Category: US Team

2021 Junior Team Announced

Orienteering USA’s Junior Team Executive Steering Committee (JTESC) is pleased to announce the athletes in the National Junior Program for 2021. Due to the lack of competition in 2020, no changes to team placement into the Junior National Team (JNT) were made at this time. Applications to the Junior Development Team (JDT) are accepted year round. JDT athletes who applied to be considered for the JNT may be moved up as they reach JNT performance targets.

2021 Junior National Team
Diana Aleksieva, QOC
Jessica Colleran, COC
Christiane Fletcher, GAOC
Bridget Hall, NEOC
Keegan Harkavy, NEOC
Kirsten Mayland, DVOA
Alex (Alexis) Merka, QOC
AJ (Anthony) Riley, DVOA
David Runde, MNOC, KristiansandOK
Emilia  Schmidt, QOC, Tampereen Pyrintö
Adrian Vartia, OK Löftan Sweden


Junior Development Team
Max Ahmed, QOC
Jack Barkley, COC
Ben Brady, COC
Ian Dunlap, OLOU
Mori  Finlayson-Johnecheck, NEOC/CSU
Luke Menzie, COC
Jasper Ralinovsky, OCIN
Oriana Riley, DVOA
Zoe Sibthorp, COC
Ava Suhocki, DVOA
Aubree Winters, COC

2021 JWOC Team Selection Criteria

The JWOC Selection Committee will choose up to six young male and six young female athletes to represent the USA at the 2021 Junior World Orienteering Championships (JWOC) in Turkey. In order to be considered a candidate for 2021 JWOC Team Selection, a junior (born in 2001 or later) must meet the IOF eligibility requirements and also declare his/her intent to seek selection by petition.

Because of the uncertainty pertaining to the international organization of and ability to travel to JWOC created by the Covid-19 pandemic, the inability to safely schedule fair JWOC Team Trials as well as the lack of orienteering competitions in 2020, the 2021 JWOC Team Selection will proceed by petition for all athletes who wish to be considered for the team.

The petition shall be evaluated by the Selection Committee using the Team Selection Reviewing Rubrics. The completed petition should include as much of the requested information as possible, and be sent to ousajuniorprogram@nullorienteeringusa.org by May 5, 2021. The Selection Committee will announce the team on or before May 10, 2021.

The 2021 JWOC Selection Criteria document and rubrics may be accessed on the Orienteering USA website.

2021 Senior Team Announced

The Orienteering USA Executive Steering Committee (ESC) is pleased to announce the Senior Team for 2021. Due to the lack of competition in 2020, no changes to team placement were made in the Elite & Performance squads. The Development squad welcomes three new members: Bridget Hall (NEOC), A.J. Riley (DVOA) and Danny Riley (CAOC).

2021 US Senior Team

Elite
Greg Ahlswede
Ali Crocker
Morten Jorgenson
Anton Salmenkyla

Performance
Giacomo Barbone
Tori Borish
Alison Campbell
Will Enger
Syd Fisher


Development
Joe Barrett
Evalin Brautigam
Tyra Christopherson
Julia Doubson
Bridget Hall*
Michael Laraia
Thomas Laraia
A.J. Riley*
Danny Riley*
* denotes new members

Previous years teams can be found in the OUSA Library.

2021 US Senior Team applications available

Applications are now being accepted for the US National Foot-O Team for the 2021 season. Please note that valid Safesport certification is required to be named to the team. Orienteering USA covers the cost of Safesport training as a member benefit.

Download the 2021 Senior National Team Application
Download the 2021 Athlete Agreement

Completed applications, including the Athlete Agreement, are due by January 2nd, 2021 and should be sent to Peggy Dickison at pdickison at comcast dot net.

JWOC and WMTBOC Cancelled

The International Orienteering Federation Council, at its digital meeting held this past Friday July 31st, decided that the Junior World Orienteering Championships (JWOC) 2020 scheduled to be held in Turkey in October and the World Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships (WMTBOC) 2020 scheduled to be held in Portugal in October will be cancelled due to the continuing effects of the Covid-19 virus pandemic.

Press Release: https://orienteering.sport/2020-junior-and-mtb-world-championships-cancelled-european-youth-orienteering-championships-to-include-juniors/

Senior Team Announces New Coach

The US Senior Team has recently named elite Estonian orienteer Lauri Sild as their new head coach.  Lauri comes to this role with a strong background in coaching and exercise science as well as an impressive record of performances on the world stage both at JWOC & WOC.  He runs for Koovee and was a member (3rd leg) of the winning team at the 2018 Jukola Relay in Lahti-Hollola. 

