Weather: From the mid 30's warming through the 40's & sunny.

Attendance: 118 in 63 groups

Thanks for meet assistance: Sharon Bond, Bob Frey, Larry Berna, and Steve Barnhart.

The courses were left in place after the meet for the following day's Turkey Hunt.  Competitors can compare their results with others who ran the same course the next day.

The top 1/3 of finishers on a course (not counting OT's) should consider moving to the next higher course.  Finishers with an OT or DNF should move to an easier course and master it (top 1/3) before moving higher. Competitors on the green course should be confident enough in their navigation to run the entire course.

For all courses contested, it's obvious that Hamilton is doing something right. They swept the top six spots on the yellow course, the top seven spots on the orange course, and the top three spots on the green course. Can the gauntlet be thrown any sharper? It's clear that Hamilton has set out to take all three big trophies in the spring championship! Can anyone stop them?

A round of applause is due to the top individuals and groups on each course -- all from Hamilton of course. On the yellow course, to the group of Williams & Brandenburg with a time of 83:39 and to Will Cox close behind with 88:56. On the orange course, to Apodaca with 90:17 and the group of Hoover & Chinn 128:33. Now on the toughest course, the green course, which is a full kilometer longer than orange and 2.2 kilometers longer than yellow, the top three; Fugate, Wallace, and Riechers; posted the lowest three times of the day on any course; and Kenny Fugate with a time of 49:02 left almost a half hour gap between first and second place (27:54). Outstanding!

On the orange course there is an apparent disproportionate number of DNF's (Did Not Finish). Bob Frey, an exceptionally experienced orienteer from OCIN (Orienteering Cincinnati) also ran the orange course that day and said that while the course was set at the appropriate technical level for orange, it did go through thicker undergrowth than is normally encountered. Thick undergrowth poses two obstacles to an orienteer, poor visibility and slow running; and it takes experience to know how to best pick a course through it, depending on the type of vegetation, and to best deal with nature's velcro (thorns). I'll take his comments to heart for my future orange courses.

The water control for the courses was an added feature not present at Jr. Champs since the March 2003 event. It hadn't been included due to a lack of restraint on water usage and profuse littering in the area around the control. I added it because it was easy to incorporate and many who are competing now did not back then. Apparently the situation remains the same. Litter was strewn all along the path from the water control up to the road and beyond. I even found a cup in the field past the restrooms at the road after the person passed a trash can and one of the gallon jugs with at least a pint still left in it halfway up the trail, over 100 meters from the control. Future Jr. Champs competitors must plan on carrying their own water while on the course.

A couple items were found after the event. If you lost something, contact me at 848-3106 and describe it. If it matches what we found, we'll work out a way to get it to you.

In the result tables below:

CWHS = Colonel White High School Army JROTC

FHS = Fairborn High School Air Force JROTC

GHS = Greenville High School Navy JROTC

HHS = Hamilton High School Navy JROTC

MHS = Meadowdale High School Army JROTC

ROKS = Rams O Klub at Badin High School, Hamilton, Ohio

SHS = Springboro High School Air Force JROTC

WHS = Wayne High School Air Force JROTC

OCIN = Orienteering Cincinnati

OT = Overtime

DNF = Did not finish (- number of missed controls)

DSQ = Disqualified

Matt Bond
Meet Director