By George Minarik

Two hundred thirty people bounded about on the seven courses at Tilden Park on Sunday. The pleasant weather, soft ground conditions, and fierce competition made for a January day to be remembered.

Great competition we had:

• On the tough Blue course Matej Šebo battled François Léonard throughout, with Matej prevailing by a minute and 8 seconds. Penny DeMoss was the first women.
• The Red course saw Tapio Karras as the decisive winner, and Marina Keating as the first women.
• On Green, Erin Schirm bested the field with a swift time. Cornelia Coolen battled Marie-Josée Parayre, with Cornelia winning the women's race.
• Kenneth Olsson won the Brown course by less than a minute over Kyle Halliday. Katie Petersen had an excellent time as the first female.
• On Orange, Andy Cretcher took the crown, with the first female, Sandra Kamagel, not far behind in 2nd.
• The Yellow course competition saw Fintan O'Sullivan grab the win. Maria Fedyk was the first female.
• The White course was won by Greg Mandler, with Barbara Robbins as the first female. Greg & Barbara: Come on back for more!

Orienteering has many delights, and these were on display Sunday. Gathering together after the races were many families, youth groups, and a good number of international visitors. A full range of ages were there, from an infant in a Dad's arms to several finishers in their eighties. How many other sporting events can boast such a diversity of participants?

It was wonderful to see the gathering of so many juniors in the pre- and post-race training sessions conducted by Erin Schirm, the U.S. Junior Team Coach. Our BAOC Juniors are making an impact on the national scene.

Being an event director for BAOC is one of my joys in life. It really is tantamount to producing a play. And as event directors know, the success of the production depends entirely upon the volunteers, who freely offer their time and skills to support the sport. It was great to sit back watch them do their things.

Graham & Chris Brew began several months ago designing courses. They put in dozens of hours in the field and at home on their computers, tweaking the courses until obtaining the final product. Thanks guys! They were assisted by vetters, Steve Harrison and Leslie Minarik.

On the day of the event, the club volunteers leaped into action. Working the registration table were Gary & Olga Kraght, Masha Konkov, Scott Aster, and Natalie Kim. The e-punch crew was Rosemary Johnson & Jeff Lanam. (The results were posted before I made it home!) Gary Carpenter and Natalie Kim gave numerous beginner's clinics. Sarah Minarik & Andy Cretcher were the couple greeting you up at the Start. Marie-Josée Parayre was responsible for those healthy and tasty refreshments. Many people pitched in with the set up and take down, including Steve Harrison, Jeff Dickert, Gary Carpenter, Andy Cretcher, Sarah Minarik, and Dennis Wildfogel. Thanks to the hardy control pickup crew: Graham & Chris Brew, Vicki Woolworth, Steve Harrison, Natalie Kim, Peter Graube, Devon Prouty, Julia Doubson, Fyodor Konkov, and Misha Kreslavsky. Please forgive me if I missed anyone.

Behind the scenes, club stalwarts Bob Cooley printed the maps, Marina Keating handled the insurance, and Chuck Spalding was the webmaster.

Finally a big thank you to the friendly people of the East Bay Regional Park District. They were supportive and accommodating to anything we wanted to do. EBRPD is a major reason we love to live in the East Bay.

White Course    (1.7 km, 55 m climb, 11 controls)

Pl  Name(s)                      Club      Time     After
 1  Greg Mandler                           25:13            
 2  Harold DeMoss                BAOC      38:29   +13:16
 3  Solomon Berish                         39:37   +14:24
 4  Barbara Robbins              BAOC      43:25   +18:12
 5  Yuriko Chiaki-Robb                     46:49   +21:36
 6  Logan Thomas                         1:48:45   +83:32
 7  Halliday family              BAOC    1:49:11   +83:58
    Kaylen, Ethan, Mike &                                   
      Amanda Joe                           MSP

Yellow Course   (1.9 km, 85 m climb, 13 controls)

Pl  Name(s)                      Club      Time     After
 1  Fintan O'Sullivan                      30:42            
 2  Oscar Angel                            32:42    +2:00
 3  Luke & Alec Thilmony                   35:27    +4:45
 4  Maria Fedyk                  BAOC      35:44    +5:02
 5  Gemma Fa-Kaji                BAOC      38:40    +7:58
 6  Misha Iakovlev               BAOC      48:15   +17:33
 7  Nyko Bowen                             48:21   +17:39
 8  Sasha Barish                           48:22   +17:40
 9  Leonard Boys                           50:35   +19:53
10  Greg Mandler                           52:49   +22:07
11  Bea & Matthew Casson                   52:50   +22:08
12  Anastasia Kourakin           BAOC      56:31   +25:49
13  The Singing Nettles          BAOC      58:59   +28:17
14  Lauren Jerd                          1:01:14   +30:32
15  Jamie Maclean                BAOC    1:01:38   +30:56
16  Polina & Yurii Fedyk         BAOC    1:01:52   +31:10
17  Daniel & Lauren Georges              1:03:21   +32:39
18  Sasha & Anton Kourakin       BAOC    1:03:33   +32:51
19  Zachary, Ben, & Anish                1:06:01   +35:19
20  Fedor Karpelevitch                   1:07:03   +36:21
21  Barbara Robben               BAOC    1:07:48   +37:06
22  Johnston family                      1:12:48   +42:06
23  Amber & Carl                         1:16:39   +45:57
24  Robert Barbigilata                   1:18:39   +47:57
25  Team Crazy                           1:27:58   +57:16
26  Victoria Yeager,
      Ying Tsu Loh                       1:41:19   +70:37
27  Judy Koehler                 BAOC    1:45:28   +74:46
28  Huiyun Sun                           2:00:59   +90:17
29  Spiller group                BAOC    2:10:43  +100:01
    Karoline Blendstrup                    MSP              
    Maggie Chen                            MSP

