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Orienteering Travels to Rochester, NY
The team had a very good weekend and made excellent progress with this competition.
Friday the team traveled 10 hours to Rochester, NY and in the evening held study hall. This was necessary because we were going to miss the study period on Sunday evening due to the return trip. The hotel obliged us by allowing our cadets to use their breakfast room for our study hall. Thus, we had a period of supervised study (as we always do). Even away our cadets are following their normal routine.
Saturday was much warmer than expected as temperatures were in the 80's. The morning was the Middle Distance Championships. FUMA did well going up against their peers and three FUMA runners placed. Adam Welsh and Jon Snyder obtained a silver and gold, respectively, in the 17-18 year old bracket. Brad Baker garnered a silver in the 13-14 year old age bracket. John Delekto just missed a medal with a 4th place finish.
After a light lunch, cadets competed in the sprint competition. Two competitions on such a hot day was grueling, but well worth the training value. Cadets were able to apply what they learned immediately.
Once finished with the competition, we were able to enjoy some of the natural beauty of the area. Letchworth Park is one of the best kept secrets of New York State. It contains a deep gorge with three substantial waterfalls. If you think that all of youth are jaded in our computer age, you should have heard the "oohs" and "ahs" as we first drove along the gorge, and then stopped to walk and look at the scenery.
Needless to say the cadets were pretty tired by the time we got on the bus to drive to our motel. We went to the mall to get some supper, and then went to see the movie, Expelled, (a thought provoking documentary about the debate in the scientific world regarding Intelligent Design).
Sunday we competed in the US Relay championships. This was a lot of fun as the course setter put a few controls in the middle of a field so we could cheer on our teammates. Unfortunately for this one, we were competing against some of the top adult teams from the Eastern US and Canada, as well as the Military Academy at West Point. We came in dead last. Yet, as a coach, this may have been one of the most gratifying events for me. On our first team, 3 of the 4 boys were running courses above their age level. On the second team, two brand new orienteers went on courses that were well beyond their knowledge and experience and there were no complaints. The eagerness of the boys was equaled only by their perseverance as they moved through intricate, technical terrain. I was proud of their grit and focus. For photos of the event go to the FUMA Photo Gallery.
Courtesy of Coach Carl Muench
Posted by Elizabeth Liles, Tuesday, April 22, 2008 09:08 AM
Athletics
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