Rossmoor Bar
April 9, 2017
By Bill MacDonald
Event Director
We got a break between rain storms and had perfect weather for the Rossmoor meet. Due to the wet winter and spring, the park was green and gorgeous with high grass, lush vegetation, wildflowers, deer, jackrabbits and carpets of butterflies. It was a good day to be an Orienteerer in the Sacramento area!
Course setter Dan Rathbun used the map and terrain exceptionally well to set some courses that were both fun for beginners and challenging for experts. Eighty-five (85) participants ran sixty (63) courses ranging from white to red. Congratulations to the following individuals who took top honors on each of courses:
Course, Winner/Time
White: Greg Mandler (34:00)
Yellow: Andrew Killeen (49:18)
Orange: Tyler Alexander (1:24:30)
Brown: Jonas Libell (58:58)
Red: Mats Jansson (1:16:54)
For the second time in the last two months, the meet used an electronic punch system. The automated system worked flawlessly with few minor errors. A big thanks to Jay Hann who ran the successful system and gave us detailed information about the course times, splits, and runners. This was particularly valuable as we tracked final groups on the course and wrapped up the event.
As usual, volunteers made the meet go round at Rossmoor. Kudos to Mike Christensen, Ryan Zahner, Jonas Libell and Marsha Jacobs for their help with event setup, Kathy Tegtmeier for her great work with starts, the entire Jansson family for helping with registration throughout the day, Dave Takacs for staffing the finish, and Jennifer Kerr for running clinics. As mentioned previously, Dan Rathbun did a fantastic job setting courses! He also did course pick up with the help of Ryan Zahner and Mats Jansson. Overall, a great team effort and a successful meet for Gold Country Orienteers!
On a personal note, thanks to everyone for making my first experience as an Event Director positive. I appreciated all the advice and support and, especially, assistance with all aspects of the job. I also enjoyed getting to know many of you a little better and look forward to working and running with you again soon!