My cell phone doesn't work in Spencer in NW Iowa since I'm on the Nextel network. As a result, in case of an emergency try Nate Fredericks at 515-210-2159. Another emergency number would be Tim Sheaff of Dowling 515-729-2194. Please remember reaching us in this tournament can be difficult since all of us are judging and there are no break rounds for judges. We literally do every round of the tournament. Billy's cell number is 515-720-9014. Please do not call his number unless things are critical. We don't want a student's phone rining in round (of course, it should be off anyway). Text messages are usually less intrusive.
There is some chance of weather issues in NW Iowa although the wx forecast seems better this morning overall. IF WE CAN'T GET BACK WE WILL CALL YOU ONCE DECISIONS ARE MADE AND ROOMS SECURED. We will also choose a route back that is less likely to have wx issues and has potential hotels along the way. Right now we are expecting an arrival back in Des Moines between 10-12 on Saturday night. I actually hope it will be earlier.
Dowling is running a van in addition to the bus so we can return the bus as early as possible and the van will bring those stuck late in finals afterwards. It is impossible to predict who those students might be or what events those might be. But at least this way most of the students will get back at a reasonable hour.
This is the one tournament where we never know what will happen and how things will run until later Saturday afternoon. I have seen Nat Quals tournaments go until 11pm and some end around 7pm. Last year's lasted until 10:30. If that happens, arrival in Des Moines could be 1:30am although we will do what we can to avoid that.
This tournament CANNOT be shortened for any reason and must be run exactly per the rules manual.
Coach Harry
