Results of OK at US Chumps

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I don't have any results to report myself, but I think by this time the meet has been decided, yet the outside world is left somewhat in the dark because the results are so slowly deciminated. I hope that this message will serve as inspiration to OKers who are returning from the meet today. Will someone please send in a report on OK at the US chumps? BAOC, being the way that it is, is unlikely to see the value in posting the results in a timely manner.

-- M (everett@psi.edu), September 26, 1999

Answers

Just a quick note...I'm sure others will add details.

OK had eight orienteers at the U.S. Champs: Dan, Fritz, Raymond, Jenny, Magnus, Sanna, Peggy, Mary and I. PTOC was also present with the Nueburgers and Dick L.

The best result was Dan's silver medal in M35. Dan was behind Rick Oliver, who happens to live at altitude. (It is also worth noting that Dan dominated Saturday evening's mini-golf tournament.)

-- Spike (meglin@juno.com), September 27, 1999.


The BAOC web page ( http://www.baoc.org/sched/s990925n.html ) says:

Results

Congratulations to Mikell Platt (RMOC) and Angelica Riley (BAOC), winners of M-21 and F-21! Full results will be available in a few days. They will also be printed in the Nov/Dec 1999 BAOC Bulletin.

I did much better the second day than on the first, but I believe that was not the case for everyone in OK.

--Fritz

-- Fritz Menninger (fpmenninger@hotmail.com), September 27, 1999.


Thanks on behalf of all OKers not there! It is about time Dan showed the world what he can do on a minigolf course. I always knew he had it in him. I wonder how Magnus fared.

What results I hear sort of confirms my suspicions that the people who live at altitude have an advantage - but many would win under other conditions as well. I bet some of the advantage is physiological, but not the majority. Isn't the terrain and vegetation in Tahoe similar to other high altitude sites? I bet that's a great advantage combined with the fact that the meet is held this time of year - after a long hot humid summer or a long warm dry summer, depending on where one trains.

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), September 27, 1999.


I've got a few minutes (taking a break from moving), so I thought I'd write a few notes about day one at the U.S. Champs.

Day one was on the less-tough section of the Spooner Lake map (on the east side of Lake Tahoe). The area was not so hilly and the ground was relatively firm (both the training day and day two featured a lot of soft/sandy footing).

The Red course was pretty straightforward. The most difficult control was the first one -- a middle-lenght leg along a hillside with few features. I took the first control pretty slowly because it looked tough and because it was enough of a climb to keep me moving slowly. I had no real problems with any controls. But, on one leg I wandered a bit during the first half of the leg. Sometimes (especially when I have not been doing much orienteering), I don't pay enough attention when I leave a control and, as a consequence, I wander a bit off my intended line. When I'm orienteering well I don't have that problem.

As I ran from the last control I saw the clock above the finish chute. I saw that I had about six seconds to get to the finish and break an hour. I pushed hard, but probably didn't speed up any, and just missed the one hour mark.

I finshed about 5 minutes or so behind Dan and 3 seconds (!) behind my old nemisis (from my days running the M15-18 course) James Baker.

I was satisfied with my race. I'd never run that well at altitude before and I had a pretty-clean race.

Now I better get back to packing.

-- Spike (mike_eglinski@kcmo.org), October 03, 1999.


Congratulations also, to Peggy Dickison, who won the bronze in F21. Peggy was the fastest woman on Red, day two. Good job Peggy!

-- Mary (maprunner@juno.com), October 06, 1999.


Day two can be summed up in one word -- brutal. The Red course was 6.9 km with a lot of climb. The footing was soft, draining energy with each step.

While waiting for a connecting flight in Phoenix, we counted the climb on our routes. Dan, Fritz and I each had around 500 meters of climb. The "advertised" climb was 370 meters. I don't think it would be physically possible to complete the course with "just" 370 meters of climb.

The ground was soft -- almost like running on sand. In places the ground was fine gravel.

Parts of the course were more interesting than the day one courses. But, parts were not fun at all. One leg caused a lot of trouble. It was a medium lenght leg (maybe 500 meters) along a hillside and to a control at a pit. Lots of people missed the control (and most seemed to miss to the same side). I went very slowly and tried to read couple of small clearings (as well as keeping an eye on the contours). I was close to running past the control when I caught sight of it below me and to my left.

There has been some back-and-forth email on the US Team mailing list about this control. Some describe it as a "bingo" control. Some defend it by saying they found the control by taking a precise compass bearing and counting their paces. Well, if that is the only way to reliably find a control...it is a bingo control.

While I've written a lot about that one control. The course as a whole was fun. And the entire weekend was fun.

-- Spike (mike_eglinski@kcmo.org), October 09, 1999.


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