Meet Results

  The Winter Storm that Wasn't

Reedy Creek Nature Preserve | 6-Feb-2010 | Sandy Kohn, meet director.

I heard they got around 3 feet of snow in the Washington DC area. They were calling for rain, freezing rain and a wintry mix in Charlotte. We saw a few flakes of snow, but the day turned out to be fine with even a little sunshine. I guess the storm warning scared off lots of folks. The February meet at Reedy Creek typically has between 180 and 200 attendees. This year we only saw 84 participants (not including dogs).

It rained all day Friday, but fortunately I had gotten all the controls out the two days prior to that.

-White was underutilized with only 4 groups trying it, but it provided a good training ground for some new orienteers. All the controls were directly next to a trail except for the last one — which required folks to pay attention to where they were so they could head into a gully to punch it.

-The busiest route this meet was Yellow with 31 participants, 14 of them completing a course requirement from UNC Charlotte. This was a fairly easy Yellow Course that enabled its competitors to spend most of their time on trails. There were two legs that were away from trails but along handrails. Two other controls required folks to leave the trails, but only momentarily.

-My Orange courses typically have been too difficult, with lots of people not finding all the controls or being out over 3 hours. So I was pleased this time that everyone finished and all were done in less than 2 hours. This route had one long stretch along a not very distinct ridge that took the groups right through the "pit field" — the strangest natural feature we have (I think) on any of our maps.

-Green was the second busiest route today. There were some good times, especially considering one of the controls was not located correctly on the map. Only 2 people said anything about that. In fact, I heard one person ask David Alexander, after David returned from his run, if all the controls were marked correctly on the map and David said yes. A number of people indicated they had trouble finding that control. Walter is the one who explained to me that I had set control number #12 about 50 meters Northeast (downhill) of where I had it marked. It was in a dry ditch rather than the gully I showed it in. I didn't go out to check it, but Walter's explanation was convincing. I guess most others made the same mistake I did.

All in all, it was a much nicer day than expected and I heard a number of people indicate that they very much enjoyed their experience. What else can you ask for? Thanks to those who helped out with registration, the start/finish and with picking up controls:  including Keegan, Walter, Jim, Jeff, Alex, Josh, Brock, Daniel and Ashlyn.

 

White Course — Length in kilometers:  2.5

Rank	Competitor	Finish time
1	Bikini Bottoms (3 — including 2 young girls - ages 5 & 8)	0:38:30
2	T Bird (a first timer)	1:01:00
3	Troop 11 (13 - 4 adults, 9 scouts)	1:05:30
4	Wesley (a young lad - first time solo)	1:45:15

Yellow Course — Length in kilometers:  2.8

Rank	Competitor	Finish time
1	Josef G	0:46:10
2	Brock B	0:46:40
3	Jeff & Alex (2)	0:50:55
4	Tanner	0:52:40
5	Christopher & Andrew (2)	1:03:20
6	Keith A	1:07:08
7	Troop 53 A Team (3)	1:08:20
8	Chris J	1:09:06
9	Ilson (2 & dog)	1:16:10
10	Team Defrost (2)	1:18:15
11	Troop 53 B team (4)	1:20:55
12	Group Nash (3)	1:25:36
13	Team Chops (3)	1:27:10
14	Evia (2)	1:36:28
15	Team Domination (3)	1:43:38

Orange Course — Length in kilometers:  3.9

Rank	Competitor	Finish time
1	Shemp (aka James Sisk)	1:03:00
2	Claus Ullstad	1:05:40
3	David Mitchell	1:07:20
4	Chris White	1:12:30
5	Al and Katie (dog)	1:26:43
6	Jamie Myer	1:33:58
7	Michael Jores	1:34:55
8	ABR Inc (3)	1:51:15

Green Course — Length in kilometers:  5.6

Rank	Competitor	Finish time
1	David Alexander	1:17:20
2	Charlie Martz	1:25:32
3	Mark "the Flash" Chamley	1:30:20
4	Walter Siegenthaler (while picking up controls and water)	1:45:00
5	Mark	1:52:20
6	Coni	1:52:35
7	Sun Valley Jr. ROTC (4)	1:59:24
8	Alex O	2:15:10
9	Anthony Y	2:17:30
10	Jim Murray	2:28:00
	Green Horn (2)	OVT
	Addison & Dalen (2)	OVT
	Troop 18 Randy (3)	OVT
	Troop 18 Skeet (4)	OVT
	John Wellens	DNF

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