Thanks to all the participants! We had a great turnout for a Tuesday evening event. Laumeier Sculpture Park is definitely a treasure. Thank you for allowing me to indulge in a bit of whimsy…I doubt you’ve seen “crack in the Earth”, or “watch for deer poop” as control point clues before. Also thanks to the Brennan family for reminding me that this location was their first orienteering experience… A class given in partnership with the Saint Louis County Parks (where I was the instructor)…oh and that was in 2007…yikes! Finally, a big thanks to Jeff and Tom Ryan for the control pickup.

Name	Course	Class	Time	CP’s	P
Matt Helbig, Paige Helbig	Sprint	Group with C	0:23:03	16
Bryan Niehaus	Sprint	Individual	0:24:06	16
Jeff Ryan	Sprint	Individual	0:25:07	16
Vladimir Yurkuns	Sprint	Individual	0:26:27	16
Eric Buckley	Sprint	Individual	0:27:12	16
Scott Kelley	Sprint	Individual	0:30:46	16
David Winter	Sprint	Individual	0:31:24	16
Nathan Graves	Sprint	Individual	0:31:28	16
Tom Ryan	Sprint	Individual	0:31:55	16
Tim Johanns	Sprint	Individual	0:34:20	16
Melissa Kelley	Sprint	Individual	0:36:05	16
Abby Wilde	Sprint	Individual	0:40:12	16
Mike Rhodes	Sprint	Individual	0:42:21	16
Jerry Young	Sprint	Individual	0:47:52	16
Brian Rodenbeck	Sprint	Individual	0:29:54	MP 235
Katie Helbig, Murphy Helbig	Sprint	Individual	0:42:26	MP 235

Heidi Abbott	Score-O 30	Individual	0:27:57	15	0
Chad & Ainsley Goodwin, Jonathan & Evan Taulbee	Score-O 30	Group with C	0:33:20	20	-3
Patrick Geldmeier & Sophia Smith	Score-O 30	Group – Adults	0:32:41	13	-2
Steve Brennan, Tim Brennan	Score-O 30	Group – Adults	0:39:09	9	-9

Dan Schimpf	Score-O	Individual	0:47:15	20
Rob Ellis & Joel Dauve	Score-O	Group – Adults	0:47:15	20
Tyson Charbonnier	Score-O	Individual	0:56:11	20
Robert & Cassie Bart	Score-O	Group – Adults	1:01:51	20
Neal & Susan Bockwart	Score-O	Group – Adults	1:11:01	20
Mary Piper, Shannon Piper, David Frei	Score-O	Group-Adults	0:47:54	17
Miles Kelley	Score-O	Individual	0:59:58	11
Andrew R	Score-O	Individual	DNS	0
Ashley Ruff	Score-O	Individual	DNS	0

A big “Thank You!” to everyone who came out for the sprints at Tower Grove last evening! The weather was perfect, and for whatever reason, the gnats, flies, and mosquitoes were no-shows!

And also, many thanks to Matt S for help with registration and to the many who helped with control pickup and cleanup after the meet (Matt, Bryan, Gannon, Josh, Jeff, Tom, Mark G, Nathan, who’d I forget?)

Congrats to everyone who came out for a beautiful spring course. The sun was out, the woods were open, some got lost, and most found themselves finishing with a smile.

Congrats to Brian Rodenbeck for the Win! And thank you to Tim Johanns, Mark Geldmeier and Brian R for helping pick up a controls. Thank you to Kevin Minton for helping get everyone in the computer and their Epunch sticks. Help is always appreciated!

Thanks to everyone who was able to come out and enjoy beautiful Beaumont and have some fun with fellow map and compass enthusiasts. Special thanks to David Fisher and his team (Beth Skelton, Ed Schaefer, Bill Croker, and more) for designing and setting great courses. Also, thank you to Nathan Graves and Kevin Minton for helping with registration/education at the Club table.

The club results are posted at the top of the page and the Scout results are posted at the bottom. Our next orienteering meet will be at Queeny Park on Saturday, 4/22. Mark your calendars. Jeff Ryan, director, has some fun in store for us. Details will be coming soon on the webpage.

