Category: US Team

US Ski-Orienteering Team opens the 2022 World Championships / European Youth Championships with Solid Performances

The 2022 World Ski-Orienteering Championships and European Youth Ski-Orienteering Championships are taking place in the North of Finland in Kemi this week. In the men’s class Chris Burnham coming off of an impressive 2nd place finish in the American Brikebeiner classic ski marathon had a solid race. The race was won by Ville Petteri Saarela from Finland in 11:47 one second ahead of Tuomas Kotro of Finland and three seconds ahead of Rasmus Wickbom of Sweden. Chris Burnham of Stowe, VT was the top American finisher in 51 st place in 17:50.

When asked about his race Chris commented, “It was a solid race for me. I am happy there were quite a few wide skating trails. The terrain was not as steep as I had expected compared to looking at the old map of the area, but there were never-the-less some real hills.” Chris also indicated that he was looking forward to the longer races to come later in the week as he normally does better in longer races. When asked by the TV production crew about an interesting fact about himself yesterday Chris explained that when he is not skiing his job is computer programing of underwater robots which sounds very interesting.

Tim Lundberg of Sweden won the Boys European Youth Ski-Orienteering Championships 9:23. Erik Fey from the USA was 24th in 12:22. When asked about his race Erik commented, “Since I am 13 years old and race in the 17 and under category, my coach and I decided that my main goals for this year would be to gain experience and not make any mistakes in the race larger than 15 seconds. I am happy that I managed to do that.” Erik also commented, “We came into the finish area on a huge downhill today, and it was a little distracting with people cheering, but we had discussed this would be the case. Thus, I told myself concentrate. I was right behind someone there. It was a bit confusing because the skier in front of me kept going straight into the stadium, but a much better route choice was to turn left just at the bottom of the hill before one came into the stadium. Luckily, I was reading my map and went the correct way. It really is exciting to be here and meet and race against people from all over the world. It was helpful that my father and coach [Carl Fey] has raced many times in World Championships, so he was able to explain to me what to expect.”

Tomorrow, March 16th is a pursuit race for World Championships (one starts the amount of time that
a skier was behind today’s winner). The youth class will have a normal medium distance race tomorrow.

Press Release & photos courtesy Carl Fey

US Ski Orienteering Team Heads to Finland for World Championships

Chris Burnham, Cambridge Sports Union (CSU), and Nikolay Nachev, Cascade Orienteering Club (COC), will race in Kemi, Finland March 15-19, 2022 in the World Ski Orienteering Championships. The pair will be joined by Erik Fey, of Espoon Suunta, who will race in the European Youth Ski Orienteering Championships held concurrently with WSOC.

Kemi is in northern Finland, a long way for Chris and Nikolay, but not as far for Erik who lives with his family in Espoo, a suburb of Helsinki.

The WSOC races for Chris and Nikolay will be the Sprint March 15, Pursuit March 16 and Middle Friday March 18. Erik’s EYSOC races will be the Sprint on Tuesday March 15 and the Middle Wednesday March 16.

Chris lives in Stowe, VT and competed at the WSOC in Pitea, Sweden in 2019. He has extensive Nordic experience, placing an outstanding second place in last month’s Birkebeiner Classic 55 km marathon in Hayward, WI out of 1,600 competitors.

Nikolay, from Redmond, WA, also is a top athlete, on the winning team at the North American Rogaining Championships last year in Lake Tahoe, CA. He has previously raced in World Cup ski orienteering races and at SWOC in Tanndalen Sweden in 2011.


Erik, currently living in Finland and being 13 years old, is unknown to most US orienteers, but has raced extensively in Finland, one of the world’s most competitive ski orienteering countries.

To prepare for the races during winter school holidays this year Erik went to Sweden to take part in the open youth races at Swedish Ski-Orienteering Championships and finished 1st and 2nd in the boys 14 class.  Erik commented, “It was a good experience to race in Sweden two weeks ago and see that I could do well against people there as well as in Finland.  This gave me increased confidence for the upcoming European Youth Ski-Orienteering Championships.” 

Erik was 4th in a close race in H15 in Finnish Medium Distance Ski-Orienteering Championships this year.  He did not race in the Finnish Long Distance Championships as one must be turning 15 in the calendar year to do so.  When asked about his goals for the upcoming European Youth Ski-Orienteering Championships Erik continued, “Since I am only 13 and my category at European Youth Ski-Orienteering Championships is 17 and under my main goal for this year is to gain experience in international racing and not make any mistakes larger than 15 seconds.” 

