It has taken me three days to recover enough
to write to you all about LBE. The Florida Championships, the Florida High
School Championships and the Bubba Goat all took place last weekend - along with
a normal, regular, pleasant 5-course FLO event enjoyed by all.
It was something else. A great weekend for the
club. Went off without a hitch. Weather was nearly perfect. High about 80F both
days. 172 people enjoyed the courses on Saturday and another 21 started Bubba
on Sunday, so we almost had another 200 person weekend. And what seemed like a
record number of JROTC'ers turned out.
Now I'm tired. I ran my heart out on Saturday
on Ron Eaglin's relatively short but nicely done Red course. Then in the late
afternoon I went out to set the west half of the Bubba Goat controls, at a
competition pace just for fun. About 12 km altogether and my knees still hurt.
What's going to happen when I start aging, I wonder?
Lots of folks from out of state: Walhalla High
School JROTC from Walhalla South Carolina, who cleaned up on the Orange course
medals. A van load of four wonderful Georgia men, who perhaps mostly came for
the Sunday Bubba Goat, and who just can't stop complimenting us, so of course
it's great to have them here. Two ex-West Pointer's, elite competitors, drove down from Fort Benning GA to give us a
run for the money. JJ Cote flew in from Massachusetts, NEOC, because he never
misses a 'Goat', but that means he also ran Saturday. JJ, you may remember,
back in 1992 drew the two original FLO color maps fieldchecked by Joe
Brautigam. And Jim Hall and Walter Siegenthaler came down from Charlotte NC for
the weekend too. All that made for a powerhouse field of Red and Green
competitors, so we had more entries on Red/green than ever, I think.
Ron set a Pink course, which only Bill
Embach's party tried. Last time over a dozen were on Pink, so maybe the Champs
is not the weekend to offer Pink. Speaking of it being a Champs event weekend.
I'm thinking we frightened a number of usual FLO'ers away with this talk of
championships and competitions. When I look at the results, I see only about 40
'regular' FLO folks, apart from the high schoolers. Hmmmm. Let's talk about
that. Who reading this didn't go because it seemed the event was 'different'
somehow? And how can we make it more attractive again. It wasn't at all
different, you know. Still 5 great courses, and still a majority of folks out
for a stroll. Perhaps everyone was out Christmas shopping. Let us know.
Lots of thank yous go to the usual gang of
helpers who just show up at Ron's events. Ron operates on Faith, and is usually
rewarded. Janet Putnam put in two days, at both events, registering, etc. Ron
set all controls on Sat but I think JJ Cote and Joe Maliszewski and someone
else retrieved. Arild Orsleie set out half of Bubba and he and JJ retrieved. I
saw Jerry Sirmans on start/finish, with the Davids Cutler and Ousley also
serving, or were they just relaxing in the shade? Billy Manns of Sarasota JROTC
spent lots of time helping post results again, as he had for Moss Park last
month. Jonathan Linforth was on hand all day Sunday for photo-journalism duties
(we hope to get some coverage in ONA). I recall Frank Canty helping sell shirts
and such, and I recall the relief of asking for and receiving willing help from
Sarasota (?) JROTC to haul all the stuff from my van to the staging area.
ORANGE COURSE
Men
|
Gold |
Gary Brown |
FLO |
58:50 |
|
Silver |
Chuck Nuckolls |
FLO |
61:30 |
|
Bronze |
Steve Black |
FLO |
68:58 |
Women
(no individual competitors)
GREEN COURSE
Men
|
Gold |
Walter Siegenthaler |
COK |
32:12 |
|
Silver |
Dave Cutler |
FLO |
42:26 |
|
Bronze |
Tim Orcutt |
FLO |
64:38 |
|
FL Bronze |
Rick Orcutt |
FLO |
68:14 |
Women
|
Gold |
Laura Seymour |
FLO |
78:41 |
RED COURSE
Men
|
Gold |
Bob Putnam |
FLO |
35:02 |
|
Silver |
JJ Cote |
NEOC |
41:36 |
|
Bronze |
Matt Stuckey |
GAOC |
43:10 |
|
FL Silver |
Arild Orsleie |
FLO |
46:40 |
|
FL Bronze |
Dave Ousley |
FLO |
53:50 |
Women
|
Gold |
Kate Putnam |
FLO |
92:23 |
2000 FLORIDA HIGH SCHOOL CHAMPIONSHIPS
ORANGE COURSE
Men
|
Gold |
Alan Hastings |
Walhalla HS (SC) |
42:33 |
|
Silver |
Tim Watkins |
Walhalla HS (SC) |
47:15 |
|
Bronze |
Jason Foster |
Walhalla HS (SC) |
47:23 |
|
FL Gold |
Derek Hensley |
Titusville HS (FL) |
51:53 |
|
FL Silver |
Billy Manns |
Sarasota HS (FL) |
53:38 |
|
FL Bronze |
Errol Cruz |
Auburndale HS (FL) |
67:11 |
Women
|
Gold |
Nicole Brooks |
Walhalla HS (SC) |
53:50 |
|
FL Gold |
Shannon Adams |
Titusville HS (FL) |
72:48 |
|
Bronze |
Nicole Pradine |
Walhalla HS (SC) |
78:59 |
GREEN COURSE
Men
|
Gold |
Ronnie Street |
Titusville HS (FL) |
48:13 |
|
Silver |
Jose Saunders |
Titusville HS (FL) |
51:47 |
|
Bronze |
Brian Day |
Titusvile HS (FL) |
77:43 |
Women
(no individual competitors)
RED COURSE
Men
|
Gold |
Mike Dawson |
Auburndale HS (FL) |
55:04 |
|
Silver |
Zachary Chandler |
Titusville HS (FL) |
63:56 |
|
Bronze |
Matthew Beers |
Titusville HS (FL) |
65:43 |
Women
(no individual competitors)