May OUSA Member Spotlight: Kris Beecroft

This is a transcript of an interview with Kris in May, 2025. It has been edited for clarity and length.

Cristina Luis: Kris, thank you for talking to me and answering my questions. Right off the bat, I know that you have a fun orienteering origin story. 

Kris Beecroft: I do.

Now’s your chance to tell the whole world that story. 

My mom was Norwegian and she wanted one of her children to know what it was like to live in Norway, and they chose me. I don’t know why.

So I went over in June of ‘75 and …

How old were you then?

Was I 12? [mental math] No, I guess I was 13. 

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May Forum: Creating an Online Community for Your Club

The May Forum will be all about how your club can create and foster an online community! Hear from QOC members Sharmagh Yepremian and Kathleen Lennon as they talk about how they use social media in their club, and give tips for how to do it in your own.

Join us on Google Meet on Thursday, May 22nd at 8:30pm ET.

Add to your Google Calendar.

Support Team USA this summer!

This summer Orienteering USA is providing support to 30 National Team and Youth Development Program athletes participating in events in Europe. Some, like Ali Crocker (CROC), are veterans competing for the last time at the World Orienteering Championships. Others, like youngsters Kendal O’Callaghan (RMOC) and Alex Eriksson (ICO), are part of OUSA’s first officially supported team to the European Youth Orienteering Championships. All of our athletes are training hard now and preparing for their summer competitions and training camps, and we’ll keep you updated on all the action.

Here’s a schedule of events featuring Team USA orienteers this summer:

In addition to cheering these athletes on from home, you can also lend a hand financially. Help these athletes reach their summer fundraising goal of $6,000 ($200 per athlete)!

Make a donation by using via OUSA’s donation page (select “4 National Team”) and then share the image above on social media to get others to pitch in!

The Buffalo Sprint Doubleheader Event Recap

April 26, 2025

Two Sprint NREs in one day in the western NY city of Buffalo.

Host: Buffalo Orienteering Club (BFLO)

Venues:

  • Buffalo State University campus
  • Delaware Park

Event Director: David Cady

Course setters:

  • Linda Kohn (ROC)
  • Jackie Novkov (BFLO)

All photos by Evalin Brautigam.

Results, Maps, and Photos

Photo album from Evalin Brautigam

April OUSA Member Spotlight: Keegan Harkavy

The OUSA April Spotlight is on National Team member (Elite Squa) Keegan Harkavy, from Cambridge, Massachusetts. This is a transcript of an interview with Keegan in April, 2025. It has been edited for clarity and length.

Cristina Luis: Welcome Keegan! I would like to hear how you got your start orienteering.

Keegan Harkavy: I had always known what orienteering was because I grew up next to Barb [Bryant] and growing up next to Barb, it’s kind of a foregone conclusion that you’ll know what orienteering is. I think somewhere in the recesses of my mind, I remember Barb always trying to get me and my two sisters to do it.

But it really started in sixth grade when she came into my school to teach us orienteering. And I can’t really remember what we did. I think we did some maze-Os, maybe some grids, but I remember really enjoying it. I was quite good at it and as a hyper-competitive sixth grader that was something that was exciting. I remember just having a good time and, Barb being Barb, she got really excited about this and pushed to get a team from Cambridge Street Upper School to go to Junior Nationals. 

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YMP April Map of the Month

The Youth Mapping Program April Map of the Month is Lexington Montessori School in Lexington, MA. This map was created in 2021 and is still being used extensively!

This course was first used for an 11-week orienteering course for middle school students, and has since been used for a shorter Intro to Orienteering course for younger students, to teach general map skills, to map noteworthy trees for an outdoor education project, and even to map sugar maples for tapping!

“We love being able to use the woods and fields in a more deliberate way. It adds visual-spatial learning to the outdoor experience and gives us a new purpose for outdoor activities.”

Interested in having a map made of your school? Learn more about the program and apply here.

45th Annual West Point NRE Event Recap

April 12-13, 2025

  • Saturday Venue: Stilwell Lake
  • Sunday Venue: Victor Constant Ski Area
  • Event website

Unfortunately, the planned Saturday afternoon relay event was cancelled due to the winter weather, which had caused a 2-hour delay to the morning event.

Results, Photos, and Maps

The photos above are all by Evalin Brautigam and the West Point Public Affairs Office

Flying Pig Event Recap

April 4-6, 2025

Hosts: Orienteering Cincinnatti (OCIN) and Indiana Crossroads Orienteering (ICO)

Event website

Venues:

  • Friday Middle Distance – Camp Ransburg
  • Saturday Long Distance – Story West (Cancelled due to extreme flooding event)
  • Sunday Urban Middle – Indianapolis

This event features some wild weather, cancelling Sunday’s long race, and a fairly unique urban middle distance race on Sunday.

Photos above by Evalin Brautigam and OCIN.

Results, Splits, and Photos

OCIN’s results page

OUSA photos by Evalin Brautigam

OCIN photo album