WHITE COURSE (MAP HIKE)
GROUP – Children	TIME	SCORE
1. Rich Family: Tony, Debbie, Dorothy, Robert, David	1:51:30	10
2. Dylan Eason, Jakob Farris, Dylan Hernke Group	1:57:04	10
3. Lisa and Roscoe McNerney	1:41:30	7
INDIVIDUAL – Children	36:56:00	10
1. Dennis Yurkuns
INDIVIDUAL – Adult
1. Jim Egbert	1:21:25	10

GREEN COURSE
INDIVIDUAL
NAME	TIME	SCORE
1. Neal Bockwoldt	3:13:55	10
2. Robert Bart (had to leave early)	1:01:22	5
GROUP – Adults
1. Tim Johanns, Donnie Reckert, Myka Miller	1:08:00	10
2. Walter B and Walter S Schnurr	1:10:30	10
3. Andrew Witthaus, Cory Tarrant, Chelsea, Chalon Knight, Ashley Knight	2:08:00	10
4. Holly McGrath, Annette Rau	2:55:51	7
5. Louise Bullock and Sandy Budde	3:18:44	8
GROUP – Children
1. Frank Carr, Judah, Elias	2:30:20	10
2. Bailey Fam: Kelly, Naomi, Karol, Josiah	2:52:19	10

RED COURSE
INDIVIDUAL
	TIME	SCORE
1. Josh Borgmeyer	0:54:44	13
2. Nathan Graves	1:08:09	13
3. Jason Coleman	1:15:40	13
4. Matt Sorgam	1:20:50	13
5. Karl Schutte	1:25:58	13
6. Jen Doias	1:34:50	13
7. Tommy Doias	1:37:14	13
8. Scott Shaw	1:43:01	13
9. Mike Rhodes	2:17:30	13
10. Vladimir Yurkuns	2:32:45	13
11. Robert Bart (had to leave early)	1:22:44	6
GROUP
1. Steven and Cynthia Truemper	2:16:20	13

Dear Fellow Scouters:

On behalf of the St. Louis Orienteering Club and the Greater St. Louis Area Council I would like to thank you for attending the 19^th John Smerek Scout Orienteering Festival.  The weather was a little chilly, but that did not dampen the spirit.  The rain held off until after the event so all the scouts and scouters had a great time.  The festival attendance went up from 2022. This year we had 23 units with 130 participants.

Attached are the results from the 2023 Scout Orienteering Festival Score-O competition based on the punch cards received at the finish.  The festival is designed to test a scout’s (buddy pair or three) map reading and strategic planning skills.  The awards for the top finishers are embroidered neckerchief slides.  The scores were very good this year.  

Inside this package you will find the results and awards (neckerchief slides and I Did It ribbons) for the scouts from your unit.  Please distribute these awards to the deserving individuals.  The results will also be posted on the St. Louis Orienteering Club’s website http://stlouisorienteering.org.   I had trouble reading the names on a few cards, so I apologize for any names that are miss spelled.

We are hard at work designing next years course.  If you have any ideas on how to improve the festival or you would like to help please let me know.  Please talk up the festival at your district’s roundtable and encourage all your neighboring units to attend next year.  

Next year’s 20^th John Smerek Memorial Scout Orienteer Festival is tentatively scheduled for March 9, 2024.  I hope to see everyone back again next year.  We are planning on putting on a “First Class Orienteering” course in October.  Check the council schedule for the date. 

If your scouts would like to do some additional orienteering the St. Louis Orienteering club puts on a local event each month, with courses for beginner to advanced orienteers.  For more information visit the club’s website at http://www.stlouisorienteering.org.  

The GSLAC Map and Compass Committee conducts adult leader training sessions for adults each year.  Please check the Council Calendar for the date for the next session.

