Category: Events

Royal Romp Event Recap

March 11-12, 2023

Results

Media

Fire Mountain Middle NRE Event Recap

including the COC 2022-23 Winter League Championships

February 18, 2023

  • Host: Cascade Orienteering Club
  • Venue: Fire Mountain Scout Camp, Mount Vernon, WA
  • Event Director: Michelle Kastner
    • Course Designer: Mike Schuh
    • COC Course Consultant: Dave Tallent
    • OUSA Course Consultant: Glen Tryson
  • Event Website

Cascade Orienteering’s Winter League Series serves two audiences.  It is the home of the Washington Interscholastic Orienteering League (WIOL), the oldest school league in the USA, as well as a robust public series.

This year marked WIOL’s 41st season and it saw huge participation with 349 students from 57 different schools registered. Students from 1st grade through seniors in college competed in seven regular season meets for season individual and team trophies followed by one championship race for more team and individual honors and awards.

On the public side, folks on both short and long advanced competed for season and championship trophies, while the other three levels offered enjoyed being non-competitive. Just under 400 different individuals ran in at least one public Winter League meet this season and the series averaged 156 public runners at each meet. 

Twelve different course designers created 8 courses per regular season meet and nine courses for the Championships/NRE, under the guidance of series course consultant, Dave Tallent. This year, thanks to training coordinator John Brady, we offered online training pre-meets, and in-person trainings pre and post races at each meet. Thanks to Patrick Nuss and OUSA team member Will Enger we also offered About the Route, a Sunday night Zoom session where runners could compare routes and learn tips and tricks from the experts. 

Series Direrctor, Michelle Kastner oversaw all eight orienteering meets along with two pre-season in person trainings that saw over 100 participants each, the three hour season ending celebration and awards ceremony, and the season ending bonus relay race. Kastner, along with her core team of eight other individuals, who are all volunteers, made sure each event ran smoothly and professionally. The series was pre-registration only and offered National Meet syle starts and assigned start times for students courtesy of WIOL Registrar Kathy Forgrave. The public picked their own start time via a public app. Under the direction of Volunteer Coordinator, Ing Uhlin, eighty-five different individuals volunteered for at least one day-of-meet volunteer role, keeping each event running at optimum quality and fostering a large sense of community among Cascade’s membership. 

Dan Waugh, who started WIOL 41 years ago, remarked, it is “really inspiring to see all the enthusiastic young faces, the achievements, and the dedication of the many volunteers who make it all happen.”  Dan’s vision over four decades ago has paid back in so many ways.  Eleven of this year’s USA team members got their start in WIOL.  Two of COC’s school teams (Tahoma Varsity and University of Washington Intercollegiate) and two of their club teams (Middle School and JV) won Gold at this years OUSA Jr Nationals in Georgia. Beyond the individual and team achievements, Winter League/WIOL is a local event series that offers folks a way to get outdoors even when its cold and raining, a chance to be part of a diverse and fun community, and the opportunity for learning life long skills – wins for everyone involved.

Media & Links

2023 OUSA Ski Orienteering Nationals

  • Host: Empire Orienteering Club
  • Venues:
    • Sprint*: Cascade Welcome Center, Lake Placid, NY
    • Middle: Dewey Mountain Recreational Center, Saranac Lake, NY
    • Long: Visitor Information Center of Paul Smiths College, Paul Smiths, NY
  • Event Directors: Janet Findlay and David Hunter
    • Event/Course Advisor: Jim Arsenault
    • Mapper/Course Setter: David Hunter
    • Registrar: Janet Findlay
  • Event Website

*Note: Due to extremely cold temperatures, Friday’s Sprint event did not meet the minimum temperature requirements required for an Orienteering USA sanctioned event. The event was held, with competitors remaining eligible for ESWG awards, but the event was NOT the US Championship event as originally planned.

Results

Maps

Media

Desert Orienteering Festival Event Recap

January 14-15, 2023

Page is a work in progress – looking for media to include – email clinton.morse@nullorienteeringusa.org

  • Host: San Diego Orienteering
  • Venues:
    • The Goat (& The Lamb):
    • The Sprint:
    • The Classic (NRE):
    • The Maze:
  • Event Director: Mark Prior
    • Course Setter (Goat): Chris Day
    • Course Setter (Sprint): Mark Prior
    • Course Setter (Classic & Maze): Matej Sebo
  • Event Website

Results

Maps

  • Coming soon….

Links

Photos

  • Anza Borrego Gallery [50 photos, 3 videos] by John Phillips on FlickR
  • OK Folks – whatcha got? Please send me photos or links to social media

2023 OUSA Junior Nationals & Georgia Navigator Cup Event Recap

January 13-16, 2023

  • Host: Georgia Orienteering Club
  • Venues:
    • Friday Middle: Lake Delanor, F.D. Roosevelt SP, Pine Mountain GA
    • Sat/Sun Classic: Lake Franklin, F.D. Roosevelt State Park, Pine Mountain, GA
  • Event Director: Fred Zendt
    • Registrar: Rick Shane
    • Extreme O Director: Anne Mathews
  • Event Website

Media

Photo Galleries

Video

Results

Maps & RouteGadget

2023 World School Sport Games to be held in Brazil

Bulletin 1 for the ISF World School Sport Games to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from August 19-27, 2023 has been published. Up to 12 boys and 12 girls born in 2008-2010 who attend school in the US may participate in the orienteering events. The program includes both individual & team competition in the sprint and middle distance disciplines and educational content on topics such as fair play, healthy lifestyle, respect and inclusion.

