Pontiac Lake Orienteering Meet

Sunday, May 15, 2005

Meet Director:  Bill Pelletier

The May 15 Pontiac Lake O-meet attracted 121 Orienteers and workers on a cool, beautiful day.  The courses were set on the west side of the club’s map, which hasn’t been used very much for several years.  Parking was at the location of the now torn-down old park manager's house on the west side of Teggerdine south of the campground entrance, and the registration/start area was across Teggerdine about 100 meters into the woods.  Five new members (3 families, 2 individuals) joined the club.

Course Descriptions:
There were 6 courses ranging from Beginner through Expert level.  White and Yellow were standard beginner courses with easy controls. All White and Yellow controls were close to trails with all of White and most of Yellow visible from a trail.  The intermediate Orange course began with routine controls and had several more challenging ones in the 2nd half of the course.  The course setter's guiding principle for the advanced Red, Green, and Brown courses was "No Mercy," believing that Red and Green orienteers want the ultimate challenge possible. For the advanced courses, one generally had to orienteer to the feature before seeing the control flag; they were not visible from a long distance away.

The Red and Green expert courses had some "Extra Challenge" controls.  An "Extra Challenge Control Set" consisted of 2 Guide Controls and 1 Punch Control.  Only the first Guide Control of each set was marked on the map and clue sheet; the second Guide Control and the Punch Control of each set were NOT marked on the map or clue sheet.  When one reached a Guide Control on the course, there was NOT a punch at the control.  Instead there was navigational information which one could use to find the Punch Control or the next Guide Control; the next control code was specified with the navigational clue.  After finding the Punch Control, one punched and continued to the next regular control as specified by the course marked on the map.  Red had three Extra Challenge Control Sets and Green had two.

The navigational clues at the guide controls were of 3 different types:  1.)  A distance and a compass bearing;  2.) Three crossing compass bearings from 3 specified locations.  The control was at the intersection of the 3 bearings;  3.) A very small unique window of the map, slightly larger than the control circle, indicating the location of the next control. 

I added a Brown course at the last minute for those who wanted an Advanced course without the Extra Challenge Control Sets that were on Red and Green; all the Brown controls were marked on the map.  Brown was navigationally a little easier than Red and Green but definitely harder than Orange.  Orange was a significant step up from Yellow.  Here are the course stats.  The total distance given includes the Extra Challenge legs.

White           3.14 K          6 controls      Beginner
Yellow          3.74 K          8 controls      Advanced Beginner
Orange          4.72 K          10 controls     Intermediate
Brown           5.18 K          8 controls      Advanced
Green           6.11 K          8+4 controls    Expert
Red             7.25 K          7+6 controls    Expert

Course Commentary:
There was a variety of feedback about the Extra Challenge controls sets on Red and Green.  Some really liked them; others did not like them at all.  Some liked the map window clues, but did not like the 3 crossing bearings clues.  Others said the crossing bearings were their favorite of the 3 types of clues.

Next time I use Extra Challenge controls I plan to hang a clipboard, bearing compass, and pencil with the navigational clues using bearings to help people plot bearings on their map.  In light of the popularity of the Brown course, I think it’s a good idea to provide a standard advanced course without the extra navigational challenges for those who do not want them.

I also must apologize for the first control on the Red, Green, and Brown courses.  This control was hung in a saddle at the southern edge of the control circle; it was not in the center of the circle.  Actually the control was hung correctly, but the circle was incorrectly placed on the map.  My field work map has the circle in the right place, but when I transferred it to the OCAD file, I miscopied it.  My mistake, and I'm very sorry.  I know how frustrating it is for a control not to be correctly located where indicated on the map.

Helpers:
I had a lot of help putting on this O-meet.  My son Daniel (14) spent many Saturdays with me in the woods planning the courses, scouting control sites, and hanging controls.  We used a new parking area which had limited space.  Rich Matthei, Noah Pelletier, Ron Decker, Rick Waldo, and Robert & Diane Dutton directed parking so that we utilized the space efficiently.  Rich Matthei also helped with setting out and picking up signs.  Joseph Pelletier (12) ran the registration table.  Rolando Luarca helped with Beginner Instruction sessions for new orienteers.  Ron Decker, Daniel Pelletier, Joseph Pelletier, Dennis Elston, Robert & Diane Dutton, Jess Franklin, and Karl Johnson helped with control pickup.  I warmly thank all of these volunteers for their gracious and willing spirits in helping put on the O-meet.  It would not have been possible without all their help.

