With Inward Bound on the calendar for Term 4, Woroni fills you in on how each of the teams are looking so that you can have some input when the IB chatter really begins.

Johns

After the difficulties of last year, the Johns team is looking forward to a Bursill run event and all that it holds. The team is looking exceptionally fit! We have had extra time this year to prepare, and a record number of turnouts – if the past few years is anything to go by, the Johns girls and guys are a force to be reckoned with.
Whilst missing a couple of strong navs from last year, a number of new faces should help the team to secure at least 3 victories out of the 7 divisions, as has been the tradition in the past.

Predicted victories: 3/7

Chance of overall win: 70%

Burgmann

The year started with a huge shock to the system, with IB being rescheduled to Term 4. Having to directly compete with popular sports like footy and AFL, generating interest and numbers for our team was always going to be challenging. Thankfully, with our strong backbone of experienced runners supplemented by a host of incoming athletes, Burgmann looks set to be highly competitive. Since training began in Bush Week, our progress in improving both running and technical skills has been relentless. Despite the challenges posed by the weather, the commitment shown by all participants has demonstrated a real hunger for back-to-back victories.

Predicted victories: 3/7

Chance of overall win: 50%

Ursula

Ursula Hall’s IB preparation is well underway with this year’s team shaping up to be one of our strongest yet. We may be the underdogs in most sports, but IB is definitely not one of them, with Ursies looking to improve upon our 4th place of 2015. We’ve had strong turnouts, been training hard, and been having heaps of fun! Even the postgraduates in Laurus Wing have been running up the mountains around Canberra and exploring all that our capital has to offer. Our team is looking forward to the Rogaine where we can show off our natural navigating prowess to the other colleges. Watch out, Ursula Hall is coming – ‘Vanquish the weak, Hurdle the dead, Arrive triumphant’!

Predicted victories: 4/7

Chance of overall win: 30%

Bruce

The Bruce IB team for 2016 has started off strong, and are only looking to continue to build on our early training base. Spearheaded by the dynamically eccentric duo of Mary Parker and Nathan Farrell, what they might lack in top end experience they certainly make up for in first year enthusiasm and team synergy. The question on everyone’s lips, however, is whether elite Tough Mudder runner Brad Carron-Arthur will return as an ex-ressie. While Div 1 is always an unknown, look for them to really push for victories in the Div 4-6 range with a healthy bulk of athletes at that level.

Predicted victories: 2/7

Chance of overall win: 20%.

B&G

With the Redbacks’ training already ramping up and many of the B&G Nav squad fresh from the World Rogaining Championships, B&G’s IB team is set to put the other colleges through their paces. Led by head coach Brad Valette, the team this year will present a fierce competition. Successes and lessons learned from the past few years have accumulated to produce what is arguably the most talented squad the college has seen in years. With a secret stash of ex-ressies to bolster their teams, fresh talent in Sasha Lee and Alice Patterson-Robert, and team of pocket rocket returners, this well-rounded team will be fighting hard for victory.

Predicted victories: 3/7

Chances of overall win: 49% (much like our Daley Road address)

Fenner

Fenner’s team started off mainly with mainly social running in Semester One, with one mock drop towards the end. This semester we’re picking up the pace a bit and getting serious about the non-running aspects of IB, with more emphasis on navigating and getting used to running with a pack. We had our first winter mock drop in week two, where we spent over an hour running through snow! We’re still working to engage the social aspect of IB and build a strong team mentality by doing things like cooking dinner for the team after big runs.
We do have strong team at Fenner this year, with a big cohort of enthusiastic first years as well as some IB veterans. However, while any victories are welcome, IB isn’t about winning at Fenner, because we believe just being involved in IB is a big win in itself.

Predicted victories: no comment

Chance of overall win: < 0%

Griffin

Griffin began preliminary IB training way back in week 1, semester 1. The big build up has been really good for our first years and new runners, meaning we now have a full squad plus reserves already lined up. To add to this depth, Griffin also has some top tier runners, such as ex-ressie and international standard trail runner Tom Brazier, head coach Jiaying Goh, and the experienced Keira Doherty. The squad is also about one third women, so we’ll have no trouble meeting the new gender requirements. Griffin are looking to improve a lot on last year’s lacklustre performance, and right now it looks like they will. We predict the final standings to look a little something like this: BnG, Bruce, Johns, Griffin, Burgmann, Fenner, UniLodge and Ursies.

Predicted victories: no comment

Chance of overall win: 15%

Lodge

Our IB team has been hard at work in preparation for this year’s race. The return of 2015 coach, Sarah Lefevre, at the helm with support from co-coach Mark McAlary, and co-ordinators Emma Murdoch and Nick Wynne, has seen the IB team really coming into its own. A solid core of returning runners are hungry from their taste of last years glory, and a sizable contingent of first-year/first-time runners are providing new energy and fresh legs to the team. We will be racing with pinpoint navigation and ceaseless determination, to get all teams comfortably into endpoint and sustain the UL IB glory.

Predicted victories: </= 1/7

Chance of overall win: 20%