Text: Pernille Svartveit Osmundsen
Photo: Viggo Jakobsen/Globetrotter event og artist & Nils Dittritch/NTNUI
NTNUI Orientering was honored as the student sports team of the year when Trøndelag’s sports circle was assembled in early in November 2023.
Photo: Viggo Jakobsen/Globetrotter event og artist
For the 14th time, Idretten’s Heiderskveld was organized in November. Here, the best in the Trøndelag sports circle gathered and were honored for their achievements both nationally and internationally. Scholarships, achievement awards and spirit awards were handed out to honor the many people who help create sports engagement and joy in Trøndelag. This time, NTNUI Orienteering was honored with the Student Sports Team of the Year award for the stable and good results in the club. The student club also asserted itself during the prestigious Tiomila last spring, which helped them get the award. NTNUI Orienteering has not won during Tiomila since 1992 when they won the women’s class, and last year they managed to win for the first time in the open class which ran through the night.
Facts about Tiomila (press to expand)
- Tiomila or the 10mile is a highlight in orienteering and is organized annually in Sweden
- There is a separate women’s class (5 stages) and youth class (4 stages) which run during the day, while the “Tiomilakavlen” runs overnight and is an open class (although mostly men take part in this)
- NTNUI Orienteering lined up with 7 teams in the Damkavlen” and 6 teams in the “Tiomilakavlen”, with one of the teams being a purely women’s team
- In total, there were 85 NTNU students who ran to the best of their ability in the championship
- NTNUI Orienteering is one of the clubs with the most victories in the women’s relay with 4 golds, last won in 1992
- This year was the first time NTNUI Orienteering won the “Tiomilakavlen”
- On the winning team were both Anders Vestøl and Eirik Langedal Breivik who received the honorary award
The gala outfits were on and NTNUI’s leader Jenny Hunvik was on stage to present the award for Student Sports Team of the Year in front of a fully packed cinema hall at Nova Kinosenter. Hunvik says that NTNUI Orienteering has accomplished an incredible feat in 2023 and that it is difficult for those outside the orienteering community to understand how big it actually is to win Tiomila. She further says that being able to award the Student Sports Award in 2023 to Orienteering feels right, as they really deserved that honor and that she felt lucky to have the honor of handing out the award itself during Idretten’s Heiderskveld in November.
Stepping onto the stage to receive the award on behalf of NTNUI Orienteering were Eirik Langedal Breivik and Anders Vestøl, both of whom contributed to NTNUI Orienteering’s victory in the prestigious Tiomila. Vestøl expressed his excitement about receiving the award, emphasizing its significance given that orienteering is not among the largest sports in Norway. “It was a bit more formal than I had expected” he replied when asked about his experience of the evening, and added that it means a lot to be recognized this way. Also Lars Sandstad, leader of NTNUI Orienteering, emphasizes that it is not always easy to be seen when you perform in a sport such as orienteering. Therefore, such recognition for the entire club’s achievements throughout the year is extra nice.
Photo: Nils Dittritch/NTNUI
The victory in Tiomila meant a lot to the student club. Vestøl, which has himself participated twice in the championship, says that winning was prestigious and absolutely huge, especially when they have to manage “all by themselves”. The event is a highlight within orientation, where many clubs participating have a lot more money to spare, including funds for coaches, among other things. Nevertheless, the student team, which is driven by volunteerism and has a high turnover of members, managed to win the international competition.