Photo: Robin Shannonhouse
Team Information
2007 WORLD TRAIL-O CHAMPIONSHIPS
The 2007 WTOC held in Kiev, Ukraine from 20-25 August are now history. All of the participants were pleased and challenged by the courses, which were quite different than those in the earlier WTOCs in Sweden, Japan, and Finland.
The U.S. Trail O Team (David Irving/SDO in the Paralympic Class and Bob Turbyfill/QOC, Scott Drumm/CROC, and Mike Poulsen/CROC in the Open Class) did not bring home any medals. Much to their credit, however, all of the Team members did place in the upper half of their respective classes. Kudos go to Mike Poulsen for his 9th place achievement in the 2 day Open Class—30 points and 161 minutes for the timed controls. Check Anne Braggins' Trail-Orienteering Web site in the near future for the WTOC Results and see how just seconds at the timed controls makes a difference between 9th and 5th place!
The real challenge for Trail O is at the club and individual levels. There is a great need to increase more individual and USOF Club participation in order to move Trail O forward in the U.S. Individual and club interest is deterred because Trail O course setting and mapping are more labor-intensive than course setting for Foot O; hence there are a very limited number of course setters and mappers available to put on Trail O events since most of these folks are still in the early stages of the learning process.
With the Trail O seminars offered at the USOF Convention in Colorado in August and the enthusiastic turn-out for the Trail O Demo Course at the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, it is hoped that this will give Trail O a real boost at the local level in terms of more interest in Trail O and many more events being offered in all areas of the US. This in turn will result in a larger and stronger base for future WTOC Teams. If we provide more events for potential U.S. WTOC members, the more opportunities they will have to hone their Trail O skills.
In the next years, the USOF Trail O Committee has a goal of 50+ Trail O events in the US each year—a goal Sweden has achieved in recent years.
It is now time to look forward to the 2008 WTOC in Olomouc,CZE, from 10 to 20 July. Bulletin 1 of 3 for the event is now available on
www.wtoc2008.cz . For USOF, the first step is designating the time, date and location of the
US National Trail O Championships which will serve as
part of the USOF 2008 WTOC Team Selection process.
The plan that is on the drawing board is the Western States and
Intercollegiate Championships in Arizona on February 23 and 24. Since the terrain at the Saturday and Sunday events is not suitable
for a Trail O Course, the Trail O Championships will have to be in a park in Tucson
on Friday afternoon, February 22nd.
Our inveterate Trail O course designers Karen Dennis and David Irving have
reviewed a map of the park and believe the area
will be suitable for the Championships; however, on-site inspections around
November 15th will be required. If the site does meet
the standards for the Championship, then USOF Executive Committee will have
to give their approval. Hopefully we will be able
to confirm the February 22nd date on or before December 1, 2007.
If the above does not work out, then we will have to move forward with Plan
B.
In closing, the Number One item on the Trail O Committee Wish
List is still a simple Trail O Web Site and a Web Master to set it up and
keep it up to date. Won't someone please make my computer call out with
your e-mail message that says- "... is willing and able to take on this
very important Trail O project."
Thanks for your interest in and support of Trail Orienteering !!!
Frank
Kuhn, tbaukuhn [at] aol [dot] com
Chairperson, USOF Trail Orienteering Committee
Member IOF Trail Orienteering Commission
2007 U.S. Trail-O Team Selection report
2007 US TRAIL-O CHAMPIONSHIPS
The 2007 U.S. Trail-O Championships were held in early March in North Carolina, as part of the US Team Fundraiser event at Umstead. Congratulations to the top Trail-Orienteers for 2007:
1st - Nikolay Nachev, COC
2nd - Jim Eagleton, DVOA
3rd - Robert Turbyfill, QOC
Sixty-two individuals or teams took part in the 2007 Championships. Those who have scored well in this and past events will be contacted by the U.S. Trail-O committee to gauge their interest in attending the 2007 World Trail Orienteering Championships, scheduled for August 16-27 in Kiev, Ukraine. (Committee Chairperson: Frank Kuhn, tbaukuhn [at] aol [dot] com)
USOF Team for the 2006 WTOC
The three member team included:
- Scott Drumm, CROC
- Mike Poulsen, CROC
- Abby Wolfe, COC
2006 U.S. Trail Orienteering Championships results.
2005 Results: The US sent a team to the 2005 World Trail Orienteering Championships, held in Japan in August. The team was selected at the U.S. Trail O' Championship event held in April, 2005 at West Point. The team included David Irving (SDO) who competed in both the Open Class and the Paralympic Class; and Scott Drumm (CROC) and Dean Sturtevant (NEOC) in the Open Class. David was a silver medalist in the Paralympic Class, improving on his third place finish in 2004!
Last update: March 31, 2008
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