Orange Course   (3.6 km, 155 m climb, 14 controls)

Pl  Name(s)                      Club      Time     After
 1  Andy Cretcher                BAOC      37:43            
 2  Sandra Karnagel              Germany   40:10    +2:27
 3  Gary Kraght                  BAOC      47:02    +9:19
 4  Daniel Šebo                  BAOC      50:18   +12:35
 5  Stephanie & Cory Hallam      BAOC    1:03:33   +25:50
 6  John Batcheller              BAOC    1:05:32   +27:49
 7  Richard Chiburis             BAOC    1:06:48   +29:05
 8  Sara Wegner                  BAOC    1:12:30   +34:47
 9  Norbert Wagner               GCO     1:17:04   +39:21
10  Pineapples                   BAOC    1:17:36   +39:53
11  Jack & William Gardner               1:17:37   +39:54
12  Brian & Andrea Walkenhauer   BAOC    1:19:55   +42:12
12  Sarah Petersen               BAOC    1:19:55   +42:12
14  Susan Kim                    BAOC    1:20:58   +43:15
15  Brian Tennant, Ken Dillon    BAOC    1:27:38   +49:55
16  Nigel Killeen           Rand O Club  1:32:04   +54:21
17  Daniel & Lauren Georges              1:36:00   +58:17
18  John Marold                  BAOC    1:36:08   +58:25
19  Vladimir, Yelena, Andrey,
      Victoria & Svetlana                1:38:32   +60:49
20  Bill Murphy                  BAOC    1:41:13   +63:30
21  Gillis-Widerstrom family     BAOC    1:41:42   +63:59
22  Masha Konkov                 BAOC    1:44:51   +67:08
23  Greg Mandler                         1:50:31   +72:48
24  Kevin Walker                 BAOC    1:52:51   +75:08
25  Erin & Jamie Magers          GCO     1:53:43   +76:00
26  Bulldogs                             1:57:22   +79:39
27  Turlock 1                            2:01:37   +83:54
28  Jack & Julie Crane                   2:06:55   +89:12
    Sylvottorames                          MSP              
    Victor Kim, Peter McDonald             MSP

Brown Course    (3.4 km, 135 m climb, 14 controls)

Pl  Name(s)                      Club      Time     After
 1  Kenneth Olsson                         33:10            
 2  Kyle Halliday                BAOC      33:59    +0:49
 3  Martyn Roome                 SROC UK   41:26    +8:16
 4  Steve Haas                   BAOC      46:15   +13:05
 5  Katie Petersen               BAOC      46:33   +13:23
 6  Denis Kourakin               BAOC      47:30   +14:20
 7  Dan Greene                   BAOC      49:26   +16:16
 8  Chuck Spalding               BAOC      49:37   +16:27
 9  Julia Doubson                BAOC      50:36   +17:26
10  Ray Rosenbaum                BAOC      52:01   +18:51
11  Hope Fa-Kaji                 BAOC      53:09   +19:59
12  Davy Williams                BAOC      54:59   +21:49
13  Evan Custer                  BAOC      57:16   +24:06
14  Sarah Petersen               BAOC      57:52   +24:42
15  Teija Lehmuskoski            BAOC      58:13   +25:03
16  Bryan Gaston                 BAOC    1:00:08   +26:58
17  Lori Huberman                BAOC    1:00:42   +27:32
18  Rory Maclean                 BAOC    1:01:19   +28:09
19  Bob Cooley                   BAOC    1:04:53   +31:43
20  Elsa de Becker                       1:06:41   +33:31
21  The Three Stooges            BAOC    1:06:57   +33:47
22  Sasha Iakovlev               BAOC    1:08:11   +35:01
23  Bill Papendick               BAOC    1:12:09   +38:59
24  Scott Aster                  BAOC    1:12:39   +39:29
25  Dan & Jackie                 BAOC    1:27:22   +54:12
26  Vic Revenko                  BAOC    2:04:28   +91:18
27  Richard Opsahl               BAOC    2:43:06  +129:56
28  Judy Opsahl                  BAOC    2:44:33  +131:23
29  Nancy Lindeman               BAOC    3:33:53  +180:43
    Jeff Lanam                   BAOC      MSP              
    Matthias Kohler              BAOC      MSP

