Several firsts were marked at this event; the first use of
the Miami Woods map and the first meet hosted by Badin ROKS, the orienteering club at Badin
High School, Hamilton.
Miami Woods is a city park in
Hamilton. It is about 100 acres in
size, consists of three ridges, and two primary reentrants. The eastern half of
the park was once a mature forest with paved trails and wooden bridges. It has long since fallen into disrepair and
gone back to the wild. The western half
of the park was farmed, perhaps as recently as 40 years ago. This half consists of nearly all honeysuckle
and other species of wild wood that compliment this scourge of Southwest
Ohio. The park is crisscrossed with a
network of trails in various states of disrepair, and has a scattering of
detailed dry ditches. The observant
(and short) orienteer will find a number of deer trails to assist his/her
passage through the denser portions of the park.
ROKS (stands for Rams Orienteering
Klub Stupid), is a high school club.
They learned how to orienteer last year. This year they are learning course design and meet
management.
Two days before the event the
hillsides were covered in snow. The
trails were packed ice. Friday, the day
before the event, it rained, melting nearly all.
Some of the trails became streams, others just muddy, slippery
obstacles. The park, with its dense
vegetation, eliminates the runner's advantage even on a good day. On this day, the diligent and slower
orienteer was nearly equal to the sprinter.
24 folks took on the challenges of
Miami Woods and fared well over the four courses she served up on this winter
day. On a dryer and sunnier day more
would likely take part. Even given the
limiting conditions of this park, I believe it could be a suitable site for
winter events. I would never want to
attempt it in the summer.
The ROKS members responsible for
designing and vetting the courses, placing the markers, clearing and marking the
trails, hauling water, building the fire, taking registration, and otherwise
putting on a full meet were:
David Frederick
Brennan Lawall
Jenny Meehan
Joe Moran
Mark Hagen
Mike Benge
Chris Schaffer
Dave Giuliano
Kyle Kolstedt
Thanks to all that partook.
Pat Meehan
Coach, Badin ROKS
White Course, 1.54 km length, 10 controls
16:01 ROKS Michael Benge 21:55 ROKS Chris Schaffer 47:33 Troop 20 Brian Gaston 86:01 Troop 956 Alex Brandner
Yellow Course, 1.72 km, 8 controls
29:55 OCIN Jill Broermann, Vince Broermann, & Drew Wurzelbacher 39:25 ROKS Joe Moran 75:43 ROKS Andy Shaver 98:19 ROKS Emily Lawall & Mike Lawall
Orange Course, 2.72 km, 11 controls
131:39 Gayle Pille
Brown Course, 3.2 km, 16 controls
49:52 OCIN Mike Minium 58:19 OCIN Aaron Rourke 59:16 OCIN Bill Swift 60:27 ROKS Brennan Lawall 66:02 OCIN Bob Frey 67:36 OCIN Kevin Mitchell 69:04 OCIN Dick Arnett 84:33 OCIN Matthew Robbins 99:25 ROKS David Giuliano 101:09 OCIN David Crane 109:02 OCIN Todd Henson
MVOC = Miami Valley Orienteering Club, Dayton, OH
OCIN = Orienteering Cincinnati
ROKS = Rams Orienteering Klub, Badin High School, Hamilton,OH
results of previous event (Miami University Western Woods, February 8, 2004)
results of next event (Harbin Park, February 28, 2004)
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