The Yellow Jacket nest
near Orange Control No. 6
Orangevale Community Park
Sept. 23, 2017
By Jennifer Kerr
Event Director and Course Setter
We had great weather, 144 wonderful participants—and a bunch of uninvited guests at our first meet of the fall at Orangevale Community Park. Those guests were a swarm of angry yellowjackets upset when orienteers inadvertently smashed their nest. They responded in kind, stinging several participants.
Their nest was hidden in a dirt stream bank that was one route choice to get to the sixth control on the Orange course (see photo). The nest was also close to the trail taken by white participants, so several of them got stung, also. The yellow folks lucked out! So we told orange folks to skip that control (everyone got credit) and pulled the control as the yellowjackets calmed down.
We had a great showing of young people: JROTC units from our co-sponsor Casa Roble High School right across the street, plus Del Campo in Fair Oaks, McClatchy in Sacramento, Valley in south Sacramento, Whitney in Rocklin and Carson from all the way over in Nevada. We also had Sacramento State students and Boy Scout troops.
So, a quick Teaching Moment for all those students (and the adults who kept calling the insects "bees"): Yellowjackets are sometimes mistakenly called meat bees, given that they are similar in size and sting, but yellowjackets are wasps. Yellowjackets, in contrast to honey bees, have yellow or white markings, are not covered with tan-brown dense hair on their bodies, do not carry pollen, and do not have the flattened hairy hind legs used to carry it. They do have lance-like stingers with small barbs, and typically sting repeatedly; the venom, like most bee and wasp venoms, is primarily only dangerous to humans who are allergic or are stung many times. Yellowjackets build nests in trees, shrubs, or in protected places such as inside man-made structures, or in soil cavities, tree stumps, mouse burrows, etc. They build them from wood fiber they chew into a paper-like pulp. They eat insects, nectar and fruit (and like people food).
But enough about yellowjackets. The white course was won by Greg Mandler, in his first of three courses, in 23:10. Daniel Roberts of GCO and Boy Scout Troop 386, took yellow in 35:08. Carson JROTC students dominated orange, taking the top six places. First was Jared DeSelms in 42:56.
A couple of ball caps got left behind, probably in the yellowjacket panic (one was found under control No. 6). One is blue and camo and says "Ford." The other is black and gold and says "Caterpillar." Contact the meet director at 916-922-8671 to get them back.
And here are the profound thanks for our steadfast GCO crew:
- Control Hanging Help: Marsha Jacobs
- Beginner Clinics: Mats Jansson
- Registration: Marsha Jacobs, Maryann Gamblin, Teresa Jansson
- Finishes and Equipment Hauling: Jonas Libell
- Starts: Alan and Aly Walls
- Map Printing: BAOC's Map-Wizard Bob Cooley
Also, Casa Roble JROTC volunteers did a LOT of the work! They lugged around equipment and set up the registration, start and finish stations; they helped run starts and finishes AND they picked up 41 controls!
A big Thanks to Lt. Col. Kevin Houdek, Cadet-in-Charge Joe Bizzy and volunteers Dylan Creed, Gamaliel Victoria, Joseph Lawson, Josh Mainwaring, Dalton Branson, Daniel Cohen, Michael Fragnito, Amberly Hackmann, and Thomas Cherry.
RESULTS
WHITE (2.5km, 15 controls)
1. Greg Mandler, 23:10
2. Kathryn Pamula, Rhianna Peña, Abraham Lizaola, Del Campo JROTC, 26:00
3. Daniel Cronk, Cameron Hamilton, Nicholas Deeltien, Del Campo JROTC, 35:26
4. Grace Repan, Andrea Wright, Meilani Peña, Del Campo JROTC, 40:50
5. Abbagale Roth, Megan Lange, Katelyn Wilson, Joseph Bizzy, Casa Roble JROTC, 45:20
6. Merrick, Emelia, Molly Dugger, 67:29
