WEE Long Course Best Junior Male

The 2022 Scottish orienteering season kicked off in style as the traditional opening event, EUOC's Big Weekend brought a large field of runners to the capital, and local athletes were prominent across all three races.

James Hammond forewent his rightful place in Friday's junior night race at Pollock Halls, as he looked to get his campaign off to a strong start, and he wasn't disappointed as he roared home in 4th place overall in a strong Long course field, a time of 32.24 placing him 41 seconds off the podium. Will Hensman was 8th (33.37) in the same race, as he returned as the leading veteran in the field.

The following day saw athletes in action in the Urban discipline, and FVO's new signings were prominent across the classes, as Alasdair McLeod won the Open Mens division in 32.00, and Rachel Kirkland led the female competitors on course 3 to win Veteran Women in 36.18.

James Hammond moved up up four class divisions to race on course 2, and, despite having to be shadowed, won the race in 30.13. Cathy Tilbrook has changed age class this year, but not her dominance, as she raced hard for 3rd place in the SuperVet womens class (24.13), while Holly Stodgell scored a fine 3rd place on course 5, in a time of 23.06. Finally, Eilidh Connor was prominent on the Young Junior course, and finished in 11.26, for 2nd place in both course and class standings.

The final day's action was a classic distance event at Arthur's Seat, and Esme Finch (10.56) was the FVO's only course winner, as she notched a six minute victory margin to take the spoils on the White course, but there were fine performances across all the classes.

James Hammond continued his fine run of form with 4th place (50.58) in the Brown class, one second behind the host club's GB international Matthew Gooch, Sam Hunt came back 5th on Blue (54.20), just ahead of Jon Cross (55.19), while on Green, Vicky Thornton (51.02) was one second ahead of Joey Inch for 8th place, and Hazel Dean (12th in 51.43) and Heather Fellbaum (20th in 56.05) also made the top 20.

Stevie Ewens was the pick of the FVO competitors on the Short Green course, as he claimed 10th position in 48.38, one place and 39 seconds ahead of Holly Stodgell, and Belle White was in close proximity, with a 15th place recorded in 52.44.