Yours in Scouting,

David Fisher                          

SCOUT RESULTS: 19th John Smerek Memorial Scout Orienteering Festival
March 11, 2023
	Total
Name(s)	#	Unit	Penalty	Points		Age
David Fisher	1	496		330		67	M
Owen Sward Jerry Franzel	2	360		195		16	M
Charlie Wunderlich John Morgan Will Washington Stefe Wunderlich	4	627		160		13	Y/A
Owen Terry Teddy Nieman	2	360		150		13	M
Landon Toebgen Brady Wing	2	360		150		13	M
Evan Searcy Kristen Philips	2	462		150		25	M/F
Teddy Hessel Jessy Baker Joey Samile	3	360		110		14	M
Gus, Xavier H	2	776		110		13	M
Mike Hefele Tom Stremlac	2	776		110		55	M
Ryan Thurman Gregory Fournelle	2	179		105		15	M
Henry Thorniton	1	462		105		13	M
Eric Searcy	1	462		100		58	M
Kylee Oiestelkamp	1	462		100		42	F
Payton Haddox Nick Schmiemeier Brady Pinnell	3	409		90		16	M
Evan Solecki Alex Potter	2	776		85		16	M
IsaacHeilman Wyatt Howell	2	776		85		16	M
Grant Pickett Sam Feldmar George Howard	3	809		85		15	M
Samantha Abemathy Ellis Fitzgerald	2	1160		80		12	F
Shannon Johnson Lydia Keck Emily Pickens	3	3648		80		16	F
Mason Ly Collin Bertish	2	179		70		?	M
Jack Franklin Jasper Calvert Rylan VanSambeek	3	179		60		?	M
Anthony Barry Ben Robert	2	776		55		12	M
Carter Phipps Joshua Wirthlin Tristan Byron	3	776	-240	-40		12	M
Julian Harquetiz Wyatt Hewton Henry Wart Devin Kremer Justin Wingbermuehle Jeremiah King	6	918		Rec		13	M
Jaco Nielsen Matthew Waby Dylan Lay Jasen Pate Banon Basor	5	918		Rec		12	M
David Brinkmann Tim Jones	2	462		Rec		A	M
Competitors	63
Teams	26

Congrats to all for a tough and fun day in the woods. Big shoutout to Gary Thompson for all his volunteered time and energy. The Course was perfect and his point system was masterful!

Also big shoutout to a lot of newer folks to the sport, well done!

Great job with this meet Kelleys and Youngs! Beautifly made SLOC logo cutting board made by Mark Young as prizes for the top finishers. Very cool.

People must have been excited for the new map and favorable February weather as we had over 100 people attend! There are so many folks to thank for lending a hand in helping pull this together. From Brian Hey and David Fischer with permitting and equipment, Jason, Jeff Sona, and Jarrid for help getting the Wyman Center as our start/finish, Josh, Jeff Ryan, Mark, and Bryan for helping with epunch learning and course concepts, Jeff and Bryan for vetting, and Jeff, Todd, and Josh for course set up and pick up. The Kelly’s, Jerry, and Brian Rodenbeck for help cleaning up and Manoj for jumping in to help with the registration table. We had a scout group and several new folks who learned and had their first day in the woods orienteering this meet. Thanks to Josh and Mark for doing some teaching. What a group effort! Congratulations to Bryan Niehaus for taking home the first ever GROM Rock which was awarded to the best combined score for participants who completed both the Blue and Score O Courses. I had such a good time, and given the new map and the efforts the club is anticipating in getting more of Greensfelder Park mapped in 2023, I am committing right now to another similar event of this kind in February 4, 2024. Mark your calendars now! -Nathan

Link to the course notes and details

Great course Yvonne. It was an exciting event, so many new friends who have been at meets this past year are returning more and more. The woods family is growing and its a great time to be part of SLOC. Well done Mark and Bryan for the quick work on the e-punch. Dave Frei held court once again teaching us all that the best route from 6 to 7 was immediatly up the Eastern spur after the road crossing and folloing the ridge to the attack point. The Master.

Position	Name	Points	Time	Penalties	Final	Notes
1	Jeff Ryan	13	1:07:45	0	13
2	Nathan Graves	13	1:11:32	0	13
3	Josh Borgmeyer	13	1:13:30	0	13
4	Vladimir Yurkuns	13	1:18:50	0	13
5	Matt Soraghan	13	1:21:20	0	13
6	Mark Geldmeier	13	1:33:15	0	13
7	Karl Schute & Mike Wilson	13	1:33:23	0	13
8	Manoj Sood	13	1:47:25	0	13
9	Tim Johanns	13	1:50:30	0	13
10	Steven & Cynthia Truemper	13	1:59:03	0	13
11	Ryan Roe	13	2:02:03	0	13
12	Ken DeBeers	13	2:04:43	0	13
13	Adrian Beloqui & Bennoy Shimotani	13	2:05:43	0	13
14	Jeff Sona	13	2:08:04	0	13
15	Peng Jing Yuan	13	2:08:29	0	13
16	Mike Rhodes	13	2:17:08	0	13
17	Robert Bart & Cpt. Ahab	13	2:20:58	0	13
18	Heide Abbot & Dan Ingram	13	2:22:17	0	13
19	Carrie Sona	13	2:24:46	0	13
20	Ted & Sandy Weiss	13	2:30:15	0	13
21	Joseph Marincel	13	2:36:15	0	13
22	Dave and Stacey Hagen	13	2:57:45	0	13
23	Doug Hoff & Alicia (could not read last name)	10	2:52:00	0	10
24	Steve, Elizabeth and Tim Brennan	7	2:27:21	0	7
25	Ilker Tunay	13	3:06:00	6	7	6 minutes late
26	Joe and Tamara Szabo	13	3:08:00	8	5	8 minutes late
27	Anne Schrupp	0	–:–:–	0	0	LOST PASSPORT
NO POSITION	Adam Fister & Darrell Leadbetter	0	5:17:00		0	Disqualified for course closure violation

