Discussion: Canadian Team Selection Races

Canada's selection races are taking place this weekend near Edmonton at the Barebones Festival.

www.barebones.ca

Remind us that you and Mike have been pre-selected, correct? And on the women's side?

Speaking of Edmonton, check out this running/skiing store I found. It's called Fast-trax and I have no connection to it, other than watching owner Jack Cook ski racing when I was younger.

Check out the categories of sports they cover.

http://www.fasttraxskishop.com/news.php

I've got my money on Mr. Pither. Who won the sprint last night?

Pre-selected were Sandy HJ and Mike W.

Last night's sprint (non-selection) was won quite handily by Mike S in 17 minutes - nobody else was under 20 minutes, although some WOC-hopefuls didn't race hard (neither did Mike).

Preliminary results from today's middle distance (I left before things were complete since we race again in the afternoon) follow below. I included only WOC-hopefuls since my memory is pretty poor, but there are many non-WOC runners intermingled in the results below. Hopefully someone else will post more complete results soon.

Men:
1. Jon Torrance 28:??
2. Mike Smith 29:??
3. Patrick Goeres 31:??
4. Wil Smith 34:07
? 5. Brent Langbakk 34:??
? 6. Nick Duca 34:??
? 7. Hans Fransson 36:??

Women:

1. Pam James 35?
2. Louise Oram 38?
? 3. Heather Smith 40?

Not sure where everyone else stacked up.

Tough, technical, subtle terrain (not really much like DK). Everyone on the mens' side made major mistakes, with the exception of Jon. Caused some runners to come together, as it was easy to blow big time in some areas and the visibility in other areas was pretty decent.

Sprint starts later this afternoon around 3pm. More to follow.

To add to Wil's post, here are the seconds:

1. Jon Torrance 28:50
2. Mike Smith 29:01
6. Patrick Goeres 31:52
8. Wil Smith 34:07
9. Nick Duca 34:24
10. Brent Langbakk 34:52
12. Hans Fransson 36:55
19. Chris Piller 44:29

Ross, Magnus and Mattias were also in the 29-33 range.

Pam James 35:31
Louise Oram 38:24
Heather Smith 40?
Justine Sheck 44:42
Anita OBrien 44:44
Katherine Sheck 46:09
Victoria 50:25

Latest starters not included.

Thanks John!

Damn, did Jon and Mike steal all the controls while they were running?

So how many people are you guys planning on taking?

As I understand it, we're taking 6+6, although this isn't truly set in stone....

Preliminary for today (again WOC-hopefuls only):

Men:

1. Patrick Goeres 16:3?
2. Mike Smith 17:00
3. Wil Smith 17:36
4. Hans Fransson 19:49
5. Jon Torrance 19:59
?6. Brent Langbakk 20:3?
?7. Chris Piller ?23??
?8. Nick Duca 25:3?

Women:

1. Louise Oram 17:16
2. Charlotte MacNaughton 19:59
3. Sarah Brandreth 21:32
4. Heather Smith 23:53
5. Katherine Scheck 24:08
6. Justine Scheck 26:00
7. Meghan Rance 28:07
8. Pam James 28:25

Exceptionally difficult first controls (through/in medium green in flat subtle areas) on both courses made for some surprising results, as well as some trains in the forest (I was in one of them, having caught/passed Nick, Brent and Chris).

I hope someone has more complete results, especially on the mens' side.

1) Patrick Goeres 16:35
2) Mike Smith 17:00
3) Wil Smith 17:36
4) Hans Fransson 19:49
5) Jon Torrance 19:59
6) Brent Langbakk 20:38
7) Chris Piller 24:00
8) Nick Duca 25:30

Wow, it looks like there was plenty of room for error. Congrats to Patrick and Louise. Was it the same course for the Men and Women?

Men and women did different courses with some overlapping legs.

A quick update from today's long:

Mike Smith 80:20
Wil Smith +8:00
Patrick Goeres+8:15

Official team announcement on Tuesday.

Mike Smith 1:20:20
Wil Smith 1:28:13
Patrick Goeres 1:28:31
Jon Torrance 1:31:39
Nick Duca 1:31:59
Brent Langbakk 1:35:09
Chris Piller 1:36:44
Hans Fransson 1:47:02

Louise Oram 1:28:56
Emily Kemp 1:43:09 (not trying out this year, but wow, Kempster!)
Justine Scheck 1:51:29
Sarah Brandreth 1:54:36
Anita O'Brien 1:55:24
Victoria Smith 1:56:56
Heather Smith 2:16:57

Looks like some tough racing. Thanks for the updates!

Did Pam race in the long? She was listed in the other events. Just wondering...

Pam raced a shorter course on the long, since she is getting back up to speed after surgery. She won the Middle Distance and the Friday night sprint (not a selection race), so she is looking great. Today is her big 4-0, and we all sang to her at the feast on Saturday night. Happy Birthday, Pamtastic!

Thanks. Cool.

Pamela! Tigger says "You'rrrr the best!" Happy birfday!

I'm not sure if Pam is on Attackpoint these days, but 40th birthday greetings could be sent to pamsjames@hotmail.com. (She may kill me for this!)

Any sign of results from the weekend?

Sorry for the delay with the results. We were not as successful as some others at finding internet access in Smoky Lake. The splits will be posted to the Barebones website (www.barebones.ca) by the end of the day (as soon as I can find RIchard) and we'll have the courses into the COF RouteGadget site (rg.orienteering.ca) by the end of the day.

