May 19, 2024

After a summer hiatus to recharge our batteries after the Pacific Northwest Orienteering Festival, we were back in action for a mass start event on the UM campus. We held the event the evening before the first day of classes at the University of Montana, and we got a great turnout of UM students, as well as a great mix of GrizO veterans and first-timers.

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Thank you to Siri Christopherson for designing a great set of courses and hanging over 50 controls on campus! On the Beginner course, Svea, Emily, and Jeff Johnson were fastest, ahead of first-timers Brandon Pope and Michael Knowles.

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The Short course was won by Benjamin Halfar, just ahead of UM freshman Jonathan Dreitlein. On the Medium course, GrizO Youth Program member Finn Nowels took a narrow win ahead of Bela and Amy Friedman, with Finn's brother Oliver finishing just behind them.

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Calvin Olson won the Long course, just two minutes ahead of Greg Friedman, and another minute ahead of Ben Conley. A special shout-out to Ian Caragol and Nyika Campbell, who finished the Long course on their very first outing. They don't have a result due to organizer error. 

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Thank you to our event director Allison Brown, who also helped with beginner instruction. Boris Granovskiy, Loy Koch, Siri Christopherson, Kate DeBlonk, and Calvin Olson helped pick up controls. ​

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Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/5bCf1DPhj1NZvQNW9

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