Position	Name	Points	Time	Penalties	Final	Notes
1	Myles and Scott Kelley	9	0:45:56	0	9
2	Chase Sickbert	9	0:46:30	0	9
3	Douglas Sickbert	9	0:46:31	0	9
4	Gregory, Izzy and Luna Cuddihee	9	0:57:00	0	9
5	Dennis Yurkuns	9	0:59:45	0	9
6	Perry and Eli Gabbard	9	1:24:05	0	9
7	Simon, Savannah and Melissa Kelley	9	1:45:02	0	9
8	Sternau Familt	9	–:–:–	0	9	No Start Time on Record

Big thanks to Eric Buckley for putting on a great meet in an awesome park. Here’s Eric’s summary below:

This fall’s (winter’s?) event at Hawn was my first event directing in quite some time, and it showed. Included in my gaffes was leaving the results in the equipment bin which is why these are being posted two weeks after the fact. Thanks for all your patience!

That said, it was a great day to be in the woods. Most felt that the unexpected snow enhanced the experience. The courses were a bit longer than intended. I could chalk that up to the snow, but one of our fastest navigators, Nathan Graves ran it in 1:40:25 the following week in perfect conditions, so I think the vegetation at Hawn has just thickened up a bit since the days when we used see the top folks running 8-9 minutes/K.

Three courses were offered. A traditional Yellow, and a long and medium Pink. The long Pink included a couple legs that wouldn’t be completely out of place on an advanced course, though they had catching features to keep intermediates from getting too off course.

Due to the cold, the ball point pens weren’t working particularly well. Apologies to anyone whose name is misspelled below.

Pink Long:

Jack Boubonnais  1:49:14

Vladimir Yurkuns  2:05:25

Mark Geldmeier  2:08:03

Brian Rodenbeck  2:08:44

Brian Niehaus  2:15:42

Ken DeBeer  2:28:34

Paul Yemm  2:23:00 (12 controls)

Jeff Juell & Tom Evans 2:28:16 (12 controls)

Pink Medium:

Derek Hebda 1:39:14

Toni & Jeff Ryan 1:50:29

Robert Bart  2:21:01

Abby Wilde  2:33:11 (9 controls)

Harry, Mandy, & Nathan 1:54:00 (8 controls)

Patrick Kalgren  2:19:10 (8 controls)

Rob Whirting, Nathan Booker & Kristy Schwarzkoff 2:32:44 (8 controls)

Michael Knapp  2:11:14 (7 controls)

Alice Chloe, Brenna & Gannon 1:29:12 (5 controls)

Regin Payne  1:20:00 (4 controls)

Nat Woling  1:45:00 (3 controls)

Jen Doias  DNF (lost card)

Kevin Minton  DNF (lost card)

Ted & Sandy Weiss  OT

Alan & Kalley Richardson  OT

Colin, Craig, Joen Campbell  OT

Yellow:

Heidi Abott & Dan Ingram  35:55

Steven & Cynthia Truemper  36:45

Justin & Aiden  37:11

Clair & Jim Huss  50:13

Bryan, Henry, Paul, Kyle & Kaden  52:00

Steve & Tim Brennan  55:00

Dennis Yurkuns  1:02:32

Roasted Bears 1:30:10

Greg Tate 2:19:00

Deanne Row  2:19:51

Jasen & Michael Snyder  0:55:00 (6 controls)