The Superseries is back again in 2012 for its 10th year. New Zealand’s elite orienteers will battle it out across the country while representing their region. With the 10 year milestone there are a few changes to the series. The first is a renewed focus on the team element of the series. Team uniforms will be compulsory so that the regional origins of each runner are clear to see.
The other change is the timetable for 2012. The year will open with a shortened race series. Taking in Sprint the Bay, the National Champs, a South Island weekend and Queens Birthday 3 day, the series will be decided by June. The area champs later in the year will be included in the 2012/2013 Superseries. This format places more emphasis on Nationals at Easter as the pinnacle event in the calendar, with it falling later in the Superseries in years to come.
So who will be the ones to challenge for the titles in 2012? The last Superseries included some breakout runs by some of the younger, junior elite runners. Will this continue into 2012? And will there be any more surprise packages this year. The 2012 Superseries has the added importance of being the prelude to a World Cup in early 2013. Runners will be looking to prove themselves and grab a coveted spot in the 2013 team. It may even pull some old hands from out of the woodwork.
On the men’s side, the reigning champion will not be competing this year. Ross Morrison has shifted to Finland. The gap at the head of the field is filled ably with the return of Chris Forne from living abroad in Norway. Pushing Chris hard will be some of the younger runners who are now much more consistent. Tom Reynolds, Toby Scott and Tane Cambridge will look to build on WOC experience from the last few years. Darren Ashmore and Karl Dravitzki, both former champions, will be looking to reclaim the title. Dark horses include the young Central Scorchers duo; Nick Hahn and Tim Robertson.
Women’s in 2012 will be a close run thing. Lizzie Ingham, the star from WOC 2011, will travel to NZ for some of the events and is sure to have some big battles with the Angela Simpson, who visited the JWOC podium in 2011. Add to the mix the resurgent Greta Knarston and Amber Morrison, as well as the rapidly improving Imogene Scott, and women’s will be a tightly fought battle.
2012 is all about supporting your region. The Northerners, Central Scorchers and Southerly Storm each represent multiple clubs. The teams competition in the past has been a real see-saw battle, with the Storm and Scorchers battling for the win over the last few years. It is the Northerners however who have the depth of young runners coming through, and the team is looking for 2012 to be the year of the North.
Keep an eye on the Superseries Blog for some athlete profiles over the coming days as we look to the first round for 2012 – DirtyD Sprint the Bay. Waitangi Weekend will see some hard and fast sprint racing around the Hawkes Bay to open the year.
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