Schedule Note
Part of the basis for selection to
the WOC Team will be the M/F21 USOF rankings based upon A-meets
in the 12 months before the Team Trials.
With annual WOC's, you should probably assume that all of your A-meet
results, and the rankings therefrom, are likely to be included in
some way in determining whether you may represent the US at WOC.
Questions/Corrections
If you have any questions or have suggested corrections to this
document, please send a note to the ESC at usotesc@yahoogroups.com
The Team Trials
The makeup of the US Team to the World Orienteering Championships
(the WOC Team) is based primarily on the results of a team selection
competition (the Team Trials) held during the period 2 to 4 months
before the WOC. This competition can be held as part of an A-meet,
or it can be a separate event, subject to the regulations of
a normal A-meet, except that only the M21 and F21 categories
are required.. Designation of a meet as the Team Trials will
be made jointly by the Team ESC and the Sanctioning Committee.
The meet must be, at a minimum, open to all persons eligible
to represent the USA at the WOC. The Team Trials will have either
two or three races.
Team Trials Map Makers
No competitor shall be considered ineligible for the Team Trials
due to having made the map(s) on which the competition is held.
The ESC and Sanctioning Committee should take into account the
people who made the map(s) when deciding where to hold the Team
Trials.
Team Trials Scoring
The Team ESC will decide on the scoring method, which must be
announced in the meet invitation. The scoring method will be
based on the results (times, points, and/or place numbers) of
the Team Trials, and must generate an ordered list of competitors,
hereafter called the scoring list. If no scoring method is announced,
then the scoring will be the same as at the previous Team Trials.
Pre-Trials Rankings
Are defined as the USOF Rankings (for M21 and F21) from the period starting from 12 months before the first day of the Trials, through 3* days before first day of the Trials. Further, if available from the rankings coordinator, a Night O' events will be excluded from the USOF A-events used in these rankings.
If the rankings coordinator cannot provide these rankings, the most recently available 12 month USOF rankings will be used.
[*3-days is a proposed minimum to allow some time for Trials organizer processing. Note this would only apply in rare cases where a A-event occurs less than a week before the Trials, such as if the Trials is held in the middle of a multi-day A event. To be discussed further by Team/ESC. Does not apply in 2008.]Scaled Pre-Trials Rankings
These will be scaled
(multiplied by a constant) so that the score of top 3 highest ranked
Team Trials attendees will average 100.
Team Candidacy Declaration
On the entry form for the Team Trials, each competitor will declare:
So if there's any possibility you might want to go to WOC if you do especially well, you probably want to select (B) or (A)
Note that neither (A) or (B) is binding, but it is useful in helping us to more rapidly figure out who's likely to accept or decline their slot on the WOC team at the end of the Team Trials. For example, if you choose (A), we'll assume you'll accept your spot. If you choose (B), we'll ask you after the Trials. Your choice of (A) vs. (B) does not affect your start times, or the scoring list.
For 2008, we are planning two separate start windows, same as 2007:
Number of Selections
The WOC Team (for women, and similarly for men) will consist
of 4 to 7 competitors as determined by the ESC.
Fifth team member
The WOC Team will be expanded to add a 5th man, and/or a 5th woman, if:
Review Panel
A Review Panel consisting of a minimum of three persons and a
maximum of five persons will named by the ESC and approved by
the USOF VP for Competition. The members of the Review Panel
will be listed in the meet registration information. The majority
of the members of the Review Panel will have no direct affiliation
with the US Standing Team (ESC members, Team members or coaching
staff). The Review Panel members need not be in attendance at
the Team Trials if suitable arrangements (e.g. telephone, internet)
can be arranged for discussion.
Exceptions to the Scoring List
The Review Panel will be allowed, under certain circumstances,
to make a maximum of two exceptions to the scoring list (two
men and two women). In such cases, these people will be inserted
into the scoring list in positions designated by the Review Panel,
and the rest of the names will be shifted down. A person already
on the scoring list may be inserted (moved) into a higher place
on the list, but may NOT be moved to a lower place on the list.
One of the insertions may be (but need not be) in the top four.
The second insertion (if made) must be below the top four.
Limitations on who can be granted an Exception
In order for a candidate to be eligible for one of these "discretionary
berths", certain criteria must be met:
AND
have finished in the top five in M21/F21 at the most recent US (Classic Distance) Orienteering Championship, or
Possible Prearranged Scoring List Exception for the Course
Setter
A candidate who is in the top three in the USOF Rankings, and
who finished in the top three at the most recent US Champs (at
the time of the sanctioning of the Team Trials), may make an
arrangement to be named to the WOC Team if he/she is course setter
for the Team Trials. A maximum of one person (one man or one
woman) may be named to the WOC Team in this manner. The position
of this candidate in the scoring list (probably, but not necessarily,
in the top four) will be by mutual agreement of the candidate
and the ESC, and will be announced in the meet invitation. In
such a case, this would be considered one of the discretionary
berths, and the Review Panel would be allowed to make no more
than one additional exception of that gender.
WOC & Exception Eligibility Determination
The Team ESC has the responsibility of determining who is eligible
for the US Team, based on citizenship requirements, and who is
eligible to submit petitions, based on US Team eligibility, rankings,
and championship results. Any questions about who is or is not
eligible to submit a petition will be answered by the ESC. The
ESC will forward all eligible petitions to the Review Panel.
Grievance Process
The evaluation of petitions and the circumstances described therein
will be the sole decision of the Review Panel. In cases where
malfeasance or corruption on the part of the Review Panel is
alleged, a grievance may be filed with the USOF Grievance Committee,
which may call for a new Review Panel to be convened.
In 2008, the Start will be in random draw order on each of the three days of races, with a different random draw for each day. This is different from the past several years where seeded starts were used.
The team trials group, and non-team-trials group of M21/F21 competitors will be started in separate times of day.
Note that the start intervals for 2008 are planned to be same as 2007: 1 minute for the sprint, 3 minutes for the middle, and 3 minutes for the long.
Since 2005 we've had written guidelines about the winning times for Team Trails events.
Executive Steering Committee
Page by Wyatt Riley - finally made the 2008 version of this page on 5/4/2008