The weather on Saturday morning was balmy in comparison to the temperatures we'd been experiencing the prior week. The sun was in it's full glory and only a slight breeze was noticeable when running westward. We got some nice publicity from Channel 2 (cable 8) courtesy of Mike Shuman of The Athlete's Foot who sent out a press release of our meet. Thanks Shu! (Visit him on State St. if you get a chance. He's got a 10th Anniversary sale coming up the week of January 29th. Mike's a great sponsor of our club.) With hanging controls only, the courses were ready to go early, and coincidentally so too were some of the participants. The format of this meet was a Score-O. Different controls are worth a varying amount of points. There was also a 45 minute time limit with a 5 point deduction for each full minute over the 45 minute limit. The objective, to contend for winning a division, was to get the most amount of points in under 45 minutes. The most points wins. The tie breaker is fastest time. I tried to set up the advance course so that the leaders would have difficulty picking up all the controls. But once again Sergey defeated me. He picked up all the controls and all the points in 43:27. Jeff also got all the controls but was a mere 11 seconds late getting back and took a 5 point penalty. Doug did a great job managing the clock and slipped into the finish at 45:59 (just under a full minute late and hence no deduction) and 180 points. Because of a faster finishing time Doug placed higher than Mike Bading who also got 180 points. The intermediate division was also hotly contested with a good contingent of participants. Karin ripped the course with max points in a time of 39:42. Masha was close on her heels with a 41:24 and also got all the controls. Dan "tough man" Herring was third with 110 points. He also got all the controls but took a 25 point penalty for being late. The stars of this division were Jim & his son, Nicholas, who got some tv coverage running into the finish. They actually added about 20 seconds to their finishing time so that Channel 2 could get set up for the shot. It's always nice to see newcomers to our sport especially when they go out on the intermediate course for their first ever orienteering experience. Kat Parker, Rebecca Dekeyrel and Adam Forbes tackled the intermediate course and found all the controls. Congratulations! We had a close race in the beginning division with four teams scoring max points. Wyatt, Ian and Darrel Pedersen took first with a time of 36:22. Andy took second, and first timers, brothers Jastin and Jay Morgan took third. Jastin and Jay would like to tackle an adventure race some day and our orienteering meets are one great way to prepare for just such an endeavor. And last, but not least, Elijah also got max points in 48:10 - his first ever solo run. WOW! The tough man award goes to Dan Herring who WADED the creek from the Willow Lane peninsula over to the Green Belt and then stuck around the finish area for awhile. That's just gotta be cold! Thanks much to Sergey for taking over after I had to leave to coach some basketball games. Thanks to Karin for filling in at the registration table. And many thanks to all who helped pick up controls. Plan on attending next months meet up in McCall at Bear Basin on Sunday, February 25th. This meet is a Ski-O. You can ski or snowshoe. If you don't have snowshoes and would like to try this event, I have two extra pairs of snowshoes (contact me if interested). 45 minutes time limit, 5 pts off for each extra full minute Name Time Points LessOvertime Total Beginner 60 pts max Wyatt, Ian, & Darrel Pedersen 24:30 60 60 Rosie & Andy Hill 36:22 60 60 Jastin & Jay Morgan 38:31 60 60 Elijah Hill 48:10 60 -15 45 first solo run! Intermediate 14 controls, 135 pts max Karin Didisse 39:42 135 135 Masha Velichko 41:24 135 135 Dan Herring 50:58 135 -25 110 Jin Byrne, Nicklaus 44:05 80 80 Ted & Max Vavricka 42:33 70 70 Brad Lowe 61:06 135 -80 55 Bob Didisse 50:33 75 -25 50 Kat Parker, Rebecca DeKeyrel, Adam Forbes 1:22:00 135 -135 0 first O experience! Advanced 23 controls, 205 pts max Sergey Velichko 43:27 205 205 Jeff Black 46:11 205 -5 200 Doug LaMott 45:59 180 180 Michael Bading 50:40 205 -25 180 Lee Scott 45:02 160 160 Bill Pilcher 43:32 120 120 David Bergset 39:51 110 110 Bill Leahy