Category: Announcements

Announcements for OUSA

Virtual AGM – 2023

The 2023 Orienteering USA Annual General Meeting will take place online on Tuesday, September 19 from 8:00 to 10:00 pm (EDT) via Google Meet.

Your membership in Orienteering USA helps us to bring programs and services to orienteers and clubs throughout the country. Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

Clare Durand
President, Orienteering USA

Access the meeting

Online: September 19, 8:00-10:00 pm EDT
Note: Delegates should log in 20-30 minutes early for credentialing.
This will allow the meeting to start ontime.
URL: meet.google.com/onp-uutw-pmq   
Phone: (‪US‬)‪+1 240-544-6519‬  PIN: ‪941 751 767#‬

Agenda

Club Membership Lists

As outlined in the USOF Bylaws, the number of votes your club’s delegates may cast is based on the number of USOF members in good standing, designating your club as their primary club, as of August 31, 2023.

All clubs are afforded 1 delegate and 1 alternate. For clubs with more than 25 members, they can choose to have 1 additional delegate for every 25 members.

You can find a list of your club members in good standing at: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Wjk3cpDwckILc6vYaJgJ6Wdylo0yQOHK {link no longer valid – removed 18 January 2024}

Please notify the USOF Office of the names of your delegates and alternates. The delegate appointments should be emailed from a club officer to contact@nullorienteeringusa.org

Delegates and alternates representing your club must be OUSA members, designating your club as their primary club, as of August 31, 2023.

Your club may assign its votes by proxy to another club.  The proxy will only be valid if no OUSA-primary member of your club will be present at the AGM. Proxies may not be assigned to a particular member of another club. Email proxy assignments to: contact@nullorienteeringusa.org

Check your personal memberships

The upcoming AGM presents a good time for all OUSA members to be sure that their information is current in our database. We recommend that you login to our portal and check your profile to be sure that it is accurate. There are known issues in our system that we are still working on. Checking for accuracy is especially recommended if you have family memberships or if you use the auto-renew feature.

Note on Presidential Succession from Clare Durand

I’ve served on the Orienteering USA board for a long time. I am currently in the fifth year of my second stint as President, having previously served as President for four years from 2007-2011. My current three-year board term expires this year and I have agreed to run for another term with a commitment to continue serving as President for up to two more years. Then I plan to step down from the Presidency and use my last year on the board to overlap with the new President.

We have no clear succession plan. If you have an interest in serving or know someone who might please contact me or Jon Torrance, nominating committee chair. The future of Orienteering USA depends on volunteers willing to lead the organization, and the transition to a new President will be much smoother if that person joins the board sooner and understands our administrative systems before taking over. I hope that a suitable candidate comes forward this year or next to keep Orienteering USA moving forward.

JWOC ’23 Event Recap

July 2-9, 2023

July 2nd – Opening Ceremony (& pre-event)

July 3rd – Individual Sprint

https://youtu.be/v1x4Y9lyfBI
Livestream Replay – YouTube

July 4th – Sprint Relay

https://youtu.be/zh_ui50Svdc
Livestream Replay – YouTube

July 5th – Middle Distance

https://youtu.be/Us_6iqQF1cA
Livestream Replay – YouTube

July 7th – Long Distance

July 8th – Forest Relay

https://youtu.be/nL67Wger9XQ
Livestream Replay – YouTube

Trail-O Team heads for Czech Republic

With all of the pre-event hype for JWOC, it would be easy to overlook that another TeamUSA contingent is on it’s way to Europe to compete at the World Trail Orienteering Championships (WTOC) in the Czech Republic. The WTOC is running concurrently with JWOC, so we will venture to bring you all the news from both events and hopefully not get you too confused!

A portion of the team including Clare Durand (LAOC), Piotr Zielczynski (HVO), Daniel Heimgartner (QOC) and Sharon Crawford (RMOC) will run the PreWTOC TrailO Adventure, a two event WRE warmup this coming weekend with a PreO event on Friday and TempO on Saturday. Daniel will only be competing on Saturday, according to the start lists.

The team will then travel on to Kokořínsko, a beautiful natural region of rocks, small lakes and its unique sandstone towers, gates, windows and other formations. They will meet up with the remainder of TeamUSA for opening ceremonies on Sunday with competition running Monday through Thursday of next week. If the map snippets and photo look familiar, the same area hosted the World Orienteering Championships in 2021. Check our Event Recap page for a look back at WOC ’21.

