Page 6
University Daily Kansan, October 28, 1980
Open field running does not happen often along a course that is mostly woods, river beds and steep terrain.
Easter egg hunting in the dead of October, as the cool wind whips through clothes and bright red, yellow and orange leaves rushes, seems unlikely.
But orienteering doesn't.
Orientering is a race through the clock with compass, and map in hand, in search of a series of markers hidden in the woods.
"You get all the adrenalin flow and excitement when you find a marker that you do when searching for Easter eggs," said Sandra Holmberg, a pharmacology research assistant at Washington Medical School in St. Louis. Holmberg and 40 others participated in the two-day Pelican Orienteering meet this weekend at Clinton Lake.
The meet, sponsored by the SUA club Orienteer Kansas, attracted contestants from as near as St. Louis and as far as San Diego. There also were contestants from past national and international championship orientering meets.
But Easter egg hunting orienteering is not.
Contestants, like me, standing two feet behind their maps, which are on the ground and weighted down by rocks so the wind won't carve them away.
Some are dressed in specially designed outfits, complete with spilt rubber-sole shoes. Others have on sweat tops and jeans.
The gun goes off. Some scatter quickly in numerous directions, while others sit with puzzled faces as they try to read their maps.
All of the maps are similar, but there are different levels of difficulty on the courses, said Gene Wee, a member of Orienteer Kansas and a coordinator of the event.
The difference in conditions may be as
minute as a marker at eye level for a novice or one hidden in a place off a turn of a trail for the more experienced orienteer.
Saturday's meet, featuring individual competition, opened at the Woodridge area on the west side of Clinton Lake with not a cloud in the sky and the temperature a moderate 51 degrees.
About 30 runners competed on the red,
yellow-orange, white and green courses.
The courses differed in length as well as in the placing of markers.
The white course, designed for the beginner, is usually one mile in length, the red course for the experienced orienterie is five miles long and the green and yellow-orange course lengths are in between.
On the course, once each marker is found, the runner has to punch the map with a hole punch attached to the marker. This lets the judges know that all markers have been found.
Winning Saturday's red course competition was Rick Mermesch, an Orienteer Kansas club member, with a time of 47:22.
Mike Vovk of the Tallgrass Orienteering Club won the two-mile yellow-orange course with a time of 41:14.
On the white course, James Thompson, who is not a member of a club, won the one mile event with a time of 32:37.
Al Smith of the St. Louis Orienteering Club won the green course with a time of 45-51
Placing second in the women's division of the red course was Karan Keith, a Leawood junior who participated in the World Student Orienteering Championship Games in Switzerland last July.
Keith finished behind Holmberg of the St. Louis Orienteering Club with a time of 86:19.
Individual winners received ribbons in each course category. Orientee Kansas T-shirts were given to the fastest woman and man in the meet.
Sunday's meet, a relay competition, opened to clear skies again, but the air was 14 degrees colder and the wind was blowing a little harder.
Eight teams lined up at the starting line for the 2.5 mile relay. Each team member had to run the course.
This event, much different from that of the day before, lent a lot of excitement to the participants as well as the observers.
The course was in the Rock Haven area, a wooded area on the south side of Clinton Lake with paths and some fallen branches.
Contestants raced against the clock and the sound of snapping branches could be heard as the search for orange and white markers continued.
Winning the two-man event was the St. Louis team of Mike Mennehan and Tony Sotiriver with a time of 66:15.
Placing first in the three-person category was the Orienteer Kansas team of Rick Hermesch, Kris Tilford and John McCleary, associate professor of geography, with a time of 119:24.
Winning the two-person event was the team of Holmberg and Don Meenahan, also of St. Louis Orienteering Club, with a time of 91:29.
As each team's members hurried or straggled across the finish line, those who had already run the course gathered around, noisily comparing course maps and sipping cocoa and coffee for warmth.
Team members left, and strains of goodbyes and talk of next week's meets could be heard, as the wind whistled softly.
Photos by:
DREW TORRES
Story by:
PATRICIA WEEMS
Tony Sotteriva and Dan Mennehan, both from St. Louis, look over a contour map of the courses area before setting out.
Carol Fields, Westwood, pauses after arriving at a checkpoint.
4