Green Course    (4.7 km, 205 m climb, 19 controls)

Pl  Name(s)                      Club      Time     After
 1  Erin Schirm                  BAOC      39:49            
 2  Joe Papendick                          52:21   +12:32
 3  Janne Peltola                BAOC      52:54   +13:05
 4  Fillan Swift                 BAOC      55:25   +15:36
 5  Cornelia Coolen              BAOC    1:03:10   +23:21
 6  Greg Ehrensing               BAOC    1:04:30   +24:41
 7  Dennis Wildfogel             BAOC    1:04:32   +24:43
 8  Marie-Josée Parayre          BAOC    1:06:07   +26:18
 9  Eric Rosenzweig              BAOC    1:06:43   +26:54
10  Ann Marie Cody               BAOC    1:06:55   +27:06
11  Michael Behrens              BAOC    1:11:51   +32:02
12  Mark Petersen                BAOC    1:12:24   +32:35
13  Kelsey Breseman              BAOC    1:14:49   +35:00
14  Joe Maffei                   BAOC    1:19:19   +39:30
15  Adrian Martin                        1:21:10   +41:21
16  Gavin Wyatt-Mair             BAOC    1:22:09   +42:20
17  Holly Gaston                 BAOC    1:23:06   +43:17
18  Gary Carpenter               BAOC    1:26:25   +46:36
19  Johanna Merriss              BAOC    1:28:12   +48:23
20  Stephanie Maclean            BAOC    1:33:09   +53:20
21  Reilly & Gavin Keith                 1:33:53   +54:04
22  Fyodor Konkov                BAOC    1:34:21   +54:32
23  Carl & Sarah Williams        BAOC    1:37:48   +57:59
24  Ken & Ben Considine          BAOC    1:43:27   +63:38
25  Janet Petersen               BAOC    1:45:21   +65:32
26  Jon McKay                    BAOC    1:50:15   +70:26
27  Olga Kraght                  BAOC    1:53:34   +73:45
    Frallins                               DNF

Red Course      (6.2 km, 495 m climb, 21 controls)

Pl  Name(s)                      Club      Time     After
 1  Tapio Karras                 BAOC    1:33:13            
 2  Mats Jansson                 GCO     1:37:28    +4:15
 3  Misha Kreslavsky             BAOC    1:40:27    +7:14
 4  Mattias Vangbo               BAOC    1:41:32    +8:19
 5  Gavin Williams               BAOC    1:44:06   +10:53
 6  Steve Gregg                  BAOC    1:45:42   +12:29
 7  Tommy Ingulfsen              BAOC    1:55:38   +22:25
 8  Deron VanHoff                BAOC    2:11:32   +38:19
 9  Ralf Burgert                 BAOC    2:20:30   +47:17
10  Simon Dunkley  Southern Naviators UK 2:21:38   +48:25
11  Damian Swift                 BAOC    2:24:51   +51:38
12  Luc Poppe                    BAOC    2:35:29   +62:16
13  Peter Graube                 BAOC    2:51:44   +78:31
14  Marina Keating               BAOC    3:16:32  +103:19
    Brian & Andrea Walkenhauer   BAOC      MSP              
    Mark Eremeev                 BAOC      DNF
    RezBiz                                 DNF
    Derek Maclean                BAOC      DNF

Blue Course     (7.1 km, 610 m climb, 27 controls)

Pl  Name(s)                      Club      Time     After
 1  Matej Šebo                   BAOC    1:24:52            
 2  François Léonard             BAOC    1:25:58    +1:06
 3  Mikkel Conradi               BAOC    1:32:29    +7:37
 4  Mark Prior                   BAOC    1:33:11    +8:19
 5  Zoltan Peter Sziladi         PVSK    1:38:00   +13:08
 6  Dennis Wilkinson             BAOC    1:38:01   +13:09
 7  Miguel Clark                 BAOC    1:54:36   +29:44
 8  John Beard                   BAOC    1:54:52   +30:00
 9  Nikolay Chukanov             BAOC    1:57:33   +32:41
10  Penny DeMoss                 BAOC    2:07:17   +42:25
11  Lubomir Šebo                 BAOC    2:09:37   +44:45
12  Marcy Beard                  BAOC    2:13:31   +48:39
13  Greg Favor                   BAOC    2:14:34   +49:42
14  Michael Miller               BAOC    3:19:31  +114:39
15  Stan Barrett                         3:30:21  +125:29
    Phil Lovelenti               BAOC      MSP              
    Scott Sampson                BAOC      MSP
    Tori Borish                  BAOC      MSP
    Garret Christensen                     DNF
    Kyle Peter                   BAOC      DNF