Month: April 2026

MNOC 50th Anniversary Weekend

April 25-26, 2026

Organizer: Minnesota Orienteering Club (MNOC)

Saturday: Recreational courses at Lake Elmo Park Reserve, including a Retro-O course that required copying your course onto a black-and-white map, and results hung on a clothesline!

Sunday: Classic NRE courses at Lake Maria State Park.

The Minnesota Orienteering Club celebrated its 50th anniversary in style, with a retro day, an NRE on a new map, cake, and lots of shared memories.

All photos by Bridget Hall.

Results, Maps, and Photos

Be sure to check out the collection of old photos and videos documenting the club’s history!

46th Annual West Point NRE Event Recap

April 18-19, 2026

Organizer: US Military Academy Orienteering Club (USMAOC)

Saturday venue: Camp Buckner / Round Pond

Sunday venue: Round Pond / Black Rock Forest

Each year the cadets from the USMA Orienteering Team host an NRE weekend, inviting civilians from all over to enjoy (or curse) the hilly, rocky, and navigationally challenging terrain in the Hudson Highlands. This year’s event didn’t disappoint, with beautiful weather on Saturday and cold, chilly rain on Sunday to provide an extra challenge.

Photos by Griffin DeFoor, Ann MacMullan, and Tori Campbell

Results and Maps

Junior Nationals and Flying Pig XXVIII Event Recap

April 10-12, 2026

This year’s edition of the Flying Pig orienteering weekend was also host to Junior Nationals, where young orienteers competed in Interscholastic, Intercollegiate, and JROTC competitions.

  • Venues: Hueston Woods State Park (OH) and Mounds State Recreation Area (IN)

Team Champions

Teams of three to five athletes from each school earned points based on their results in Saturday and Sunday’s competition. This year there are several familiar names at the top of the lists, with the University of Montana taking back the IC Varsity trophy from USMAOC. The Interscholastic competition was once again dominated by the orienteers from Tahoma, in Washington state.

Congratulations to the champions from each school in the Interscholastic and Intercollegiate competitions!

  • Intercollegiate Varsity: University of Montana
  • Intercollegiate Junior Varsity: USMAOC
  • School Varsity: Tahoma
  • School Junior Varsity: Tahoma
  • School Intermediate: Summit Trail
  • Club Mixed: Evergreen Orienteers

For complete team results, including JROTC competitions, see here.

Results, Maps, and Photos

Team results for the Interscholastic and Intercollegiate competitions.

  • Friday Middle at Hueston Woods
  • Saturday Classic at Mounds State Recreation Area
  • Sunday Classic at Mounds State Recreation Area

All photos in this post by Jeanette Dunlap. More photos by Jeanette.

Photos from Mike Minium

Photos from OCIN.

OUSA Welcomes New National Team Members

The US National Orientering Team welcomes new members following their selection to either the World University Orienteering Championships (WUOC) or Junior World Orienteering Championships (JWOC) Teams. We are pleased to welcome back returning member Annika Mihata (COC) and to introduce new member Grace Suhocki (DVOA), both joining the Performance Squad. We also extend a warm welcome to Nate Dunlap (OLOU), who has been added to the Junior Squad.

YMP April Map of the Month

The Youth Mapping Program April Map of the Month is The Orchard School in Indianapolis, IN.

This map has been used in classes to teach students about reading maps and following a pre-determined route, and for the school’s orienteering club. One teacher said the best outcome of having the map is having “real topographical representation of The Orchard School property and grounds.”

Are you interested in having a map made of your school, camp, or youth-serving organization? Learn more about the program and apply here.

Announcing the 2026 EYOC Team!

Orienteering USA is pleased to announce the team to represent the US at the 2026 European Youth Orienteering Championships (EYOC), to be held in Slovenia June 25-27, 2026. EYOC is the premier international competition for orienteers in the M/W16 and M/W18 age classes, and a tremendous opportunity for our young competitors to test themselves on a larger stage.

Selected this year:

M16
Alex Eriksson
Mark Fey
Nate Dunlap*

M18
Erik Fey
Misha Biryukov*
Nathan Hinds
Samuel Sunko

W16
Josalyn Dunlap
Allison Coates
Sophie Neumann

W18
Anna Green*
Sophie Howes*
Danny Buchholz*
Rose Freedman-Riles

Several of the athletes were also selected to the JWOC team. Due to the close timing of these two competitions, athletes selected for both teams were required to choose only one. Those athletes selected for EYOC who have opted to participate in JWOC instead are noted by an asterisk. Note that Alex Eriksson was selected for both and opted for participation in EYOC.

Congratulations to all the athletes and good luck in Slovenia! We’ll be cheering from home.