Timothy Libell, GCO, DNF (wasps)
Melissa, Aidan Molina, Dylan McDonald, BS Troop 1592, DNF (wasps)
Jackie Hutchings, Nick Martin, Landon Reger, Del Campo JROTC, MP (No. 3)
David Bell, John Grady, BS Troop 386, DNF
YELLOW (3.3km, 15 controls)
1. Daniel Roberts, GCO, BS Troop 386, 35:08
2. Bryar Francher, Carson JROTC, 40:20
3. Ronan, Erin, Mary, Jay Dougherty, 41:59
4. Anika Soulier, Carson JROTC, 42:28
5. Isaac Ramos-Raybon, David Hernandez, Joshua Ortillo, Krishneel Kumar, Casa Roble JROTC, 44:04
6. Kyle Holloway, Carson JROTC, 48:24
7. Clayton Schmidt, Joshua Wions, Sacramento State, 52:35
8. Robert Jones, Danielle Dymond, Sara Donnellan, Joe Nobriga, Whitney JROTC, 52:45
9. Jeramiah Stirber, Roberto Mendoza, Sacramento State, 54:34
10. Drew Biondi, Ben Dittrich, Casa Roble JROTC, 55:40
11. Mac Ward, Evan Silva, Jeffrey Lange, Nicholas Whitehead, Casa Roble JROTC, 56:59
12. Teresa Jansson, GCO, 50:30
13. Kris Atkisson, Mike Fragnito, Kevin St. Cyr, Casa Roble JROTC, 60:00
14. Ken Roe, Mike Folly, GCO, 60:41
15. Anthony Meyer, Carson JROTC, 63:16
16. Catalina Escano, Shaun Jones, Sabina Sanchez, Jack Meller, Whitney JROTC, 63:30
17. Daniel Molina, Sacramento State, 66:59
18. Candida Salgado, Marvella Sanchez, Sacramento State, 68:42
19. Blanca Estevez, 69:18
20. Manuel Hoyos-Velazquez, Carson JROTC, 71:15
21. Art Livingston, 73:57
22. Isela Ramos, Navedita Pal, Louryn Braceros, Makayla Saeteurn, Valley JROTC, 76:07
23. David, Matthew Edgar, Arden Middle School, 79:29
24. Dylan Creed, Victoria Gamaliel, Dylan Faria, Casa Roble JROTC, 85:41
25. Angelina Tran, Ingrid Suarez, Lance Lee, Taeina Gi, Valley JROTC, 92:43
26. Andrew, Diane Mau, 95:30
Carlos Cervantes Ochoa, Sale Gi, Neha Prasad, Jennifer Muro, Valley JROTC, MP (No. 13
Lexie Hooper, Riley Anderson, Tim Sawasch, Casa Roble JROTC, MP (No. 3)
Dominic Paiva, Muering Huang, Sierra Burns, Casa Roble JROTC, MP (No. 1)
Benjamin Murphy, Rylee Young, Ashton Cornell, Whitney JROTC, DNF
Second Course
Greg Mandler, 34:36
ORANGE (3.6km, 17 controls)
1.Jared DeSelms, Carson JROTC, 42:56
2. Chris Paluch, Carson JROTC, 43:50
3. Chris Berggren, Carson JROTC, 43:53
4. Kyle Ketten, Carson JROTC, 46:33
5. Jarrod Meyer, Carson JROTC, 47:42
6. Michael Johnson Theiss, Carson JROTC, 49:42
7. Mats, Teresa Jansson, GCO, 52:17
8. Bailey Jacobs, Carson JROTC, 55:42
9. Dorian Montalvo Carson JROTC, 57:20
10. Kyle Navarro, Carson JROTC, 57:22
11. Marsha Jacobs, GCO, 59:11
12. Daniel Ingram, Carson JROTC, 60:16
13. Briana Sanchez, Carson JROTC, 60:47
14. Matt, Lucas Melcher, BS Troop 386, 66:20
15. Drew Biondi, Ben Dittrich, Dalton Branson, Joseph Lawson, Casa Roble JROTC, 75:00
16. Marc Pulido, Rick Garces, 83:04
17. Greg Bates, Dylan Whitehead, Sajan Singh, 86:30
18. Colton Folena, Josh Hall, BS Troop 63
19. Team BS Speed Unit (Robert Bruns, Susan Lorimer), GCO, 108:50
20. Sidney Martinez-Pogue, Matthew Eng, Rebecca DeLaCruz, Bianca Henderson, McClatchy JROTC, 118:10
21. Marcus Gomez, Philamena McNamee, Alexzander Teresinski, Hana Ye, McClatchy JROTC, 120:10
Javier Bibiano, Jacob Huntsman, BS Troop 63, DNF
Seth Harlan, Spenser Schultz, BS Troop 63, DNF
Luke Hermanson, Levi Voss, BS Troop 63, DNF
Chris, Abigail Saiz, BS Troop 63, DNF (wasps?)
Kyle Thure, Josh Mainwaring, Massimo Walter, Hunter Mason-Lais, Daniel Cohen, Casa Roble JROTC, MP No. 3)
Second Course
Greg Mandler, 61:58
Isaac Ramos-Raybon, David Hernandez, Casa Roble JROTC, 63:08
Angelina Tran, Ingrid Suarez, Lance Lee, Taeina Gi, Valley JROTC, 70:45
Carlos Cervantes Ochoa, Sale Gi, Neha Prasad, Jennifer Muro, Valley JROTC, 72:37
Isela Ramos, Navedita Pal, Louryn Braceros, Makayla Saeteurn, Valley JROTC, DNF
Participants:
White: 26
Yellow: 71 plus 1 second course
Orange: 47 plus 15 second courses
Total: 144 plus 16 second courses