A beautiful clear day greeted last Saturday's dedicated orienteering crowd, still a bit fatigued perhaps from the long Metrogaine just a couple weeks before, but no less cheerful. There were also a few discs whirring around as the the frisbee golf competition setup their own controls and buzzed around Veteran's Park in slightly slower style. Andy Hill designed a challenging Score course on a newly combined Veteran's and Willow Lane orienteering map. With 22 controls and a tight 45 minute time limit (5 points per full minute penalty for being late), it looked like everyone would have to make some compromise if they intended to get back on time... For the newer members a short version was available that used the same time limit, but only the Veteran's side was required. Masha, given her many years of experience now, won solidly and nearly got them all, running in the last several hundred yards with her dad coming in from the long course. The Leibowitz family came in with sweaty smiles, having got most and then ready for pancakes. The Folske's came out fully loaded with stroller ready to roll and cranked through every last control on the beginner course, having a bit more fun than they expected on AL (finding the right clearing.) They used up their points on their overtime but learned a lot in the process and delighted in getting them all. The long course generated some highly competitive entertainment value, given a few control surprises. Perhaps the most anticipated by the joint meet directors (Andy and myself) was BG, tucked on the inside fence corner of a very long fence, which drove Bill and Ken to climb in their drive to save time, at the high cost of skin and clothing. Karin, on the other hand, used a stick and her smaller hand to pull the just close enough punch through the fence. (Control description was duly noted on the back, but either the meet director failed to mention this or the "easy" nature of park competition minimized its use.) AB also proved to be challenging - this was the one control Sergey didn't find even after five minutes of searching. (The map is probably not ideal in this area either.) Aside from being placed in a technical green slice (think lots of briars and such) that could hardly be seen from the open field, at some point mid meet the control also fell from its hanging position on the ruined fence, which only Karin found with considerable determination. For the route choice from ZZ to XX, apparently more than one went diving for that tree across the water to shave a few seconds - a slippery proposition given the frost that morning. HP, being on the far side of the water filtration plant, created the temptation to cross Veteran's Parkway on a return trip, but fortunately everyone heeded the directors warning on traffic. Lee Scott, however, realized the canal tunnel was dry within and found he could do a quick squat run under the road to reach HY and shave a good couple minutes off his time. He gets the nod for observation and creative route choice under duress. The nature of the tight Score time also created plenty of tradeoffs among the competition. Doug LaMott and Ken Beckner, in particular, opted for two distinct strategies - Ken getting back within the time limit, and Doug taking the penalty while snagging a few more controls. They tied for points, although Sergey ruled the Ken gets the place for the shorter time. Bill L. calibrated his route to beat them both and only take a one minute penalty too, which leaves him still pondering what the best choice would be...especially using the canal shortcut. Bill P., Karin, and Dan all made similar tradeoffs and clearly enjoyed the challenge. Sergey took top honors easily despite Andy's best efforts, even when looking for AB, and he will probably soon post the optimum route (in his semi-professional opinion) on the website. Congrats to all on a course about as technical as it gets in the parks. Results (note 59 second grace on penalty granted): Short Course: 12 controls, Veteran's side, 105 possible Name Time Punched Penalty Score ------------------------------------------------------------------ Masha Velichko 45:19 95 0 95 Leibowitz family 47:09 75 10 65 Folske family 68:42 105 115 0 (got them all, however!) Long Course: 22 controls, Veteran's and Willow, 230 possible Name Time Punched Penalty Score ------------------------------------------------------------------ Sergey Velichko 44:19 215 0 215 Bill Leahy 46:43 185 5 175 Lee Scott 44:47 155 0 155 Ken Beckner 44:30 150 0 150 Doug LaMott 51:50 180 30 150 Bill Pilcher 45:30 135 0 135 Karin Didesse 53:30 165 40 125 Dan Herring 44:00 90 0 90 Next year's schedule is in the works, which promises to include a nice variety of everything. We'll post on the website and send out an email as soon as it's available. Your meet directors, Andy Hill (course prep, mapping) and Jeff Black (meet day)