There is no requirement for affiliation with Orienteering USA to participate; however, the YDP Steering Committee (ydp-steering-commitee@nullorienteeringusa.org) requests notification if athletes or adults from the US register to participate and can advise group organizers on lessons learned from planning for JWOC / WUOC travel in the past. 

2023 JWOC Team Selection Criteria Announced

The 2023 Junior World Orienteering Championships will take place from July 1-9, 2023 in Baia Mare, Romania. An official pre-JWOC training will be hosted the week prior to the championships, with the US Team intending to participate for at least a portion of it. Orienteering USA’s JWOC Selection Committee will choose up to six young male and six young female athletes to represent the USA at JWOC ’23.

As we return to more normal post-pandemic customs, this year will see a return to a full Team Trials selection event for the 2023 team. The 2023 JWOC Selection committee has coordinated with the organizers of the 2023 Orienteering USA Nationals / Flying Pig XXV to include the 2023 JWOC Team Trials. The event will take place the weekend of March 24-26, 2023 in Kentucky/Ohio and will consist of three races (M/F-20): Sprint, Middle & Long. The latter two are scheduled to be at Carter Caves in Kentucky and the sprint venue has not yet been announced but will be located nearby.

The full JWOC Team Selection Criteria document has now been uploaded to the Orienteering USA Library.

Note to Petitioners: Petitioners who can not attend the Team Trials will still be required to register for the Team Trials as Non-Compete and fill in the declaration page. Petitioning information will be collected through EventReg during registration – whether competing in the trials races, or entering as Non-Compete.

Interested athletes can view Bulletin 2.1 from the JWOC ’23 organizers for more information.

2022 Orienteering USA Nationals Event Recap

November 11-13, 2022

  • Host: Los Angeles Orienteering Club
  • Venues
    • Sprint: Pierce College, Woodland Hills, CA
    • Middle: Vasquez Rocks Natural Area, Aqua Dulce, CA
    • Long: Red Rock Canyon State Park, Cantil, CA
  • Event Director: Clare Durand
    • Registrar: Allan Pincus
    • Sprint Course Setter: Scott Schmitz
    • Middle Course Setter: Bruce Garbaccio
    • Long Course Setter: Kim Pincus
    • Course Consultant: Jim Hall
  • Event Website

Misc Links

Fri, Nov 11, 2022 – Sprint @ Pierce College

Sat, Nov 12, 2022 – Middle @ Vasquez Rocks

Sun, Nov 13, 2022 – Long @ Red Rocks Canyon

JWOC ’22 Part B Event Recap

November 4-6, 2022

The Forest races scheduled for JWOC ’22 back in July were cancelled when forest access throughout the entire country of Portugal was shut-down due to extreme fire danger. Event organizers pivoted and put together a great Sprint JWOC in its place and elected to defer the forest races until November.

Unfortunately, due to school and other commitments, many members of the originally selected squad from July were unable to return to Portugal a second time to complete the JWOC competition but TeamUSA was still able to send a 7-person contingent this time around.

Returning members from the July squad included Alexis Merka, Anna Campbell, Bridget Hall, Lily Addicott and Holden Sopoti as the lone representative for the men. Oriana Riley, originally an alternate selection for the July team was added to the squad. Rounding out the TeamUSA squad was Emilia Schmidt who was selected for the 2020 JWOC Team but was unable to compete due to cancellation of the event in 2020 by the pandemic.

Be sure to check out the post-JWOC blog post by TeamUSA member Lily Addicott to find out more about our team’s adventures in Portugal.

Tip: To view images at full size, right-click and “open image in new tab”. You may also copy image and view in an image editor of your choice. Higher resolution images are available for promotional use by clubs, contact webmaster@nullorienteeringusa.org for more information.

Fri Nov 4, 2022 – Middle @ Quinta das Lameiras

Click for larger map

Sat Nov 5, 2022 – Relay @ Quinta das Lameiras

Click for larger map

Sun Nov 6, 2022 – Long @ Carapito & Eirado

Click for larger map

Photo credits: Michael Schmidt, Angelica Riley, Lily Addicott, Kell Sønnichsen, Susana Luzir, Carlos Viana Rodrigues, Município Aguiar da Beira

Pawtuckaway NRE Event Recap

September 9-11, 2022

Pawtuckaway State Park, in southern New Hampshire played host to the 1992 Orienteering World Cup and since that date has been the site of over 25 years of annual Camping Weekend fun held every year in early September. This year the host club, Up North Orienteer’s opted to up the ante and used their one-day fee waiver to host a National Ranking Event (NRE).

The weather was great and two days of conventional orienteering along with Canoe-O and a number of Night-O variants combined with the group camping and potluck picnic supper made for a very memorable weekend. Thank you to Lex Bundschuh and her tireless team for another awesome year at Pawtuckaway!!