A few weeks after the regular Orienteering season ended, we had the State Championships. That sounds like a really big deal, but it wasn't much different than a regular season race in terms of competition. On the other hand, it was definitely the most challenging course of the year.
The State Championship race was held at Pt. Defiance State Park, which is adjacent to the Pt. Defiance zoo, so while Aubree and Bryce raced, Mark took Thane, Graham, and Nellie to explore the zoo.
Aubree invited two of her good friends, Megan and Jaylen to come over for the weekend.
They came to attend AFY (All For Youth) and a Stake Dance on Saturday night, but got dragged along to the race. They were good sports.
We signed them up to run their own beginner race on a public course. Orienteering is super overwhelming at first, but they took their time and enjoyed navigating through their own course in the woods. Then they patiently waited during a long day before AFY began.
Bryce was one of the first racers to start. He was also one of the first middle school racers to finish, so for a good amount of time he was in first place. In the end, he ended up in 6th place for the day - his best finish of the year. Not a bad time to peak!
Aubree left a little later and the JV girl races took a looooonnnnnggggg time. Even though it took her just over an hour to finish her race, she still ended up in 3rd place for the race. She was SO excited to make it on the podium.
It took a long time before all the members of the team finished their races. It was cold and starting to rain, but the team members stayed to cheer everyone till the end. There were some poignant and powerful moments watching the last team member finish her race greeted by the cheers of all her teammates.
Once everyone finished, we made our way over to a nearby building for end-of-season awards.
Aubree's JV girl's team (the first every fielded by Tahoma) ended up getting first place for both the season and the State Championship.
Aubree was thrilled to get a plaque and stand on the podium for her 3rd place finish. She immediately started talking about next year and how she wanted to improve her standing. In fact, she now considers cross country to be her "off-season training" for Orienteering. Who would have thought that her reluctant start would have turned into something she's passionate about?
A few weeks after the State Championships, but before the Covid-19 lockdown, we were able to squeeze in a team end-of-the-year party. We rented a nearby gym and spent a good chunk of the time playing kid vs. parent dodge ball. So. Much. Fun! In case you're wondering, the parents consistently beat the kids, even with all the teens.
We had a potluck dinner followed by an award's ceremony. The kids are blessed with outstanding coaches, who took the time to talk positively about every single kid. Bryce was noted as one of the kids who showed the most improvement over the course of the season. As a sixth grader, he still has two more years on the middle school team, so he has the potential to be a strong contributor/competitor.
Coach Brady also praised Aubree for her dramatic improvements, saying, "Apparently, she's one of those people her once she puts her mind to something makes sure it happens!" He also noted that her improvement wasn't just a fluke or due to luck. She put in a lot of hard work. She was at every practice and every race, trying hard to learn and improve.
Aubree and her friend Jenna put together a fabulous orienteering parody video of the Frozen 2 song "Lost in the Woods." If you're not familiar with orienteering, some of the references might not make sense, but it's still a lot of fun.
Click HERE to watch their video on YouTube.
The kids just had such a great year!
The Orienteering Jr. National Championships were SUPPOSED to be held this upcoming weekend (April 17-19) here in Washington. Obviously, those have since been cancelled, which is really, really sad. Normally the national championships are held on the east coast, so this was a big opportunity. We're all super disappointed to miss the national championships and to have to suspend all orienteering team activities. Here's to next year (and hopefully Washington will have another chance to host Jr. Nationals)!
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