Lower Sunrise and Sacramento Bar
Nov. 17, 2019
By Dan Rathbun
Event Director
It was a nearly perfect day for Orienteering on Sunday. We had a record turnout for the event. First of all, thank you to all the participants for your patience and understanding with the delays in the registration and starts. And our apologizes to the final Orange course participants for running out of Orange maps. We had nearly three times the participants show than anticipated (which is fantastic), and by sheer luck, out of five courses, we managed to only run short of maps on one course. Thank you to those that switched courses or were able to head out with a used map. Despite all of that, it was an amazing day of orienteering.
For those who would like to see these orienteering events continue, we DESPERATELY need volunteers. You don't need to be an expert orienteer to help. We need help at registration, finishes, starts, set up and clean up, and even help with things not happening on event day. Please consider and contact us. For those who want to become expert navigators, there is no better way to get skills perfected than course setting. This, of course, takes a bit more time, but we need fresh, enthusiastic people to step up to the challenge. We are willing to train you, please contact us.
On to the Day.
First, the event is not possible without dedicated volunteers. Jonas Libell, our course setter for this event, set five perfectly constructed courses. Setting the level of course that Jonas presented takes weeks and weeks of planning, and then a frantic setup just prior to the event. Not only did Jonas set the entire course, he then managed the starts, and then managed the finishes. To top off weeks of commitment to the event, Jonas then took down the event. I cannot express enough gratitude to Jonas in making this event happen. Ryan Zahner was also a lifesaver in making this event happen. Ryan arrived early, set up, handled registration, and then Ryan gave the Red course a whirl. Thank you Ryan for such a great attitude and keeping perspective. Jennifer Kerr was also a key volunteer today and always. Without her, the event could not have happened. She provided instruction to many, managed crowds, and jumped in to managed a very complex finish line system. After a long morning in the registration area, she managed a turn on the Brown course. Thank you Jennifer not only for Sunday, but for years and years of volunteering. Jennifer is one of the reasons GCO exists.
Once the event is over, there are often 50-60 controls scattered throughout the area. We always need help recovering these controls. Thank you to those that helped sweep the course; often they are exhausted from their own turn on the course but manage to find energy to help. Alan Walls, Jay Hann, Cathleen Grooman, Dwight Freund, and Jonas Libell. Cathleen Grooman is a new volunteer. Thank you so much! Also, sweeping the course gives you an opportunity to see controls that you may not have seen throughout your own course running.
The results and times are available on the PDF link below. As a fun note, we had many results within seconds of each other. On the White course, Greg Mandler managed to clear the controls in lightening speed. Followed by Craig, Sue, and Adam Polley for second. Finishing with the third fastest time on the White course was Rylan O'Brien, Drew Alspektor, and Luke Nelson. On the Yellow course, Luke and Alyson Walls had a blazing time to capture the first position. Following closely behind the young Walls for a second place was Evan Eldridge, Luke Tufts, and Enoch Cheng. For the third fastest time on Yellow, from Scout Troop 136, it was Nicolas White and Adam Schafer. The Orange course was very competitive. Claiming first position on Orange was Travis Navarro with Carson High School NJROTC. Followed closely for second place were Jackson Cannon, Landon Caton, and Riley Ta from Riverbend School. And slipping into third position by 20 seconds were Shanna Zahner and Miranda Smith. For the Brown course, the top three positions were taken by Carson High School NJROTC. Setting a great time for first place was Daniel Ingram. Only seconds behind was Bryar Fancher claiming the second position. And closely behind the first two positions was Anthony Meyer for the third fastest time on Brown. For the Red course, there was significant distance added. For an extremely impressive time, Riley Dunn from Carson High School NJROTC claims the first position. For our closest top finish of the day, Rex Winterbottom from BAOC arrived at the finish a mere nine seconds behind Riley, to take the second place on the Red course. And for an impressive time on the Red course, Nik Weber from GCO took the third position. Thank you to everyone for coming out. Again, please consider volunteering and becoming a part of GCO.
You can find all the results here.
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