CIFO 2016: Esther Gil took the Iberian titles of Middle and Long Distance

Esther Gil was at the highest level during the Female Iberian Foot Orienteering Championships, winning the Middle and Long Distance titles. In the Men Elite, Roger Casal was the strongest in these distances, while Eduardo Gil was the winner in the Sprint. Mariana Moreira took the Iberian Sprint title.

In an atmosphere dominated by the idilic “beirã” scenery, between mountains, rivers and breathtaking valleys, took place this weekend, in Aguiar da Beira, the Female Iberian Foot Orienteering Championships. The event was organized by the Clube de Orientação de Estarreja and registered the presence of 595 athletes, about half of which from the neighbouring Spain. In addition to assigning the female Iberian titles in the Middle, Long and Sprint distances, the Female Iberian Foot Orienteering Championship scored in all distances for the Vitalis Portuguese Foot Orienteering Cup 2016 and for the Spanish Foot Orienteering League 2016.

In the Women Elite class, Esther Gil (Colivenc) was the greatest winner, achieving the Iberian Middle and Long Distance titles by really strong margins. The Portuguese Mariana Moreira (CPOC) - defending here all three Iberian titles achieved last year in Pontevedra -, was faster than anyone else in the Sprint, being second placed on the remaining distances. Overall, the Championships assigned 27 Iberians titles, eleven in the Long and Middle Distances and five in the Sprint. The Portuguese athletes achieved sixteen titles, with the remaining eleven titles staying on the Spanish athletes. Individually, the focus are over the Spanish Kika Basáran (Toledo-O) and the Portuguese Filipa Rodrigues (ADFA), who achieved all the three titles, in the W16 and W20 classes, respectively. Also worth mentioning the Portuguese Beatriz Sanguino (CPOC) in W18 and Herminia Tavares (COV - Natura) in W60, with two Iberian titles each.

As for the Men Elite class, Roger Casal (Colivenc) also won the Middle and Long Distance stages, in the first case with a lead of 1:34 over Javier Ruiz de la Herrán (COMA) and in the second case beating Eduardo Gil (Tjalve ) by a comfortable margin of 3:58. Eduardo Gil won the Sprint stage, with the Portuguese Tiago Romão (GafanhOri) at 51 seconds. Reference to the victories in all stages for Jose Antonio Garcia (Lorca-O) in the M40 class, José Fernandes (.COM) in M55 class, Francisco Coelho (Club TAP) in M70 class and Joaquim da Costa (GD4C) in M75 class.

Results

Middle Distance

Men Elite (4,5 Km 280 m 15 C)

1. Roger Casal (Colivenc) 34:29 (+ 00:00)

2. Javier Ruiz de la Herrán (COMA) 36:03 (+ 01:34)

3. Pau Llorens (COB) 36:25 (+ 01:56)

4. Tiago Martins Aires (GafanhOri) 36:33 (+ 02:04)

5. Manuel Horta (GafanhOri) 36:44 (+ 02:15)

Women Elite (3,4 Km 195 m 15 C)

1. Esther Gil (Colivenc) 34:23 (+ 00:00)

2. Mariana Moreira (CPOC) 39:11 (+ 04:48)

3. Carolina Delgado (GD4C) 41:17 (+ 06:54)

4. Guadalupe Moreno (Monte El Pardo) 47:58 (+ 13:35)

5. Marta Guijo (Via Plata ) 51:23 (+ 17:00)

Sprint

Men Elite (3,4 Km 140 m 23 C)

1. Eduardo Gil (Tjalve) 14:29 (+ 00:00)

2. Tiago Romão (GafanhOri) 15:20 (+ 00:51)

3. Pau Llorens (COB) 15:24 (+ 00:55)

4. Tiago Martins Aires (GafanhOri) 16:05 (+ 01:36)

5. Greg Ahlswede (Escondite-M) 16:22 (+ 01:53)

Women Elite (2,8 Km 110 m 18 C)

1. Mariana Moreira (CPOC) 15:40 (+ 00:00)

2. Raquel Costa (GafanhOri) 15:53 (+ 00:13)

3. Marta Guijo (Via Plata) 16:23 (+ 00:43)

4. Carolina Delgado (GD4C) 17:35 (+ 01:55)

5. Guadalupe Moreno (Monte El Pardo) 18:14 (+ 02:34)

Long Distance

Men Elite (11,9 Km 445 m 28 C)

1. Roger Casal (Colivenc) 1:23:35 (+ 00:00)

2. Eduardo Gil (Tjalve) 1:27:33 (+ 03:58)

3. Pau Llorens (COB) 1:33:03 (+ 09:28)

4. Javier Ruiz de la Herrán (COMA) 1:34:31 (+ 10:56)

5. Manuel Horta (GafanhOri) 1:35:18 (+ 11:43)

Women Elite (7,8 Km 325 m 18 C)

1. Esther Gil (Colivenc) 1:11:12 (+ 00:00)

2. Mariana Moreira (CPOC) 1:21:09 (+ 09:57)

3. Raquel Costa (GafanhOri) 1:23:18 (+ 12:06)

4. Carolina Delgado (GD4C) 1:26:46 (+ 15:34)

5. Marta Guijo (Via Plata ) 1:31:04 (+ 19:52)

Full results, maps, photos and further information at http://cifo2016.ori-estarreja.pt/index.php/pt/.

[Archive photo]

Joaquim Margarido