Erik represents Espoon Suunta in ski-orienteering and orienteering and Espoon Hiihtoseura in cross-country skiing. Both clubs are among the top in Finland. Erik is coached by Carl Fey (his father and former US Ski-O Team member) and Tero Jantunen. When asked why he likes ski-orienteering Erik responded, “I love the technical difficulty and feeling of flying down hills on winding narrow trails. The steeper and bigger the better. Normal cross-country skiers don’t know what they are missing!”

Press release courtesy Ken Walker Sr.

Announcing the 2022 US National Team

The Selection Committee for the US National Orienteering Team is excited to announce the new merged team for 2022! We got a taste of what is to come at the WRE/NRE races in Georgia a few weeks ago. Along with upcoming domestic NREs this year, we also have The World Games, Sprint WOC, JWOC, WUOC, and World Cup competitions to look forward to.

I’d like to thank my fellow Selection Committee members, Eric Weyman and Boris Granovskiy, for their knowledge and interest in the process of determining the 2022 Team.

Peggy Dickison
US National Team Selection Committee Chair

Elite Squad

  • Ali Crocker (CROC)
  • Anthony Riley (DVOA)
  • Anton Salmenkyla (FIN)
  • Eric Bone (COC)
  • Greg Ahlswede (DVOA)
  • Joseph Barrett (QOC)
  • Ricardo Schaniel (SWI)
  • Thomas Laraia (MNOC/SCOT)
  • Tori Borish (RMOC)

Performance Squad

  • Alison Campbell (DVOA/SCOT)
  • Danny Riley (CAOC)
  • Diana Aleksieva (QOC)
  • Evalin Brautigam (WCOC/AUSTRALIA)
  • Jessica Colleran (COC)
  • Julia Doubson (BAOC)
  • Michael Laraia (MNOC/GER)
  • Peter Zakrevski (BGR)
  • Sydney Fisher (QOC)

Junior Squad

  • Aidan Minto (ICO)
  • Alex Merka (QOC)
  • Annika Mihata (COC)
  • Ava Suhocki (DVOA)
  • Ben Brady (COC)
  • Bridget Hall (NEOC)
  • Emilia Schmidt (QOC/FIN)
  • Keegan Harkavy (NEOC)
  • Kirsten Mayland (DVOA)
  • Lily Addicott (GAOC)
  • Victor Frolenko (DVOA)
  • Zariah Zosel (COC)

Alison Campbell joins US National Team ESC

At a team meeting held during last weekend’s events at the Georgia O-Fest, members of the 2021 US National Team voted to elect Alison Campbell to a seat on the US National Team Executive Steering Committee (ESC).

Alison has been a member of the US Team for over 10 years competing as part of the Development, Performance and Elite squads during her tenure on the team. Originally from the Philadelphia area (DVOA) she currently lives and competes in Glasgow, Scotland.

Alison is stepping into the ESC spot vacated by Giacomo Barbone who is stepping down having completed his term. OUSA would like to express our sincere thanks to Giacomo for his service to TeamUSA during his term on the ESC. Alison and Giacomo are pictured here at the World Cup Sprint Relay in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy last October.

Peggy Dickison (QOC) was re-elected to the ESC for another term and will continue in her role as acting Committee Chair. Peggy is pictured here handling the starts for the 2021 Team Trials held last May.

Rounding out the ESC for 2022 are:

  • Linda Kohn – Administrator
  • Greg Ahlswede
  • Eric Bone
  • Virginia DeBons
  • Jeff Saeger
  • Samantha Saeger

Stay tuned for an important announcement about the 2022 US National Team early next week. With the recent merger of the Senior & Junior Teams into a single entity we are excited about the future prospects for TeamUSA.

US Team Merger Announced

Orienteering USA is excited to announce the merger of the US National Team, aka TeamUSA, with the US Junior National Team to create a single, unified US National Team beginning in 2022. This merger will provide a more streamlined pathway for competitive junior athletes interested in advancing to the elite level.

Starting in 2022, the National Team will consist of three tiers: the Elite Squad, the Performance Squad, and the Junior Squad. The Elite Squad will consist of those athletes who consistently perform at a high level and are deemed most likely to be selected for WOC, WC or TWG teams. Performance Squad athletes also perform at a high level but may not yet be consistent picks for international team selection. The Junior Squad will encompass all Team members age 20 and under but are fully eligible to take part in all team activities and to compete for spots on the international event teams. Team selection for races such as JWOC and WUOC will of course be subject to the age restrictions of the individual competitions.

Applications for the 2022 US National Team were announced in December and athletes interested in applying for this year’s team should have submitted their applications. The entry period for 2022 is now closed. Stay tuned for an upcoming announcement about the revised Junior Development Program which will include exciting new options for youth orienteers beyond the competitive track.

