2019 Competitive Award Winners!

The annual OUSA Competitive Awards are given to top American orienteers in several categories for outstanding competitive performance over the course of the past year. The Awards Committee members are Susan Grandjean, Boris Granovskiy, Linda Kohn, Jeff Saeger, and Ken Walker Sr.

This is the tenth year for these awards, and the fifth year that Orienteering USA members had the opportunity to vote for the candidates. The committee thanks all those who submitted nominations and who took the time to vote for your top OUSA athletes. We had a near-record number of votes cast this year! The vote totals were used as the main component in final award selection.

The Orienteer, Junior, and Comet of the Year award winners each receive a $500 travel grant to help them continue to improve their skills. Additionally, the Honorable Mentions in the three individual categories will receive $100 travel grants.

The Awards Committee would like to thank two anonymous donors for their generous contributions to the travel grants.

Previous Competitive Award winners

Here are the 2019 winners and recipients of honorable mentions (HM). Congratulations to all the winners!

Orienteer of the Year

Awarded to the best U.S. orienteer in 2019, based on results at national and international events

Anton Salmenkylä (CSU / Helsingin Suunnistajat, Finland)

Anton Salmenkylä, CSU

Anton had an outstanding WOC for Team USA. His 37th place in the middle distance final is the best-ever U.S. men’s middle result at WOC. He also ran an excellent second leg for the men’s relay team that finished 20th — the men’s best relay result at WOC since 1991.

Honorable Mention

Sharon Crawford (RMOC)

Sharon Crawford, RMOC

The ageless Sharon continued her string of top international and national results across a multitude of orienteering disciplines. Among her 2019 highlights were double gold medals in F75+ at the World Masters Championships in Ski Orienteering and a gold medal in the Women’s Ultra Veteran category at the World Rogaining Championships with her Australian teammate. In Foot-O, Sharon won all F75+ races in the U.S. Masters Championships, the U.S. SML Nationals and the annual West Point Meet. She is ranked in the top 5% of all brown course runners.

Junior Orienteer of the Year

Awarded to the best U.S. orienteer in 2019 under the age of 21, based on results at national and international events.

Julia Doubson (BAOC)

Julia Doubson, BAOC

Julia was the top U.S. female in the Sprint (62nd) and Middle (52nd in the A final) distances at JWOC and took a step up to F21 towards the end of the season, earning a gold and two silver medals at the U.S. Nationals. She is ranked third in F21.

Honorable Mentions

AJ Riley (DVOA)

Anthony Riley, DVOA

AJ peaked towards the end of the season, with a string of top results in the fall. The highlight was his weekend of forest races at the U.S. Nationals in California, where he became the U.S. champion in the long distance in M21 and won a silver medal in the middle distance. This helped him to rise to fifth in the U.S. rankings in M21 as an 18-year-old.

Thomas Laraia (MNOC)

Thomas Laraia, MNOC

Thomas won the long and sprint distance races at the JWOC selection races and followed that up with a strong JWOC. In Denmark, he qualified for the Middle distance A-final and finished 52nd in the final, following up on a strong 57th place in the Sprint final.

Comet of the Year

Awarded to the U.S. orienteer who has made the most progress in their orienteering results during the 2019 season.

Joseph Barrett (QOC)

Joe Barrett, QOC

Joe Barrett returned to competitive orienteering after a multi-year hiatus for college in Oklahoma and immediately made an impact on the national scene, with a bronze medal at the M21 U.S. Long Distance Championships as the highlight, in addition to multiple podium finishes at National Ranking Events. He is currently ranked eighth in the U.S. in M21 after being unranked in 2018.

Honorable Mention

Bridget Hall (NEOC)

Bridget Hall, NEOC

Bridget convincingly made her first JWOC team in 2019, after finishing second and third in the JWOC selection races. She qualified for the middle distance B-final at JWOC, was the top F-20 competitor at several National Ranking Events, and finished the year ranked second in F-20 with a ranking of 81.1, a climb from sixth place and 74.7 in 2018.

Team of the Year

Awarded for the best team competitive performance during the 2019 season.

U.S. Men’s Relay Team at WOC

Left to right: Greg Ahlswede, Anton Salmenkylä, Morten Jørgensen

The team, consisting of Morten Jørgensen, Anton Salmenkylä, and Greg Ahlswede, finished 20th of 36 nations, which was the best U.S. men’s relay result at WOC since 1991, when considerably fewer nations participated.

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!

Roundtable 8pm EST Jan 18, 2020, on Strategic Plan

Help the OUSA Board develop a Strategic Plan for OUSA.

The Board will host a roundtable at the Georgia Navigator Cup to present results from the Strategic Planning Survey and solicit responses from the membership.

Where: Covington Hampton Inn – event hotel meeting room

When: 8:00 pm, Saturday, January 18, 2020

After Saturday’s event, at 8:00 pm Tori Campbell will present the results of a survey we conducted last fall. What! You didn’t get the survey? Well this is your chance to participate because a discussion will follow the presentation. We want your input.

Teleconference info for those unable to attend in person:

Join Hangouts Meet

meet.google.com/owg-ynxb-ajg

Meeting ID

meet.google.com/owg-ynxb-ajg

Phone Numbers

(‪US‬)‪+1 414-622-0109‬

PIN: ‪179 460 696#

New Technology Capabilities for Member Clubs

Orienteering USA is pleased to announce new technology capabilities available for its member clubs.  Due to licensing stipulations, these capabilities are only available for certified nonprofit (501(c)3) clubs.  All of these capabilities are provided for free.  Orienteering USA will assist with setup of the capability.

