HH Juniors win through to YBT Final – Again!

juniors, news

Yet again HH juniors won their way through to the final of the Yvette Baker Trophy.  Following their success in 2019 – which resulted in a visit to Sandringham (pictured), they will once again be maintaining a royal connection in this year’s event.

But back to the YBT heat held on 8th March at Rowney Warren. As in previous years, HH had a choice of two heats that they could attend and this year chose the East Anglia event.
Why? Well mainly on the quality of the terrain. Those who have competed at Rowney Warren will know that it is a wood with a good path network as well as a variety of hills and valleys – in fact perfectly suited to a YBT heat which offers just four courses – green, light green, orange and yellow.

Arriving early at the car park, a well appointed farm with lots of parking, we soon had the HH tent and banner in a prominent position. Much like last year, the day was breezy and so we made use of a handy fence to ensure that the tent was firmly tethered – having learnt our lesson from last year’s (tent) disaster.

Soon the tent began to fill up – but with only 21 of the expected team, Reuben having succumbed to a bad cold.

This left the Team Managers a little nervous about the outcome, given that the team was already deprived of three members who were appearing at the Royal Albert Hall no less!

By now Alex had checked out the walking time to the start and confirmed that it was a mere 5 minutes away and so the team members started to drift off to the start.  The HH starts were spread over the hour between 10.30 to 11.30 so we didn’t expect a result to be clear until later in the day and since team members had other commitments later – swimming galas and such like – there was never going to be a chance to share the result with everyone.

By this time, the wind had eased and the runners were returning with their tales of woe. Our concerns were not eased by a few glitches in the download department that generated a lengthy queue and a lack of confirmed results.  Bella returned to report that she was first – and last – first out of one finisher but that was about as much information as we could get.  In fact, unfortunately, the first indication that HH had indeed won the heat was only available some time after most of the team had left.

As it turned out HH juniors had once again done the club proud by winning with a substantial margin – 893 points to second place 886 – from OD and WAOC.

Congratulations to all the team and to the class winners Hannah, Cerys, Robin and Maggie; Second places went to Charlie, Poppy and Hanga and third to Tegan, Emi and Issy.

And now the really important bit: the final is near Tetbury on July 5th.  We will need a good turnout of juniors – all juniors are welcome to join us.

If Frances (the club’s Junior Coordinator) hasn’t heard from you in the next few weeks, be sure that you will hear from her as she gets together the entries for the competition, one that will bring together teams from the best clubs in the country.  But to save Frances chasing you why not send her an e-mail (juniors@herts-orienteering.club ) confirming that you will be joining us in Gloucestershire.  Note the date, 5th July, and just say ‘Yes, I will be there’.

And to round off; the Royal connection this year is that Tetbury is close to Highgrove House, the home of the Prince of Wales,