The World Games ’22 – Request for Athlete Intentions

Team USA will be sending a 4-person team (2 men + 2 women) to compete at The World Games this July in Birmingham AL. The event program will include Sprint, Middle and Sprint Relay disciplines pitting some of the best orienteers in the world against each other on American soil.

Athletes that would like to be considered for The World Games team should email their intentions to the Committee by March 1st.

  • Applicants for the team must compete in at least one of the following qualifying events:
    • Jan 14 – Georgia Navigator Cup Sprint WRE
    • Jan 15 – Georgia Navigator Cup Middle WRE
    • Jan 16 – Georgia Navigator Cup Long WRE
    • Feb 19 – COC Winter League Championship Middle NRE (M-21+/F-21+)
    • Feb 19 – TSN Southwest Spring Week Classic @ Catalina SP (Long course)
    • Mar 19 – DVOA Big Woods Classic NRE Day 1 (M-21+/F-21+)
    • Mar 20 – DVOA Big Woods Classic NRE Day 2 (M-21+/F-21+)
    • *Europe-based athletes may attend a national-level event in Europe
      • specify event with your intention

To recap: If you want to be considered for the US World Games Team, send Peggy (pdickison@nullcomcast.net) an intention email by March 1st, stating what qualifier race(s) you plan to run. Run at least one NRE day or European national-level event. Send us the results!

National Team Applications for 2022 now being accepted.

Starting in 2022, the National Team will consist of three tiers: the Elite Squad, the Performance Squad, and the Junior Squad. The Elite and Performance squads will reflect what the Selection Committee feels is the potential of an athlete making a WOC or WG team and the Junior Squad will be for all athletes born after 2001. Juniors are eligible to compete for and be a member of the WOC, World Cup, and/or World Game teams and to participate fully in all Team activities. Four of the nine members of our 2021 WOC Team were also Junior National Team members. If you normally run M/F 20 or M/F 21 then you are encouraged to apply to the National Team.

If you intend to apply to be a National Team member, please fill out the 2022 National Team Application Form as well as the 2022 Athlete Agreement Form and submit no later than January 8th, 2022.

WUOC ’22 Team Applications now open

The 2022 World University Orienteering Championships will be held August 16-21 in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland with the event center at Magglingen, the Swiss Federal Institute for Sport..

Selection of the 2022 WUOC Team will be by petition and applications are now being accepted. Please review the 2022 WUOC Team Selection Criteria document in the OUSA Library.

Important: Athletes interested in applying for the team should note that participation in at least two races from the following list* of events is required: 

The team selection petitions will be reviewed & decided by the WUOC Selection Committee. Anyone who wishes to apply to be part of the 2022 WUOC Team needs to fill out and submit the WUOC 2022 Petition no later than March 17, 2022.

Any questions should be directed to Linda Kohn: wornerkohn at gmail.

JWOC ’22 Team Applications now open

The 2022 Junior World Orienteering Championships will be held July 10 – 16, 2022 in Aguiar da Beira, in the center of Portugal.

Selection of the 2022 JWOC Team will be by petition and applications are now being accepted. Please review the 2022 JWOC Team Selection Criteria document in the OUSA Library.

Important: Athletes interested in applying for the team should note that participation in at least two races from the following list* of events is required: 

The team selection petitions will be reviewed & decided by the JWOC Selection Committee. Anyone who wishes to apply to be part of the 2022 JWOC Team needs to fill out and submit the JWOC 2022 Petition no later than March 17, 2022.

Any questions should be directed to Andrea: andrea.schneider@nullorienteeringusa.org.

2022 World University Orienteering Championships

The 2022 World University Orienteering Championships are scheduled for August 15-22 in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland. It is not too early to start thinking about competition in 2022. The main criteria for eligibility are as follows:

  • Athletes must be a citizen of the country they represent;
  • Athletes must be at least 18 and less than 25 years of age on January 1st in the year of the event; for 2022, athletes must be born between 01/01/1997 and 12/31/2004.
  • Athletes must be students who are currently officially registered as proceeding towards a degree or diploma at a university or similar institute whose status is recognized by the appropriate national academic authority of their country;
  • Athletes may be former students of the institutions mentioned above, who have obtained their academic degree or diploma in the year preceding the event.

If you are interested in going you should contact Linda Kohn as soon as you have checked your calendar! The team selection will take place by petition. Performance at past events and rankings will be considered.

Please let Linda know of your interest by emailing wornerkohn at gmail dot com.

Link to Bulletin 1 & 2