Month: March 2023

The 43rd West Point NRE will host the US Team Trials for the 2023 World Orienteering Championships for the second consecutive year. This year’s WOC will be held in Switzerland, 11-16 July. Following last year’s inaugural Sprint WOC, this year is back to a forest-race WOC, with a Middle, Long, and Relay. Therefore, only the Middle and Long races at the USMAOC event will be used as Trials qualifiers.

The M21 and F21 winners for each race will earn a spot on the WOC Team, as well as the athletes with the best combined results. The Review Panel (Peggy Dickison, Jeff Saeger, and Glen Tryson) will name the remaining athletes, based on a scoring list and petitions. Athletes who wish to be considered for the WOC Team but are unable to compete at West Point must register for the event, selecting “Yes, Competing for selection to the US WOC Team” and “Not participating” under the Race Selection section.

See the Selection Criteria below for more information.

Peggy Dickison
ESC Chairman/Review Panel Chair

US WOC 2023 Team Selection Criteria

• The winner of each Middle race (M/F-21+) will receive automatic selection.
• The winner of each Long race (M/F-21+) will receive automatic selection.
• The athlete with the best combined results in each race (M/F-21+) will receive automatic selection.

Additional information and caveats:

• At least two athletes of each gender will receive automatic spots; if one athlete wins both races (and therefore also has the top combined result), the second automatic spot goes to the athlete finishing 2^nd in the Middle race (because we have more starts in the Middle and Relay).
• If either the winner of the Middle or Long is also first on the scoring list (a combination of the results of the two races, normalized to be of equal weight), only two automatic spots will be awarded, with the remaining members selected by the Review Panel.
• Athletes who wish to be considered for the 2023 WOC Team but are unable to compete at West Point must still register for the event, selecting “Yes, Competing for selection to the US WOC 2023 Team” and “Not participating” under the Race Selection section.
• Remaining members of the team will be named by the Review Panel, using petitions, the scoring list, and Trials results.
• Any athlete may submit a petition, within an hour of the final race finish, and must explain why they could not attend the Trials, had a subpar result, or were affected by an organizational issue not of their making.
• There must be at least three declared and eligible athletes competing in a race for there to be an automatic selection.
• The NT will send at least three athletes of each gender, but no more than 6. Most likely is 3-4 athletes of each gender. This year, the US has 8 or 9 race starts for the women (3 middle, 2 long, 3 relay, and potentially a 4^th middle [personal, ie cannot be transferred] start based on the top North American on the IOF ranking list as of 11 May), and 7 starts for the men (3 middle, 1 long, 3 relay, and potentially a 4^th middle).
  – As of 4 March, the top North Americans are an American woman and a Canadian man.
• If anyone with a personal start wants to compete in additional races at WOC, they must either attend the Trials or submit a petition.