The New Zealand women finished their Junior World Championships campaign in Italy with a strong relay race to finish 13th country, and lead the men and women to a best ever 10th place overall for the Championships.
After a strong start by Kate Morrison, the pressure was on Georgia Whitla to keep the New Zealand team in touch with the Italians and Austrians and ahead of the Germans and Australians.
Whitla did not disappoint, pulling the team ahead two places before handing over to Angela Simpson for the third leg.
The anchor leg was marked by high-pressure navigation through technical rocky sections immediately after the changeover, with the Swedish women losing a three and a half minute lead to the gutsy charge of Swiss Julia Gross.
Gross, who took the Swiss team from 4th to 1st, had no problems finding any of the controls at high speed and turned the deficit into a two minute victory over Norway.
Angela Simpson handled the pressure well, staying clear of the catching Austrians, Germans and Aussies, with only the Hungarian women slipping past on a separate split.
The result - 13th country (not counting B-teams) - combined with the mens result of 21st country, gave the New Zealand team an overall placing of 10th for the Junior World Championships week.
Other highlights of the week counting towards this excellent overall result included Great Knarston's 19th in the Long distance, Tom Reynolds 31st (Long), Angela Simpson's and Kate Morrison's top-30 placings, and the three Final qualifications by Morrison, Angela Simpson and Georgia Whitla in the Middle distance.
With 4 gold medals and a silver, the Swedish team were clearly the top team at the Championships, an unsurprising result given the origins of Orienteering in Sweden.
The 2010 Junior World Orienteering Championships will be held in Denmark, former home of the New Zealand High performance Director and former World Champion Carsten Joergensen (Christchurch).
Results
Junior Elite Men
1. Team Sweden 2.08.51 (Olle Boström, Albin Ridefelt, Gustav Bergman)2. Team Switzerland 2.09.34 (Philipp Sauter, Matthias Kyburz, Martin Hubmann)
3. Team Denmark 2.12.03 (Marius Thrane Ødum, Rasmus Thrane Hansen, Søren Bobach)
4. Team Sweden2 2.12.23 (Jerker Lysell, Anton Tynong, Kalle Johansson)
5. Team Norway 2.15.44 (Mathias Bjugan, Torgeir Nørbech, Ulf Forseth Indgaard)
...
21. Team New Zealand 2:41:31 (Thomas Reynolds, Scott Mcdonald, Simon Jager)
Junior Elite Women
1. Team Switzerland 1.44.42; (Fiona Kirk, Sophie Tritschler, Julia Gross)
2. Team Norway 1.46.29 ( Britt Ingunn Nydal, Elen Katrine Skjerve, Mari Jevne Arnesen)
3. Team Denmark 1.46.39 (Emma Klingenberg, Ida Bobach, Signe Klinting)
4. Team Sweden 1.47.28 (Tove Alexandersson, Kristin Löfgren, Jenny Lönnkvist)
5. Team Czech Republic 1.51.12 (Ivana Bochenkova, Vera Madlova, Tereza Petrzelova)
...
13. Team New Zealand 2:05:56 (Kate Morrison, Georgia Whitla, Angela Simpson).
