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Championship Eligibility

5.6       The title of U.S. Champion in any class as determined at an officially designated U.S.
            Championship Orienteering "A" meet shall be limited to USOF members in good
            standing who meet one of the following criteria:
             a)      Are U.S. citizens and citizens of no other country
             b)      Are in a permanent residence status commonly referred to as "green card
               carriers".
             c)      Hold dual (U.S.) citizenship and reside primarily in the United States.
             d)      Hold dual (U.S.) citizenship, reside primarily outside the United States, and have
               not yet and agree not to compete for a championship title in another country
               during the current calendar year.
           5.6.1        Are full-time students in the U.S. holding a current student visa.  Requests for
                 clarifications or rulings based on this criteria may be submitted to the USOF
                 Headquarters in writing 30 days prior to the championships.
           5.6.2        Requests for eligibility rulings given special circumstances may be
                 submitted to the USOF Office 30 days in advance of the event registration
                 deadline and will be ruled upon by vote of the USOF Executive Committee prior
                 to the entry deadline.
 

50.       National Rankings

           50.1     The chairperson of the ranking committee will submit to the publication
                 committee the annual rankings of all orienteers who meet all of the following
                 conditions:
                 a)      Are USOF members as of 15 November.
                 b)      Earn daily ranking points on at least four days on the same color course in
                    any class except  M/F-White and Gr on color course.
           50.2     Daily Ranking points from competition are earned by:
                 a)      Competing in one day of an individual USOF sanctioned class “A” meet
                    with individual staggered starts (including elite meets), on a course proper
                    for your age that is not invalidated by the Jury or Meet Officials, and
                    completing the course or receiving a disqualifying designation as in section
                    50.2.1 below.
                 b)      Completing a course above the course that is proper for your age at a meet
                    satisfying the criteria in 50.2a above.
                 50.2.1     Persons who are disqualified (except as in section 50.3c & 50.3d), do
                         not finish the course, or who are overtime are assigned a time equal to
                         the competition time limit (usually 180 minutes), plus 20 minutes.
            50.2.2                Daily Ranking points earned by competition are calculated as follows:
                         For each course on a given day, determine the top three U.S.
                         Championship eligible finishers' times and average them to the nearest
                         hundredth of a minute, calling the result T.
                         a)      For Blue, Red, Green and elite courses, use the USOF annual
                           rankings from the previous year to determine the top three U.S.
                           Championship eligible ranked finishers on the course. Average
                           their annual ranking points to the nearest tenth of a point, calling
                           the result CF, the Competition Factor. (Note that in case of injury
                           or other unusual circumstance affecting any of the three top
                           ranked competitors, the Ranking Committee chairperson may
                           substitute the next highest ranked finishers.) Multiply T by CF,
                           and call the result SC, the Scoring Constant. Divide each finisher's
                           time into SC and round to the nearest tenth of a point to obtain the
                           person's daily ranking points for the day.
                         b)      For Orange, Yellow and White courses, use a constant
                           Competition Factor (CF) of 90. Multiply T by CF, and call the
                           result SC, the Scoring Constant. Divide each finisher's time into
                           SC and round to the nearest tenth of a point to obtain the person's
                           ranking daily ranking points for the day.
           50.3     Daily ranking points can also be earned by:
                 a)      Administration of a day of a USOF sanctioned class "A" meet in such a
                    capacity that, at the discretion of the meet director, the person cannot
                    physically or fairly enter the event.
                 b)      Completion of a meet as in 50.2a above, on a course above that for your
                    age. (Note that this is the same as 50.2b. If points earned under 50.2b would
                    improve the person's ranking, they will be used, else just credit will be
                    used.)
                 c)      Losing time or being disqualified, because of assisting in an  emergency
                    situation, as determined by the meet director.
                 d)      Being assigned a "Sporting Withdrawal", as in section 17.8.
                 50.3.1     Daily ranking points earned by satisfying a condition in 50.3 are
                         calculated at the end of the year by averaging all the daily ranking
                         points earned during that year.
           50.4      Daily Ranking credits are only used to qualify for annual ranking by those
                 otherwise unable to meet the required number of days. Daily ranking credits are
                 obtained from:
                 a)      Completing a course at a Canadian national level "A" meet in a class equal
                    to or higher than the USOF class in which the person will be ranked. The
                    competitor must notify the ranking chairman of the meet date and location in
                    writing no later than 15 November, or 15 days after final results are posted,
                    whichever is later.
                 b)      Starting a course that is voided by meet officials.
                 c)      Completing a course at a USOF sanctioned class "A" meet that does not
                    meet the requirements of 50.2a, such as a Long Course or Relay.
           50.5     Calculation of annual ranking points are as follows:
                 a)      For each qualifying person, take their best 6 daily ranking point days (or 4,
                    depending on where they live), and average them to the nearest tenth of a
                    point. Competitors who need credits (Section 50.4) to meet their minimum
                    requirements will have the points from all their point qualifying competitions
                    (Sections 50.2 & 50.3) on courses of one color averaged for their ranking in
                    their class on that color course.
                 b)      Next, determine the top three annually ranked individuals on the course for
                    the year, average their annual ranking points, and divide the result into 100,
                    calling the result the Normalization Factor (NF). Multiply the annual ranking
                    points of everyone ranked on the course by NF to determine their final
                    annual ranking points, to the nearest tenth of a point.
                 c)      Finally, separate the persons on the course into their classes and list them in
                    order. (Since annual ranking points for one year are dependent on annual
                    ranking points from the prior year, the Normalization Factor is necessary to
                    make the annual rankings from different years comparable.)
           50.6     Persons who qualify for ranking on a course will be ranked in the class on the
                 course that is nearest their own age, regardless of the class(es) they actually ran
                 in.
           50.7     A person may receive annual rankings on two different courses, provided that on
                 one of the courses, they obtain daily ranking points (no credits) for the full
                 number of days needed for annual ranking (6 or 4, depending on where they
                 live), else they will only receive annual ranking on the course and class nearest
                 their own USOF “A” class. If they meet these more stringent requirements on
                 one course, the second course need only meet the normal requirements. (Note
                 that credits earned on a higher course can be used to meet annual ranking
                 requirements on a lower course, but not vice versa.)
           50.8     Persons failing to meet the minimum annual ranking requirements for any class
                 may be listed at the bottom of the class, with their points and number of
                 qualifying days, at the discretion of the Ranking Committee.

51        Ranking Awards

      51.1  At the end of the orienteering year the top three U.S. Championship eligible finishers in
      the rankings in each "A" class will be presented the gold award patch by USOF.
      51.2  All U.S. Championship eligible orienteers in each “A” class not receiving gold
      awards and acquiring points within 20% of the average of the gold award winners in their
      class shall receive silver awards.
      51.3  All U.S. Championship eligible orienteers in each “A” class not receiving gold or
      silver awards and within 30% of the average of the gold award winners in their class shall
      receive bronze awards.