It is our understanding that the full team composition for the World Champs events has changed somewhat from that initially announced back in May. We’ll bring you an updated list of who is competing in the coming days. The team will probably also update us on the current team via the US Trail-O Blog, which has been reactivated. In the meantime, please join us in wishing our TeamUSA athletes safe travels and speedy and accurate courses at both the WRE’s and the ensuing World Champs!

Photos: Map snippets & terrain photo from organizer website (photographer not mentioned). Selfie: Clare Durand.

2023 Wilson Character through Competition Awards Announced

Philadelphia, PA — The Wilson Awards, in partnership with Orienteering USA, proudly announce two winners of our 2023 Character through Competition Awards. Alex Merka of Mt. Airy, Maryland and Ben Brady of Maple Valley, Washington have been chosen to receive this $1,000 award, which honors the memory of our friend and family member, Iain Wilson. The awards seek to amplify the energy and commitment young orienteers bring to our sport and community.  While we are delighted when our awardees are successful in local and even international competition, in a broader sense we hope to encourage the kind of character that communicates to others the joy of competing as a shared endeavor.   

Alex has been orienteering since, as a toddler, she was old enough to hold a map. Taking advantage of Quantico Orienteering Club’s (QOC) junior training opportunities, she developed skills so that two decades later she was selected to represent the United States at the international level. In addition to being a fierce competitor she is also described as an enthusiastic volunteer who is always ready to help others.

Franklin Fish, President of QOC writes, “what impresses me the most about Alex is her willingness to help out our club whenever and wherever she is needed, usually without being asked.” This was on display when Alex taught orienteering to groups of middle schoolers last summer and when she created a campus map for a local school’s PE and after-school programs. This combination of ambition and selflessness is the kind of character that the committee is thrilled to support.

Like Alex, Ben started orienteering early in life and in the Northwest, where he embraced the exceptional training and competition programs available through Cascade Orienteering Club (COC) and Tahoma Orienteering in Maple Valley. He has used this platform to build his skills while mentoring up-and-coming young athletes.

Chris Cooper, Head Coach of Tahoma Orienteering Club writes, “He is one of a kind. He achieves success at the highest level but is willing to help those around him…. I have never had the opportunity to coach someone who is such a well—rounded and grounded human being.” Ben’s own words capture his enthusiasm for the sport, “The ability to race against my friends, run in unknown terrain and have fun throughout the process is something that only orienteering competition can bring.”

Ben and his teammates recently gave back by spending a week mapping Fisk State Park for future COC programs. Ben represents the second time that a parent-child pair has received Wilson Awards. His mother, Sherri Brady, spearheaded a 2017 Wilson Community Growth Grant in partnership with Tahoma Middle School’s PE program. Many of its participants have gone on to compete at the high school and national level.

The committee seeks individuals who have the willingness and ability to see beyond their own individual ambition and spread the spirit that brightens their lives and the lives of those around them.  We feel their enthusiasm for the outdoors, for running, for navigation, and for their fellow competitors sets an example for all of us.

Looking back on ten years of awards, Iain’s sister, Kate Wilson writes, “I am delighted at the inclusiveness of the award.  When I first went orienteering in the 1980s there were very few women.  To my surprise I saw that we have made awards to eleven women and six men.  This says great things about orienteering as a sport for everyone – looks as if I‘d better get my boys out in the woods so they can catch up.”

Applications for the 2024 Wilson Awards will be accepted later this fall. Additional information can be found at  https://orienteeringusa.org/about/recognition/#wilson.

Official Press Release (PDF Version of this post)

Photo credits: Evalin Brautigam (1 & 3), Clinton Morse for Orienteering USA (2 & 4)

SLO Go! Sprint Festival Event Recap

May 27-29, 2023

  • Host: Terraloco & BAOC
  • Venue(s):
    • Saturday AM Stage 1 – Heilmann Regional Park, Atascadero – Trial
    • Saturday PM Stage 2 – Morro Bay – Urban
    • Sunday AM Stage 3 – Cal Poly San Luis Obispo – Campus NRE
    • Sunday PM Stage 4 – Cal Poly San Luis Obispo –  Chase
    • Sunday PM Stage 5 – Terrace Hill, San Luis Obispo – Ascent
    • Monday AM Stage 6 – Waller Park, Santa Maria – Motala
  • Event Director: Rex Winterbottom
  • Event Website

Results & Media

Boulder Dash Event Recap

May 6-7, 2023

Results & Media

Marmot O-Cup NRE cancelled

Permits for use of Fisk State Park in 2023 have been denied due to archaeological & tribal reviews being incomplete at this time. The two NRE events originally scheduled for June 24-25, 2023 have been canceled.

