subject to change:

Get those dates in your calendar now.

Please get in touch to let me know if you think you can be part of Metro League this season, or if you are new to the club and would like to find out more.