UCT breaks Wits' eight-year orienteering hold

Breaking Wits University's tight hold on the trophy, the UCT orienteering team has won the SASSU orienteering and relay competition, held recently in Mpumalanga.

The event, which took place in the forest surrounding the town of Belfast, has been won by Wits for the past eight years.

Orienteering, a developing sport in South Africa, originates from Scandinavia, and while more of an individual sport, it is a cross between high-speed map reading and cross- country running. Navigating unfamiliar terrain using a map and a compass (there is no marked route), the orienteer must choose their own route, visiting a number of control points in the shortest time.

There are three main events in the competition: sprint, middle and classic distance. These range from 2.5 to 10 kilometres, and points are given to runners as a percentage of the winner's time, thus the closer you are to the winner's time the higher your score. The team score is taken from the total of your team's top runners.

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