“We have run out of maps.” That was what I had to say to the later arrivals at the T Mabry Carlton ,jr Memorial Reserve orienteering event in Sarasota County. With the small number of non-JROTC participants we get at Suncoast orienteering events who would have thought I’d ever have to say that.
Well, in truth I did not have to say that to everyone but we did run out of Blue course maps which left two orienteering stalwarts waiting while I quickly ‘amended, Green course maps with the Blue course controls. Luckily for me half of the 14 controls were common to both courses. Unluckily for one participant, Hank Pogorzelski, I still managed to mis-mark one of his seven drawn-in circles. Blaik Matthews was more fortunate but still had to put up with a less than ideal map. Thank you for taking it in good stride.
So how do I handle Hank in the results. First, I gave him a full refund of his $4 entry fee. But what about the results? Do I record him as a MP – map poor, DQ – drawn quickly or DNF – darn thing never found?
No, I’ll record him as a NT – no time. Sorry Hank; you deserved better but thank you for taking it all in stride.
As for those who completed the Blue course May-li Cuypers, no stranger to first place in orienteering and adventure races ran well at just about 10 min/km over the course which largely covered ‘new’ terrain for orienteering. Brian Deitsch was not far behind. Jonathan Brown a recent graduate of the JROTC orienteering program at Dunedin took 3rd on the Blue Course. A shout out is due to the AR team called ‘Like a Girl’, three ladies from Cape Coral who tell me for the first time they successfully completed an orienteering event, gaining valuable experience for their next adventure race. Watch out May-li!
Other features of the event:
Charlotte High placed second overall and Lakewood Ranch, a school new to the JROTC competitions, placed third for the second event in a row.
While the Robinson athletes showed their strength in many categories many took note of the clean sweep by Lemon Bay’s Varsity ladies as they swept all three medals in the Female Green course. In the process they knocked George Jenkin’s Channell Walters out of the medals for the first time this year. For me it is wonderful to see such strength among the females on the Varsity course. Keep it up ladies!
Finally thank you to Debbie Blanco and Sarasota County for allowing us permission to compete in Mabry Carlton Reserve and Churchill Ranch.
Gord Hunter
Name | Time |
James Nici | 35:52 |
Pamela Corson | 50:45 |
Mary Plunkett | 55:00 |
Ada Plunkett | 1:07:00 |
Miriam Neville | 1:38:45 |
Paul Cuypers | 1:55:00 |
Name | Time |
Michael Plunkett | 54:00 |
Name | Time |
James Nici | 47:00 |
Richard Plunkett | 1:02:00 |
Tracy Acuff | 1:14:00 |
Michael Bruck | 1:18:30 |
Don Hall | 1:20:10 |
Lars Gawell | 1:21:00 |
Rainbow Long Legs | 1:43:34 |
Name | Time | |
May-li Cuypers | 1:15:00 | |
Brian Deitsch | 1:34:15 | |
Jonathan Brown | 2:08:40 | |
AcroGiants | 2:18:30 | |
Blaik Matthews | 2:18:30 | |
Like A Girl | 2:37:20 | |
Slightly Less Unprepared | 2:57:00 | |
McLeans | NT | |
Hank Pogorzelski | NT | with apology |
DNF | Did Not Finish |
DQ | Disqualified (Missed Controls) |
OT | Over 3 Hour Time Limit |