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Event Writeup

For the first time in a number of years, the Greater Phoenix Orienteering Club teamed up with local JROTC groups to organize an orienteering competition. Daryl Yost and members of Phoenix Union JROTC clubs helped us present two events at our Reach-11 site on December 7: a Classic Red course for our JROTC friends and a regular Score-O for the general public. We had an excellent day with a good turnout for each event. We want to thank Daryl and his cadets for all the work they put into making the day a success. We hope to have many opportunities to continue our partnership in the future.

The main advantage of the Reach-11 Recreational Area is its location. The park is found just off the 101 freeway in North Phoenix and is easily accessible from all areas of Metro Phoenix. While the terrain is not super-challenging, the location offers participants the chance to experience orienteering without driving to one of our more remote locations. We'll continue to use the Reach-11 site from time to time to take advantage of the excellent location.

Volunteers

Thanks to everyone who volunteered to make our Reach-11 events a success. As a non-profit organization, we're only able to host events with the help of volunteers. We'll continue to offer great navigation events at great prices with the help of all of you who volunteer. Thanks a bunch!

Writeup

Thirty JROTC cadets competed in the Reach-11 JROTC Interscholastic Invitational. A classic-red course consisting of 18 controls was set in the flat and fast Reach-11 park in North Phoenix. While the park consists mostly of sparse desert vegetation, there are still a number of areas that provide some navigational challenges. Eleven of the cadets were able to visit all 18 controls. There was a tight race for first place with Michael Zavala edging out Lyon Norcross by a mere two minutes. Damian Norcross took third finishing 8 minutes behind. For the girls, Jackie Aguirre showed some real orienteering skill by finding all the controls on the course. Overall, the Maryvale High School team, a team we see at many of our events, took top honors. Two Alhambra High School teams battled it out for second and third.

Summary

Results

Writeup

For the Score-O, we spread 28 controls over an extended area of the Reach-11 park. Since the park is flat with sparse vegetation, the Score-O more closely resembeled a long sprint course. At 15.4 km and with medium-level orienteering challenges, the course was perfect for faster runners. Four participants were able to find all 28 controls. Andy Wentzel's speed help him lead the way by clearing the course in 1:47. Two of our more seasoned participants, Ludwig Hill and Max Suter, finished second and third close behind Andy's time. Erik Ringnes also cleared the course and was less than three minutes behind Max's tie. On the girls side, Team Jules (Julie Calderwood, Merridi Haskell, an Tina Niccio) and Deb Allen visited 18 of the controls in under 2 hours.

Summary

Results