By Werner Haag
Some 80 people came for day orienteering at Stanford, with 14 participating in the Night-O. The weather was cool and sunny, perfect for running, and a full moon was out for the Night-O. Trinka Gillis ran a successful e-punch workshop, and about 25 people enjoyed a sit-down pot-luck dinner complete with fruit-adorned center pieces for the table.
The White course was won by up-and-coming teen star Daniel Kopisch in 31:22, followed closely by HAND(*) orienteer Nancy Lindeman.
The daytime Score-O had 27 controls, each worth one point. An extra point was awarded to anyone who could identify one of these controls as the "Gryffindor Control", which was right next to a sign indicating the Potter House dormitory. Ido Green easily won the 50-minute Score-O with 24 points, over second place George Minarik, who had 19 points. Ben Legg won the 70-minute Score-O, completing all 27 controls in 63:35, plus the extra point for the Gryffindor Control. Five other runners found all the controls in under 70 minutes but without the extra point, Mark Prior leading the pack in a blazing 56:13. Although the Potter House sign was only about 5 feet from the control itself, apparently most runners were too focused on the course to notice. Dan Greene and Richard Frankland were the only other competitors to correctly identify the control, although a few others gave imaginative reasoning for other choices. Unlucky finisher 13, Gavin Wyatt-Mair, rushed in just under 60 minutes, thinking he was getting close to the 70-minute time limit. He used those extra 10 minutes later in the Night-O, costing him 11 minutes overtime penalty, and again placing in unlucky 13th position!
The Night-O had a tight finish with Mark Prior (16 points) edging out Mikkell Conradi and Brad Wetmore, who both had 15 points. If Mark had been one second slower, he would have had one more penalty point, making it a 3-way tie for 15 points.
No major issues were noted on the courses, except for one control (516) placed in a questionable partial clearing. One person couldn't find a control because a wedding was blocking access. The hazards of orienteering are never-ending in their variety!
Appreciation goes to the many club members who made the event happen on relatively short notice. Russell Nielson designed the day courses, and he and Peter Graham worked through the difficult Stanford permitting process. Thanks to Tony Pinkham for planning and setting up the Night-O. Steady Bob Cooley printed the maps as he has done for many years. Jim Fish came early to help set up and do starts. Scott Aster jumped in to do registration when the Beuermans could not make it, bringing his own crew of helpers Ann Gorby, Steve Haas, and Marty Katz. Control pick-up happened spontaneously: Greg Favor enjoyed the day course so much he went out again to pick up half the day controls. Brad Wetmore, Tony Pinkham, Trinka Gillis, and Bjorn Widerstrom picked up most of the rest after the Night-O, with bellies full of dinner.
(*) HAND = Had A Nice Day