2024 WOC US Team Trials

Saturday, May 11, 2024

University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT

The 2024 US Team Trials to select the athletes to represent TeamUSA at the World Sprint Orienteering Championships in Scotland will be conducted in a two event format.

Athletes based in Europe can use Sprint Scotland on May 3-4 as Team Trials races and athletes based in the US will use the Sprint Storrs Team Trials races detailed below. The selection committee will also entertain petitions for athletes who are unable to attend a trials event but wish to be considered.

All athletes should refer to the 2024 WOC Team Selection Criteria for full details on the selection process.

This page is a work in progress and the following information is subject to (minor) changes.

Embargo

The entirety of the University of Connecticut main campus in Storrs is off limits to all persons planning to try out for the US WOC Team. Areas east of CT-195 – ie the Ag Quad will not be used for TT races and are not under this embargo.

Make it a Weekend!

The infamous Billygoat is scheduled for Sunday, May 12th at Gunstock Resort in central NH. Gunstock is about 3 hours drive from Storrs, but if you’re going to be in the region, why not make it a weekend full of orienteering!

Race Info

The UConn Sprint Team Trials will consist of two events:

• AM – Individual Sprint
  • TT Quarantine: 9:45am
  • First Start: 10am
  • Team Trials athletes will start first using a start punch
    • 60sec start interval – Men & Women start together.
  • Fifteen (15) minutes after the last TT starter, non team trials runners will start using a start punch until all runners are out.
    • Three courses – Long (Men’s TT), Medium (Women’s TT) & Short
• PM Sprint Relay
  • A one-man style relay will be used with a mass start at 2pm for Team Trials participants.
    • Men & Women will have separate courses but will start together
    • Courses will include forking and a map exchange
    • There will be common controls/legs between the Men’s & Women’s courses
  • Courses will be designed to highlight spectating so plan to cheer on your favorite athletes in head-to-head competition.
  • Non Team Trials participants will be able to run an individual sprint utilizing many of the relay controls/legs after the Team Trial Relay concludes.
    • Non TT participants will be started in a quasi-mass start. Queued up, map handout and started using a punching start. If you want to run head to head with friends, plan to queue up together. If you’d rather not be in the quasi-mass start, you can wait a few minutes for the first batch to get out of sight. The non TT courses will most likely use the womens course and may have forkings/map exchange. Or it may be same course for everyone – I”m currently reserving the option to decide when we see what registration numbers look like.
• Shoes with metal ‘dobs’ will NOT be allowed for either event.

Registration

Registration is now open on EventReg. Registration will close at 11:59pm EDT on May 1, 2024. Please note that all athletes who wish to be considered for the 2024 WOC Team need to register through EventReg. If you will be trialing at Sprint Scotland or submitting a petition you can select NC (not competing) for the two Storrs races and select the appropriate declaration in the dropdown menu on the Team Trials Declaration page.

See who is already registered.

Travel & Lodging

The nearest major airport is Bradley International (BDL) in Windsor Locks. It is about 40 minutes drive under typical traffic conditions.

Lodging: Since this is a one-day event, we are not organizing any specific lodging arrangements. There are a wide variety of typical hotel options in the Manchester/Vernon area about 20 minutes from campus.

Things to do in the area

• UConn Evolutionary Biology Conservatory – the greenhouses of the UConn Conservatory will be open to the public from 10am-2pm and feature a world-class collection of plants from around the world. Highly recommended!!
  • TT Quarantine and starts will be from the greenhouse/headhouse.
  • Post-race refreshments and download will also be hosted by the greenhouse for your post race mingling.
  • Outdoor garden spaces with seating also available adjacent to the greenhouses.
• UConn Dairy Bar – ‘nuf said. A destination in itself. Located in the Ag Quad and not affected by campus embargo.
• UConn Arboretum Tree Tour – a self guided tour of exceptional trees located around the UConn campus – team trial participants are prohibited from doing this activity until after the PM Sprint Relay for obvious reasons.
• Downtown Storrs – located a short walk from the southeast part of campus, the downtown Storrs area offers numerous shops and dining establishments.

Volunteers

• Event Director: Clinton Morse
• Mapper & Course Setter: Clinton Morse
• Mapping Consultant: Jon Campbell
• Course Consultant: Evalin Brautigam
• Course Vetter(s): Carl Underwood
• Registrar: Jim Henderson
• Start Crew: Phil Bricker
• Finish / Timing: JJ Cote
• Website: Clinton Morse
• Photographer: Nadim Ahmed
• recruited but currently unassigned: Tori Campbell, Peter Campbell?, Peggy Dickison, Niels Lyng-Olsen, Rick & Suzie DeWitt

Map Notes

This section will be updated with additional information, photos and more as we get closer to the event date. Be sure to check back for the latest info.

• Small chain fences – not mapped, crossable if both sides are ‘passable’. In the example photo, the narrow strip of mulch is legal to cross (see photo #1)
• Portable Steam units – this week is campus heating plant shutdown, so a handful of buildings that require essential heating/hot water often have temporary boilers (trailers) near them. While we will endeavor to identify all such temporary units on the competition map – if you do encounter an unmapped boiler truck, please use caution if running near it.
• Permanent free-standing A/C units, electrical boxes etc have been mapped with a solid black – “Building – minimum size” symbol. Will basically appear as a square boulder on the map. (See Photo #2)
• Man-made object – black “O” – are sculpture objects. Black “X” – are other misc man-made objects – the ‘X’ symbol is infrequently used on this map.
• Roads – the venue does not entail any major road crossings – however, there is light vehicle traffic on some of the internal service roads on campus. It is the runners responsibility to ensure that no vehicles are coming before crossing these roadways. On the map – pavement where vehicles may be expected, including parking lots, use the darker 501.x symbols. Pedestrian pathways are depicted with the lighter 501.x symbology, although service vehicles may be encountered on these pathways at times. Stay aware…
• Arboretum Notes:
  • The UConn campus also serves as an arboretum (living museum of trees)
  • Some large trees are surrounded by a larger 520.0 “Area that shall not be entered” These may be trees, such as weeping beech, where the canopy drops to ground level or may be trunked trees with a mulched area exceeding the diameter of the tree symbol. The mulched area under such canopies are OOB to protect the trees. (See photo #3)
  • All actively maintained mulched beds, even if nothing appears to be growing in them, are mapped as 520 “Area that shall not be entered”. Exception: As shown in Photo 1, there are occasional, very narrow much strips along sidewalks. These are not mapped OOB and are legal passage.
  • Many trees have substantial mulched rings around them. Stay off the mulch.
  • Some larger mulched areas do have “herd paths” created across them – these will be mapped with a small trail symbol with narrow white border through the green OOB areas. These are legal for competitors but please stay on the obvious path.