WOC Goals

So, this is a bit backwards, but some people have asked about our goals at WOC. We have a few levels of goal setting here. There's the strategic plan made a few years back, which has goals for 2015. Back when they were made, we were not aware that the WOC format was going to change, so here were the 2015 goals:

• The Senior Team men should be in the top 20 in the WOC relay and the women in the top 15.
• The Senior Team women should have four individual event finalists (again, one person could reach the final in multiple events) and two in the top 30 finishers.
• The Senior Team men should have two individual event finalists and one in the top 35.
• The top two men and women will all be ranked better than 200 in the world. The man and woman will be in the top 100 in the world.

We're further away from some than others, and you have to rethink a bit now that the men only have one start in the middle and the long, and the women only have two. 

For the women's team, the result goals were translated for this year as follows:

Lowest tier: 

- Stay in Division 2

Mid tier: 

- 2 finalists in Sprint

- top 18 relay 

- top 25 sprint relay

- two top 45 results in the forest races (similar to having two finalists, which would be 50% of the starts qualifying)

Reach:

- 3 finalists in sprint

- two top 30 + one top 20, all individual events

- top 15 relay

- top 20 sprint relay

How did the women do? We reached our main, basic goal of staying in division 2. Whoo! 

We:

• had one finalist in the sprint who finished 32nd
• finished 17th in the relay
• DSQed in the sprint relay (but were about 24th)
• had a 26th and 52nd place finish in the long
• had a 41st and 59th place finish in the middle

I think this makes it through three-quarters of our mid-tier goals, missing a finalist in the sprint, and not finishing the sprint relay (although, shoulda, coulda, woulda close).

Reach goals are a reach for a reason.

Of course, results are just the final end of the experience. They depend on a lot of factors, including other people. I think the personal goals are interesting, so I'll share some of those here too:

Eric:

From a process standpoint, I would like to concentrate hard early on in the long distance to get into a good routine and level of focus. I'm not going to worry about pace early on, and will rather focus on being clean--good precision when it counts--and smooth. I would like to beat most of group 3, and with all the new countries this year, that seems like it should be possible with a good run.

Ross:

Less than 2 minutes behind the leader in the qualification is what I am aiming toward. (He was 1.13 behind the leader of his heat and 30 seconds from qualifying.)

Giacomo:

Never lose, during the race, the dream of qualifying for the A final. 

A More tangible goal: 

Try to beat most 3rd tier nation athletes and maybe even a couple of 2nd tier nation athletes. 

Sam:

My own goal is to qualify for sprint final, and then just run as hard as I can and see where it gets me. Top 30 would be amazing, but if I run a clean race then I'll be happy with wherever I end up. (She was 32nd in the sprint.)

Alex:

Outcomes: I am aiming for a top 60 in the long final, as that will earn us points towards forest start spots.  I am hoping to run well enough in the spectator race on Sunday that I am named to the forest relay. (She was 52nd in the long and she ran second leg of the relay.)
Process: I will have solid attackpoints for every control, and will change gears as necessary through the race to keep my navigation and speed in sync.  I will make <20s/km of mistakes, and I will keep my head in the game no matter what happens out there.

Ali:

Top 20 in the Sprint

Top 35 in the Middle

Top 30 in the Long

(She was 26th in the long, and 41st in the middle.)

Wyatt:

My goals for the Middle are to a) have a <3-5 min. nav. error race in what's looking like potentially near France difficulty terrain, b) finish in the top half of tier 3 nations, c) earn at least one point toward tier 2, d) beat Canada.