June 10, 2012 - The Saga Continues

New Trail-O results have been posted at the recommendation of the OUSA Grievance Committee.
To any OUSA Club that is considering hosting a national Trail-O Event, Ask Me About Trail-O.

Regards,
Laurie Searle - 770-463-5169

I apologize for the delay in posting the final trail-o results.

During the meet, a complaint was filed, which resulted in control #2 being thrown out.

A protest was filed on control #8, and the next day two of the three jury members agreed it should be thrown out (the third jury member was not available).

The validity of the jury was questioned because one of its members helped set the course. This was interpreted that he was the course vetter, which OUSA rules do not allow. (However, we did receive confirmation prior to the event that this individual was eligible to vote).

On the final day of the event, our trail-o official met with an IOF Trail-O advisor, who was at the meet in an unofficial capacity, and two of the jurors to discuss the validity of the jury (the third jury member was not available). The IOF advisor ruled that no valid decision could be made because there was not a proper jury and that a grievance would be filed stating that the organizers did not have a proper jury. An alternate juror was not selected, nor was the protest discussed.

I waited to update the provisional results on the website pending the ruling from the Grievance Committee. Although the Grievance Committee didn't mention the nature of the grievance, I had assumed it was in reference to the validity of our jury and so I asked them to make a ruling about our jury. The Grievance ruled that since we did not throw out control #8, there was no grievance.  The committee would not rule on the validity of our jury.

Unsure what to do about the protest for number 8, I contacted the OUSA Chairperson for Trail-O  Sanctioning & Development. The chairperson advised us to publish the results with all controls counted for (e.g. to leave in controls 2 and 8), which I have done.

In order to prevent miss-interpretation of the trail-o rules in the future, I have submitted a request to the OUSA Board of Directors to address the problems with trail-o rules and implement:

1. Documented rules published in one place so all competitors and event organizers know what to expect.
2. Documented jury processes and instructions that include specific conditions for voiding a class or control set, such as those specified in OUSA Rule A.17.5.
3. Rules Committee to oversee the management of the rules, waivers, and protests.

Sincerely,
Laurie Searle, Meet Director
2012 U.S. Individual Orienteering Championship and
U.S. National Trail Orienteering Championship
Posted 05/02/12