PreO 2 - What's the Score?

A number of different scoring issues made the arena on Day 2 an emotional roller coaster. Beginning with a timing problem due to a non-synced replacement SI unit, through some miscoded answers in the software, and ending with a voided control, scores just kept changing. The good news was they seemed to be mostly going up. The result was that initially everyone thought they had really tanked the course, but as time went on, we learned it wasn't all so dismal.

Control number 11 was voided after the organizers determined that the Alpha flag was only four meters from the circled zero position--inside of the published zero tolerance. This benefited Mika and Clare, who had missed the control, but hurt David and Sharon, who had come up with the correct zero answer.

In the final two day standings, David Irving's 48 points placed him 8th out of 39 in the Para category--one of the best US placings at WTOC in a while. Congratulations, David! Top US scores of the day were Clare with 25 and David with 24 points out of a possible 29. Clare ended up with the top US two-day result, which was 49 points (compared to a winning score of 56) and placing her 41st of 65. While neither day was exceptional, the two solid days gave Clare a personal best in terms of percentage of controls of the winner at her seven WTOCs.

Interview with the open team

How did it go today?
Mika - Not the best time management, got a little dehydrated towards the end. I missed four of the last eight controls.
Clare - I missed two of the last eight. My biggest miss was that I mispunched one where I missed the fact that there was a control, not really part of the cluster, but nearby up above. It was supposed to be counted in the group, but I didn't include it so even though I picked the correct flag, I gave the wrong answer.
Sharon - dismal day. I missed quite a few. Then one that I got they threw out. Toward the end I ran out of time.

What did you like or do well today?
Mika - I loved the course. If I had a little bit more time
Clare - I didn't feel as confident on this course as on Day 1. Today I felt there were more controls were even though I came up with a solution I wasn't really sure if I came up with the best way to solve it.
Sharon - Sounds like me. I enjoyed the course, it was a lot of fun to do. In the end time is running, I've got to choose and go on.
Clare - I like all the rocky hillsides and trying to figure out which boulder is which. At the end today, I didn't have as much time as I would have liked. Quite a few were almost a Hail Mary with only a few seconds.
Sharon - If one had a little more time to figure out all that rock. If you could do that, it all fit together.

How did the problems at the arena affect you?
Clare - It was hard for me to process that I had done better than I originally thought. I got in the mindset of  "I really blew it" because that's how I felt at the end of the course.
Sharon - You dwell on what you missed and then you forget about what you had done well, because it didn't take as long. And you think you didn't do well because you missed one.

Anything else?
Mika - Timed controls all right and they were quick. So a lot more confidence for the TempO. I'll just relax and read the map and answer.

The final eight control cluster that we all wished we had more time for: