Western States Orienteering Championships
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Past (and future) events
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individual champions and statistics
The Beginning
In 1986
I proposed that the orienteering clubs in the Western United States organize and
annually host a regional championship.
This idea was enthusiastically received by the western clubs,
and the first event was held that year in Colorado.
At that meet,
representatives
from the western clubs met and agreed on several concepts for future events:
- The name of the event would be "Western States Orienteering Championships".
- The region would be the 13 western states
(Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico and west)
(this set has also been described as "states with mountains over 10,000 feet").
- The event would be a two day,
total time individual USOF Class A meet held in a western state.
- To be eligible for a championship title, a participant must:
- be a member of a western club (a club from one of the western states)
- have lived in the western states for six of the previous 12 months
- be eligible for a USOF championship
(see USOF rule 5.6, available on-line in the USOF
Virtual Binder)
- Ideally, each year's event would be on a new map.
- Finally, we would meet each year to choose the host for the championships
for the next two years
(that is, in year N
we would choose the host for year N+2
and confirm the host for year N+1,
who was named the previous year, N-1).
This way, each championship would have a two year head start on organizing
and publicity.
However, it didn't quite work this way...
Note that beyond the sanctioning process required for an A meet,
there is no involvement by USOF in the Westerns.
In particular, the Westerns are not a "bid event"
(see USOF Rule 7.2.1).
Also, there was confusion at the outset that the "Western States" created a new
USOF region.
The Western States Orienteering Championships has
nothing
to do with USOF regions!
Regional championships take place independent of the Westerns.
At the 1986 meet in Nederland,
the following representatives of western orienteering clubs met and
agreed on the above items:
As soon as I find the sign in sheet (yes, I still have it),
I'll finish filling in this list.
| Mike Schuh | COC |
| RMOC |
| BAOC |
| SDO |
| SAMM |
The Gap
It was my intent that at each year's championships,
the host club would convene a brief meeting of representatives from
the western clubs.
The primary purpose of this meeting would be to choose the host
for the event two years later
(see the above discussion).
I modeled this after the Asia-Pacific Orienteering Championships,
where representatives from the various countries choose the host of
the APOC four years away.
My hope was that each hosting club would take responsibility for
this meeting and chair it.
Well, it didn't quite work out this way.
There is more to the story,
which I will add when I unearth my references.
The Present (2002) and Future
In December 2001,
Sergey Velichko (with my acquiescence) proclaimed himself
"Westerns States Orienteering Championships Benevolent Dictator"
(a title I had used while discussing alternative organizational
models) and decreed CTOC host for the 2002 event.
No one objected (least of all me) and many cheered.
This arrangement (one person deciding which club will host each year's event) can work,
but it is rather fragile as it depends upon that individual.
The other models have failed,
so I'm not sure what might be better than a "benevolent dictator".
Perhaps there could be a "Western States Regional Council"
that would oversee the Westerns as well as provide a forum
for regional issues
(mapping support, land use, scheduling, publicity, etc.).
The council could meet at each year's Westerns
and, um ...
Suggestions welcomed.
Since inception, the Westerns have been held nearly every year
(see discussion above).
In the table below,
if the year is a link,
it leads to results.
If the date is a link,
it leads to on-line information about the event.
Other links lead to a
Yahoo! maps
map of the venue,
information about the competition map(s),
and the host club's home page.
I am still collecting information for this table.
Year
Results |
Dates
Meet Information |
Venue |
Map Information |
Host
Club(s) |
Comments |
| From Club |
EventFinder |
| 1986 |
July 19-20 |
Nederland, CO |
Kelly Dahl
&
Observatory |
Observatory &
Kelly Dahl |
RMOC |
First A meet in Colorado |
| 1987 |
|
San Diego? |
I am still gathering information for this year.
|
| 1988(?) |
? |
Orcas Island, WA |
Moran State Park |
Moran State Park |
COC |
In the San Juan Islands,
southeast of Eastsound |
| 1989 |
I am still gathering information for these years. Assistance welcomed!
|
| 1990 |
| 1991 |
| 1992 |
| 1993 |
July(?) |
Donner Pass, CA |
Boreal Ridge |
Boreal Ridge |
BAOC |
|
| 1994 |
I am still gathering information for this year.
|
| 1995 |
August 12-13 |
Roslyn, WA |
Bullfrog Flats |
Bullfrog Flats |
SAMM |
|
| 1996 |
February 17-18 |
Tucson, AZ |
Chimney Rock |
Chimney Rock
(Redington Pass)
|
TSN |
First A meet in Arizona |
| 1997 |
October 25-26 |
Santa Rosa, CA |
Annadel State Park |
Annadel State Park |
BAOC |
|
| 1998 |
November 14-15 |
Big Basin, CA |
Big Basin State Park |
Big Basin State Park |
BAOC |
|
| 1999 |
September 18-19 |
Fishtrap, WA |
Fishtrap |
Fishtrap |
EWOC |
|
| 2000 |
No Western States Orienteering Championships were held these years
|
| 2001 |
| 2002 |
August 17-18 |
McCall, ID |
Thorn Creek |
Thorn Creek |
CTOC |
First A meet in Idaho |
| 2003 |
June 21-22 |
Cle Elum, WA |
Teanaway Forks
&
Lick Creek
Cle Elum area venues
|
Teanaway Forks
& Lick Creek |
COC |
opening weekend of
PNWOF 2003
|
| 2004 |
June 5-6 |
South Lake Tahoe, CA
|
Spooner Lake
&
Fallen Leaf
|
Spooner Lake
&
Fallen Leaf |
BAOC |
|
| 2005 |
August 20-21 |
Cle Elum, WA |
Teanaway West
&
Cle Elum Ridge
Cle Elum area venues
|
Teanaway West
&
Cle Elum Ridge |
COC |
opening weekend of
PNWOF 2005
|
| 2006 |
Available! |
Thanks to Ross Burnet (Yukon Orienteering)
for some of the information in this table.
A list of individual champions, etc.,
is on the
statistics
page.
Last update: August 31, 2005 14:35:24 PDT
To Mike Schuh's home page
Mail (but not spam) is welcome to:
schuh
AT
farmdale
D0T
com
Thank you for the visit.