Approximately 282 people came out for this year’s High School Orienteering Score-O meet at Bartlett High School on Wednesday, August 5th. Runners from seven HS cross country running teams cycled through the course during the day, then AOC members met for a mass start that evening. The course was fast and fun, but it came with an unexpected challenge: wasps. They would strike seemingly at random: many runners passed through an area unscathed, while others got more than their fair share of the wasps’ attention. Thankfully, no one needed anything beyond basic first aid.
Twenty-seven individuals and teams found all twenty-five controls before the one-hour time limit expired. The fastest overall time of the day belongs to Scott Patterson, who took only 27 minutes and 12 seconds to find all the controls. South Anchorage High School’s team of Noah Rodriguez, Oliver Rozier, Strijker Errico, and Julian Gunther-Chavez had the fastest finish out of the XC teams, finishing in 35 minutes and 15 seconds. West High School had the highest average score amongst the XC teams that participated, with Barlett and East close behind. You can find full meet results here.
The meet director would like to express his gratitude to the many volunteers who helped with this event. Many of the club runners stayed after the meet to pick up controls. Special recognition goes to: Harlen, Corin, and Jennifer Harmon, Anne Billman, and Dorn Van Dommelen.