Wheaton

Course results can be seen below. Splits are available on Attackpoint or Winsplits.
To enter your routes and see how others went, head to RouteGadget.

We woke up to a snowy cold day; it was 12˚F with light wind in the Wheaton area this morning and what a great day for an orienteering meet! Despite the cold weather, we had almost 200 people pre-register and 193 starts. The day did warm up a little and hovered around freezing temperatures as we headed into noon. The group included large contingents of NJROTC students from John F Kennedy and Patuxent High Schools. It is gratifying to see students coming out and enjoying the event. Several families including some with 3 - 4 year olds also came out to enjoy the courses so ably set by Ken Walker and Samantha Walker. This event would not have been so well executed if not for our team of enthusiastic volunteers. They include our aforementioned course setters, Sam and Ken Walker who designed and set the course and came out super early to hang the last of the controls. When Shirley Tan, Rob Briber, Tom Nolan and I got to Pavilion H at Wheaton Park at 9am, Amy Louden had already set up the e-punch station complete with her registration tables, chairs, electric blanket, tent, and orienteering check-in equipment / signage and very importantly to our orienteers, her cookies. I observed very young children enjoying Amy's cookies with relish after their race. Amy was soon joined by Valerie and her granddaughter, Lailah. We are very lucky to have Valerie, Amy, and Lailah. Valerie and Lailah brought maps that they printed, bagged, sorted, and sealed. Thank you Amy, Lailah, and Valerie. Thank you also to Shirley, Tom, Rob who helped with put up signs, figured out registration, map, and compass loan station layout. Of note, several of our registration / map handout / control pickup volunteers - Dan Lathrop, John Cumings, Pat O'Shea, Rob Briber, Bill Grubb - are UMD staff members and they gamely stood in the cold to volunteer and provide information to curious passersby, acting as QOC ambassadors very well indeed. We also had Joe Pastel and Mary Snieckus - both parents of alum and current UMD students - rounding out our registration/map handout crew. Many came dressed in Terp gear for a little school spirit as well. Thank you, all.
At the end of the day, control pick was smooth - with Michelle Fish, Jens Wira, Alex Merka, Jon Torrance, Heidi Onkst, John Cumings pitching in. Finally, thank you to those who provided sustenance throughout this cold day - Shirley who brought hot water for hot tea and hot chocolate, Barb Pastel who rose early to make chocolate chip cookies that very morning for all our volunteers. Thank you for coming out to enjoy this event.
-Florence Tan, Event Director