Stay tuned for more updates from the Senior Team in the months ahead!

Announcing the 2020 U.S. National Team

The Selection Committee* has named the following athletes to the U.S. Senior National Team:

Elite: Greg Ahlswede, Alison Crocker, Morten Jørgensen, Anton Salmenkylä

Performance: Giacomo Barbone, Eric Bone, Tori Borish, Alison Campbell, Will Enger, Sydney Fisher, Åsne Skram Trømborg

Development: Joseph Barrett, Brigitte Bordelon, Evalin Brautigam, Julia Doubson, Martin Heir, Michael Laraia, Thomas Laraia, Tyra Christopherson

Senior Team selection is based on the following criteria:

  • Senior Elite Team: athletes who consistently produce top-level US results in F21 or M21
  • Senior Performance Team: athletes who frequently produce strong US results in F21 or M21, at or near the level of the Elite Team
  • Senior Development Team: athletes who have demonstrated potential to reach Performance and/or Elite level with further training and experience.

Congratulations to all the athletes!

*The Selection Committee consists of Peggy Dickison, Cristina Luis, Glen Tryson, and Eric Weyman.

Announcing 2020 U.S. WUOC Team

Congratulations to the following who were selected to represent the U.S. in Smolensk, Russia at WUOC2020, July 14-18:

  • Diana Aleksieva (QOC) – University of Virginia
  • Isabel Bryant (CSU/NEOC) – Wellesley College
  • Tyra Christopherson (COC) – Montana State University
  • Julia Doubson (BAOC) – Amherst College
  • Martin Heir (Fossum IF/Norway) – Norwegian University of Science and Technology
  • Michael Laraia (MNOC) – University of Minnesota
  • Thomas Laraia (MNOC) – University of Edinburgh
  • Anthony Riley (DVOA) – Stanford University
  • Danny Riley (alternate) – Cornell University
  • Peter Zakrevski (HVO) – Rutgers University

Thank you Peter, Erin, and Greg! –from the National Junior Program

On behalf of former, current, and future members of Orienteering USA’s National Junior Program and their families, we extend a huge thank you to Peter Gagarin, Erin Schirm, and Greg Ahlswede for their vision, support, expertise, and hard work in establishing and expanding the NJP and taking junior orienteering in the U.S. to the next level.

As we embark on the next stage, we appreciate the strong foundation provided by Erin, Greg, and Peter on which we will continue to build the NJP.

Junior Team Executive Steering Committee

It starts at home!

JTESC Announces National Junior Program Athletes

The Junior Team Executive Steering Committee (JTESC) is excited to announce the USA Junior National Team and the Junior Development Team athletes for 2020.  

This year will see changes in the National Junior Program as we move to expand the National Junior Program (NJP) support structure for both the athletes and the Junior National Coach (JNC) (to be named), by adding local and regional coaches and mentors who will assist and be guided by the JNC.   Here are the athletes:

2020 Junior National Team

  • Diana Aleksieva,QOC
  • Jessica Colleran, COC
  • Julia Doubson, BAOC
  • Christiane Fletcher, GAOC
  • Bridget Hall, NEOC
  • Keegan Harkavy, NEOC
  • Thomas Laraia, MNOC
  • Kirsten Mayland, DVOA
  • Alexis Merka, QOC
  • Kai Mihata, COC
  • Aidan Minto, ICO
  • Anthony Riley, DVOA
  • David Runde, MNOC / Kristiansand OK (NOR)
  • Emilia Schmidt, QOC / Tampereen Pyrintö (FIN)
  • Adrian Vartia, DVOA / OK Löftan (SWE)  

2020 Junior Development Team (as of 2/1/20)

  • Benjamin Brady, COC
  • Anna Campbell, NEOC
  • Victor Frolenko, DVOA
  • Priscilla Kelley, OCIN
  • Zachary Kuder, QOC
  • Sam Loustaunau
  • Annika Mihata, COC
  • Ethan Powers, OCIN
  • Oriana Riley, DVOA

Please note that we are still accepting applications for the  National Junior Program Junior Development Team (JDT), and will be doing so throughout the year.  

We encourage all juniors, ages 13-20, who run confidently at the Orange level (or above), and want to connect with other young people who love orienteering and take their orienteering to the next level, to join the 2020 JDT.

Guy Olsen JTESC Chair