The Marmot O-Cup will proceed with the Fisk SP events being replaced by non-NRE events (likely middle & long) at Fishtrap Lake.

Cascade Orienteering Club is tentatively planning for two NRE events at Fisk State Park in June of 2024. Stay tuned.

2023 WTOC Team Announced

The Trail-O selection committee is pleased to announce the team that will represent TeamUSA at the World Trail Orienteering Championships taking place from July 1-7, 2023 in Zakupy, Czech Republic.

Ten athletes have been selected to represent TeamUSA in the Open and Paralympic classes. In addition, two athletes will join the team to compete in the public race.

Congratulations & good luck to our TeamUSA Trail-O Team!!

  • Open Class
    • Mika Latva-Kokko NEOC
    • Clare Durand LAOC
    • Piotr Zielczynski HVO
    • Sharon Crawford RMOC
  • Open Class (junior)
    • Jarmo Latva-Kokko NEOC
    • Katja Latva-Kokko NEOC
  • Paralympic Class
  • Public Race
    • Kevin Bittenbender CRNA
    • Rhonda Liddell CRNA

2023 Iain Wilson Community Growth Grant Winners Announced

The Wilson Awards, in partnership with Orienteering USA, are proud to announce the
winners of the 2023 Iain Wilson Community Growth Grant. The $1,000 grant has been awarded to two
deserving programs that will use the funds to initiate and expand their orienteering programs.

The first recipient of the grant is the Los Angeles Orienteering Club’s (LAOC) newly formed Youth Development Team. In its first year, the team will utilize this grant and matching funds to assist team members with preparing for and attending training camp and participating in events beyond the local Los Angeles region.

Team members will be supported by parents and LAOC members providing additional training opportunities and transportation to events. LAOC seeks to develop youth ambassadors for the sport who will spread enthusiasm to a larger group of potential young orienteers. The program will be headed by John Phillips, with a supporting committee of board members to assist with training.

The second recipient is the Southold Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corp (NJROTC) in Long Island. This unit includes cadets from Southold, Mattituck and Greenport High Schools in Eastern Long Island and is led by Captain Timothy McAllister, a retired Captain in the United States Navy.

The grant will be used to initiate an orienteering team for the unit and provide 198 cadets access to orienteering skills and classroom instruction. 100 cadets will participate in “hands-on” orienteering competitions and an additional 25 cadets will be able to attend NJROTC regional competitions.

Additionally, funding will be used to initiate a permanent orienteering course at a local park and host the NJROTC Area 4 Championships next fall. McAllister’s goal is for the team to increase interest in orienteering, leadership, teamwork, and STEM-related careers.

Read more in the Official Press Release

2023 TeamUSA WOC Team Announced

The TeamUSA WOC Selection Committee (Jeff Saeger, Glen Tryson, Peggy Dickison) is pleased to announce the 2023 US WOC Team for the 2023 World Orienteering Championships to be held in Flims Laax, Switzerland in mid July. Here’s the lineup:

April 29 Update: Bridget Hall, originally selected for the WOC ’23 team, secured a summer internship and has withdrawn from the team. Evalin Brautigam, originally selected as 1st Alternate, has been moved into Bridget’s spot on the team roster.

MENWOMEN
Thomas CurigerAli Crocker
Danny RileyEvalin Brautigam*
Joe BarrettSyd Fisher
Anton SalmenkylaIzzy Bryant
1st Alternate: Greg Ahlswede1st Alternate: Alison Campbell
2nd Alternate: AJ RileyDeclined: Bridget Hall*

The competition was tough, the results were often very tight, and we saw some impressive results. This year saw the most competitive Team Trials in many years, which meant that it was harder than ever to make it on to the Team.

Congratulations to all of you who were selected to represent TeamUSA on the world stage!

Peggy Dickison, on behalf of the WOC Selection Committee

Thomas
Danny
Joe
Anton
Greg
1st alternate
Anthony (AJ)
2nd alternate
Ali
Evalin
Syd
Izzy
Alison
1st alternate*
Bridget
declined*