RESULTS
Here are the results for the six courses.  On the Red and Green courses, some runners found all the Punch controls but missed one or more of the Guide controls in the Extra Challenge Control Sets.  As meet director I decided to put these in the DNF (Did Not Finish) category since the design and intent of the course was for orienteers to visit all controls even though only the 3rd of each Extra Challenge Control Set had an actual punch.

White

(3.14 K, 6 controls) - 11 starts, 27 orienteers

1. BSA Troop 1634-1 (3)

1:20:15

2. Tim Davis

1:22:00

3. BSA Troop 1634-5 (2)

1:23:55

4. Tracy Faraoni, Pam Kittel

1:24:30

5. BSA Troop 1634-4 (4)

1:32:20

6. BSA Troop 1634-3 (3)

1:32:40

7. Robin Jacks group (2)

1:56:10

8. BSA Troop 1634-2 (3)

2:02:40

9. Jennifer & Alan Skank group (4)

2:11:00

Mary Louise Susalla

DNF

Tino & Vince Casetti

DNF

 

Yellow

(3.74 K, 8 controls) - 10 starts, 21 orienteers

1. Bill Girardin

1:18:00

2. Andrew Callender,

    Carson Maynard

1:29:45

3. Roberts & Joscelyn

1:43:10

4. Brian Crowe

1:54:00

5. Angela Schmorrow,

   Lowell Zuckerman

2:02:35

6. Carrie Serfass, John

2:10:40

7. Erica Wehrwein

2:32:20

8. Loren Kinne family (8)

2:48:20

9. Khosrow Esfahani

2:56:50

Ken Jones

DNF

 

Orange

(4.72 K, 10 controls) - 15 starts, 23 orienteers

1. Laurent Fournier

1:50:35

2. Donovan Davis

2:02:30

3. Jess Franklin, Karl Johnson

2:26:11

4. Robert & Diane Dutton

2:34:20

5. Andy & Nicky Bobo

2:37:30

6. Rich Matthei

2:45:00

7. Jim Gunn

3:18:35

Richard Cohen

DNF

Heather Guzick

DNF

Valerie & Neil Bowman

DNF

Mary Ward group (2)

DNF

Howard Roberson

DNF

Marc Hill

DNF

Mike & Pat Villemure

DNF

Joel Wallace group (3)

DNF

 

Brown

(5.18 K, 8 controls) - 10 starts, 15 orienteers

1. David Ford group (4)

2:04:00

2. Brian Halliwill

2:23:10

3. Mike Ryan

2:23:50

4. Dave Kanners

2:53:20

5. Rolando Luarca  (2)

2:59:30

6. Gary Harrington (2)

4:00:50

Diane Hutchinson

DNF

Sonya Talwalker

DNF

Jeff Villemure

DNF

Jeff Brault

DNF

 

Green

(6.11 K, 8 controls) - 11 starts, 12 orienteers

1. Roddy Wares

1:50:25

2. Mincho Ratchev

2:18:45

3. Bill Luitje

2:31:50

4. Pat Murad

2:46:00

5. Mike Keating

2:59:15

Jeff Okray

DNF

Tom & Greg Smith

DNF

Joan Walker

DNF

Dennis Elston

DNF

David Ives

DNF

Paul Vandevert

DNF

 

Red

(7.25 K, 7 controls) - 13 starts, 18 orienteers

1. Mark Voit

2:02:00

2. Janos Sumegi

2:11:05

3. Plamen Ratchev

3:09:50

4. Matt Johns

3:10:50

5. Tom Lee

3:30:40

Rick Waldo

DNF

Dick West, Mary & Stu Crawford group (5)

DNF

Al Newman

DNF

Dave Mielock

DNF

Gordon Seeley

DNF

John Walker

DNF

Alex Izzo

DNF

Juha Heinonen, Steffen Rohde

DNF