Haven't seen anything yet besides what's up above. But with the SI system I imagine the Barebones crowd will get them posted pretty soon - presumably everyone had to travel a fair bit to make it home and get some rest after a very full weekend of sunshine and racing (plus lots of leg-lifting over deadfall). Of course you could always check the "Latest News" section of the COF website... ;-)

BTW Adrian, great work as meet director - things went smoothly and without a hitch. And the weather was spectacular! Thanks! Glad I saved my $20 and didn't opt for the CF....

The results from Barebones 2006 are posted to WinSplits database. Links from www.barebones.ca

az

Is the Team Selection Process posted online anywhere?

Yeah, it's in the latest (Spring 2006) issue of the COF newsletter at www.orienteering.ca (p. 13) ...

"Up to 6 men and 6 women are eligible to represent Canada at the WOC in Ukraine in 2007. The Team will be selected by the National Coach using selection races in late May or early June (location and date to be announced in January)."

Basically, using results from Barebones (and presumably some discretion), Ted decides who goes.

Photos from this great event!

John, you thinking of trying out? ;-)

Maybe I could petition? I am sure the criteria require things that are below even me.

Watch out for the Canadian Team in the big hills of Silkeborg and the parks of Arhus this summer!

via Osquad as posted by Ted de St. Croix
COF National Orienteering Coach

TEAM LEADER Adrian Zissos
ASSISTANT TEAM LEADER Charlotte MacNaughton

MEN

Men's Team
Mike Smith
Mike Waddington
Patrick Goeres
Wil Smith
Jon Torrance
Brent Langbakk
nontravelling 1st Reserve Nick Duca
nontravelling 2nd Reserve Hans Fransson

The reserve positions below are invoked in case of injury or illness once
the final team is in place.

The disciplines are as follows:

Sprint
Mike Waddington
Patrick Goeres
Mike Smith
Reserve Wil Smith

Middle
Mike Waddington
Mike Smith
Wil Smith
Reserve Jon Torrance

Long
Patrick Goeres
Jon Torrance
Brent Langbakk
Reserve Mike Smith

Relay
Mike Waddington
Mike Smith
Wil Smith
Reserve Patrick Goeres


WOMEN

Sandy Hott Johansen
Louise Oram
Pam James
Charlotte MacNaughton
Justine Scheck
Heather Smith
non travelling reserve Sarah Brandreth
no other reserve will be chosen


Sprint
Sandy Hott Johansen
Charlotte MacNaughton
Louise Oram
reserve Heather Smith

Middle
Sandy Hott Johansen
Pam James
Heather Smith
reserve Louise Oram

Long
Charlotte MacNaughton
Louise Oram
Justine Scheck
reserve Pam James

Relay
Sandy Hott Johansen
Pam James
Louise Oram
reserve Charlotte MacNaughton

Wow. Well I don't know how you guys do it (what sort of alchemy leads to these selections) but it looks like a very good team, made up of very deserving athletes. Congratulations to everyone!

Congrats to all!

Now, I'm not up on my Canuck bloodlines, so I'm wondering... how many of these Smiths are related?

Mike Smith, Wil Smith, Heather Smith and Sandy Hott Johansen are all siblings. Their sister Victoria Smith also tried out for the team and came close. Wil Smith's wife Katarina is one of Canada's top female orienteers, but she is taking a brief maternity leave from the sport. Wow!

Hah hah! A Smith in Canadian orienteering? You better believe he/she is a Falcon!

There aren't many left that are still available - marry one while you can! ;) Congrats guys. Give 'em hell in DK.

Congratulations to all selected!

I wonder what would happen when Smiths' numbers multiply :) Wil is first!

Random thoughts from an injured bystander ...

* The terrain around Smoky Lake is pretty flat and the forest (other than the blow-down areas) is very runnable - this made for very fast running. The contour features are generally very shallow and subtle, the vegetation boundaries (between white/green, slash/no slash, white/yellow) are often pretty indistinct - this made for challenging navigation with lapses in contact very penalizing. The results were characterized to a large extent not by who ran fastest, but by who ran cleanest.

* Throughout the events, I struggled to "figure out" the terrain and the way it was mapped. To a large extent, I think this is a result of lack of familiarity with this type of terrain. In the Long, I was totally focused on maintaining contact and avoiding big mistake. I was able to do this, but it felt like a lot of work (i.e., I did not ever feel "comfortable" with my orienteering and never really got any "flow").

* That this terrain was so difficult and the penalties for lapses in contact so penalizing should not have been any surprise. Looking back at my maps from 2002 and 1995 should have keyed me in a little more to the challenges of the terrain.

* Different terrain types require different methods of navigation. I wonder if there should be more discussions here about how one should orienteer in different types of terrain, both general and specific to certain events/courses.

* Despite the challenges, there were some really impressive performances. Pam in the Middle, Louise in the Long, Emily Kemp (14 yo) mixing it up with the elites! Mike S showing great speed and consistency, Patrick Goeres coming on strong.

Wow, that definitely looks like a solid team. It's going to be fun watching Canada and the US go head-to-head in the Relay.

Congrats to Justine especially for representing as a Junior! And of course Patrick gets props for being an almost Junior :) Keep those old folks on their toes! Young blood represent!

And somebody needs to sign this Kemp girl to a long-term contract quick. That was certainly a shocking performance for a 14 year-old.

But from what I can recall, Mister Fredrickson was not bad at all at 14 either - as a matter of fact, I remember him kicking butts on the red course quite a few times when I think he should have raced on the yellow course! Shocking that was too ;-)