Yukon orienteer makes it three for three at world juniors

Yukoner Colin Abbott made it three for three today at the 2009 Junior World Orienteering Championships.

Yukoner Colin Abbott made it three for three today at the 2009 Junior World Orienteering Championships.

For a third straight race, the Whitehorse resident finished with the fastest North American time in his category. This year’s junior orienteering championships are being held in Primiero, Italy.

Running in the middle distance qualifier one category, Abbott placed 35th out of 57 with a time of 33:41.

He has cracked the top 100 in each of his three races, including the sprint and long distance events. This is Abbott’s second time representing Canada at the world juniors, which began Monday with the sprint distance. Abbott placed 75th in the sprint race.

On Tuesday, Abbott came in 95th in the long distance course. He finished the 9.5-km, 29 control course with at time of 1:46:21.

“His result showed that he managed very tricky terrain that lots of other people had trouble with, but he said it himself there’s room for improvement next year and a chance to take another big step up,” said Abbott’s orienteering coach Brent Langbakk.

Also attending the world junior championships is Yukon orienteer Lee Hawkings, who is battling a cold.

Despite being a bit under the weather, Hawkings has posted some impressive times, including placing 139th in the sprint, which was an improvement from the previous year when he came in 148th.

The long distance race saw Hawkings tie his 2008 finish. He came in 132nd and finished with a time of 2:12:25.

“I think that for him to basically not be able to push and not be able to run as he would normally, but still get the same result that just shows how much he has improved technically and just how much better he is this year,” Langbakk said. “So I am really proud of him for gutting it out and getting through it. It’s a tough race.” 

The junior world championships concludes Saturday with a relay race.