Capabilities

Subdomain of orienteeringusa.org

This option can save you from purchasing your own domain or add a second address to your existing domain.  Add another URL or switch URLs for your club’s webpage.  A subdomain is the portion prior to the ‘.orienteeringusa.org’ portion of the URL.  Some clubs currently use the ‘.us.orienteering.org’ URL for this same.  Shifting to .orienteeringusa.org would keep a better continuity of websites.  (e.g. eventreg.orienteeringusa.org, but ‘eventreg’ would be your club’s acronym)

Google team drive for document storage

A Google team drive is a shared space that allows teams (organizations) to store documents and easily search for them.  It also allows all members to access the drive.  This drive belongs to the entire team instead of an individual as in the personal drive.

Benefits

  • 1TB data storage
  • Club’s self management of access
  • OrienteeringUSA support upon lockout/loss of access
  • Anyone can access any document with appropriate permissions
  • Individual files sharable with anyone
  • File version control is integrated

Limits

  • Only individuals with a google account can modify documents
  • Entire Folders are unable to be shared

Google group for group mailing list management (e.g. contact list / group inbox)

A Google group is a group of email addresses that can be used for a specific purpose.  A google group can be configured to act as a group inbox (e.g. where a question is sent to an email address and is then distributed to multiple people instead of one) or as a contact list (e.g. an announcement is sent by a club representative to all those in the club wishing to receive those announcements.

Benefits

  • Club’s self-management of access
  • @orienteeringusa.org group address (not @googlegroups.com)
  • Restrict email addresses that can send out/receive to the contact list
  • OrienteeringUSA support upon lockout/loss of access
  • Individual subscribe/unsubscribe available

Limits

  • Only individuals with a google account can modify the entire distribution list

Procedure for requesting support

Send an email to Tech-committee@nullorienteeringusa.org containing:

For a subdomain:

  • Subdomain name preferred
  • IP Address of the server
  • Contact information of the person in the club responsible for any questions/issues in the future

For the Team drive:

  • Name of Drive
  • Email for the group manager

For the Google Group:

  • Group name (name@nullorienteeringusa.org)
  • Group type (e.g. contact list, group inbox)
  • Email for the group manager 

Apply for a Wilson Award by February 15

Established to honor the memory of Iain Wilson, up to three $1000 awards will be presented this spring, in the form of travel grants to junior athletes and/or as a grant towards community growth via orienteering. More information and a link to the application forms can be found on our Recognition page.

OUSA Junior National Coach Job Search – CLOSED

NOTE: This position is now closed. The following information is for archival reference purposes only.

Orienteering USA (OUSA) seeks a Junior National Coach for its National Junior Program (NJP). The program is led and administered by the Junior Team Executive Steering Committee (JTESC).

General job description

The overarching objectives of the Junior National Coach role are to provide quality coaching and programs for young athletes, and to develop stronger young athletes, committed to orienteering and to forming a strong community of supportive team members.The Junior National Coach will work directly with the athletes in the NJP, as well as with the JTESC pool of coaches and mentors, in order to reach these objectives.

Responsibilities

Assist with review of athlete applications:

  • Work with JTESC in reviewing the NJP Information and application prior to publication for the next program year. *
  • Review submitted applications from athletes regarding performance targets and make recommendations to JTESC about athlete placement. *

Athlete Follow-up:

  • Review athletes’ training plans for the coming season *
  • Assist athletes new to the program in creating and following their training plan
  • Provide feedback
  • Work with all NJP athletes to identify a local coach either from their home club or from the national pool of coaches and mentors.
  • Monitor JNT athletes’ training logs on Attackpoint (AP) and help them find an “AP-mentor,” if necessary
  • Coordinate and distribute exercises from the Training Subscription Service to the athletes and their local coaches
  • Oversee course reviews and/or camps at National Ranking Events and major other camps, either personally or by working with others
  • Attend monthly team conference calls, helping to create better team cohesion and responding to members’ questions

JWOC

  • Lead the JWOC Selection Committee, the petition process, and the JWOC team announcement
  • Set up training calls for the JWOC team and alternates
  • Either travel to JWOC (including the on-location pre-JWOC training) as lead coach or coordinate alternate coaches or mentors to ensure best possible support to the athletes as individuals and as a team
  • work with JTESC to ensure all organizational requirements are met. Remuneration for the pre-JWOC training and JWOC attendance as coach is in addition to the basic compensation

NAOC

  • Either travel to NAOC as the Junior National Coach, or work with alternate coaches or mentors in order to provide the best support to the athletes as individuals and as a team
  • Work on identifying the best team composition
  • Work with JTESC to ensure all organizational requirements are met. Remuneration for NAOC attendance as coach is in addition to the basic compensation.

OUSA/JTESC

Participate as a contributing member of JTESC to the continued growth and improvement of OUSA’s National Junior Program.

* These three tasks have already been completed by outgoing coaches for the start of 2020.

Requirements

  • Have a SafeSport-Trained certificate
  • Coaching experience (experience with athletes between the ages of 13-20 preferred)
  • The successful applicant is expected to use their own computer, cell phone, internet connection, driver’s license, etc., to fulfill the duties of this role.

Desired skills/qualifications

  • Demonstrated high level technical knowledge of orienteering principles
  • Strong orienteering/map reading skills
  • Capable of using mapping and/or course-design software to produce training exercises
  • Experienced with athletic competitions abroad
  • Good communication and interpersonal skills
  • Capable of designing training plans to support physical, technical, and psychological development
  • Capable of tailoring athlete goals and plans to meet individual strengths and needs
  • Demonstrated ability to build a sense of team unity and good sportsmanship
  • Patience and understanding

Remuneration

$5,000.00 February through September 2020.

Expect approximately 40 hours per month, but keep in mind that the workload varies.

Applying for this position

Please send a letter expressing your interest and your background in orienteering and a short résumé of your experience in elite orienteering and coaching to the OUSA Junior Program.

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