How lucky can we get? About 5 days before the event, the forecast was rain on Saturday. But the storm...and it was a strong one, with winds up to 85 MPH in Kansas City...blew through Columbia during the night and Saturday morning was clear and cool. There must have been a lot of rain, though, because the river through Devil's Icebox cave was really roiling and the trails were muddy and slippery.
This event was supposed to be for the Boy Scouts, but for whatever reason none attended this competition portion of their event. They did have about 15 show up for the training session however. But we did invite members of PTOC and SLOC and about 15 orienteers were at the start of the 1-hour Score O.
We had made a trip about a month earlier to make sure the trails were mapped properly and to vet some control locations. Paul Clatterbuck did a masterful job designing the course. And then Dick Neuburger, Paul, Reta Roe, and Dick Luckerman got up early in Kansas City to make the drive to Columbia and set out the controls in time for the start. Cami Ronchetto, who lives in Columbia, did a great job of attending the Scout's meeting, relaying information from it, helping us vet the course, put out controls, and direct traffic at the finish.
David Frei barely beat out Eric Buckley for the win. Michael Eglinski took third. And then the competitors were nice enough to pick up all the controls! Thank you to everyone who made this small event a success: Paul Clatterbuck, course setter; Reta Roe, registration, vetter; Nancy Neuburger, vetter; Dick Luckerman, control setting; Cami Ronchetto, control setting, meet setup, finish; and Eric Buckley, Michael Eglinski, Peter Gogol, Brad and Dwayne Miller, and Joe Bechtold for control pickup.
Submitted by Dick Neuburger