Western Connecticut Orienteering Club is pleased to be hosting this year’s Intercollegiate Orienteering Championships, April 3-4. The terrain is wonderful, consisting mostly of open woods with the usual Connecticut rock features, stone walls, and the like. Neither map has been used for A meets before, and the maps are in excellent shape, both having been updated in the past few months.

Saturday’s event will be a short course format, with Sunday’s event consisting of standard length courses. As an additional treat, on Saturday afternoon the U.S. Team will host a fund raising relay event (same location as the morning course), with the opportunity to bid on members of the U.S. Team to add as ringers to your relay team. This will be a fun (but serious orienteering) event, and although the relay results will not factor in the 2-day overall A meet results, the relay will convey serious bragging rights to the winning team.

We hope you enjoy the maps and courses, and we look forward to seeing you.

Meet Director: Rick DeWitt

Day 1 Course Setter: Joe Brautigam

Day 2 Course Setter: Gari Williams

Relay Course Setter: Sergei Zhyk

Course Vetter: George Walker

Course Consultant: Mikell Platt

Registrar: Jim Henderson

Daylight savings time begins Saturday night, so don’t forget to turn your clocks and watches ahead one hour Saturday night.

Both days will use a simplified start procedure, with a single call-up line. Your bib number will have a bar code. Please do not cover up the bar code–we need to scan it at the start line.

First starts Saturday morning will be at 10:00 AM. The start area is only a few minutes from the parking, with little or no climb. Note that since this is a short course format, the time limit for these courses is 2 hours.

Saturday afternoon, the U.S. Team will be hosting a 3 person relay event as a team fund raiser. This will be a fun event, but still will involve serious orienteering. To make things more interesting, the team will auction off team members to add to your team. You can sign up for the relay any time during the day (Boris Granovskiy will be in charge of registration for the relay–he will be near the registration table in the morning, and generally available during the day).

First starts Sunday morning will be at 9:00 AM (again, don’t forget daylight savings time–remember to move your clocks and watches ahead one hour Saturday night). The start is a minute or so from the parking, again with no climb. Usual 3 hour time limit on all courses. We will make every effort to get results done as quickly as possible, and anticipate doing awards around 1:00 PM.

Remember that you must report to the finish crew at the finish line, and turn in your punch card, even if you do not complete your course. This is the only way we have to know that you are safely out of the woods.

Both maps are surrounded by paved, mostly residential streets, so there is little chance of getting seriously lost in the woods.

For day 1, the safety bearing is east. Head east to the paved road (this will be a residential road), and ask directions to the entrance to Osbornedale Park.

For day 2, the safety bearing is south. Head south to the paved road (again a residential road), and ask directions to the entrance to Ansonia Nature Center.

Local Hospital: Griffin Hospital, 130 Division Street, Derby CT (203.735.7421) is close to both meet sites, in the (hopefully unlikely) event that you need hospital services. From Rt. 8, take exit 17 for Seymour Avenue. Go left at stop sign onto Division Street for about ½ mile. The hospital will be on the right.

For those with dinner tickets, dinner will be at 6:30 at the Plaza Diner, 737 Bridgeport Avenue, Shelton, CT. The diner is within walking distance of the meet hotel.

Thanks to Joe Maylor of the Connecticut DEP for his assistance with the day 1 event at Osbornedale Park, and to Donna Lindgren and the staff at the Ansonia Nature Center for their help with the day 2 event. Thanks also to Birmingham Utilities for their kind permission to use parts of their land for the day 2 event.

Thanks to all of our hardworking volunteers, most of whom have answered the call for help many, many times over the years. Their commitment and expertise is greatly appreciated. Please forgive us if we’ve overlooked anyone:

Liz Kotowski, Janet Porter, Geof Connor, Dick and Marilyn Fetzer, Rich Nietupski, John Goodwin, Peter Goodwin, Susan DeWitt, Bob Roubillard, J-J Cote, Joe Brautigam, Gari and Tina Williams, George and Lyn Walker, Sue and Steve Worthington, Julie Worthington and Chelsea, John-Eric Nelson, Craig Weber, Donna and Steve Fluegel, Bill Wallace, Kelley Kelley, Petr Polivka, Eric Schonenberg, and no doubt others I’ve overlooked. Thanks all.