2025 EYOC Team Selected

The European Youth Orienteering Championships (EYOC) Selection Committee of Brenda Blacklock, Evalin Brautigam, Boris Granovskiy, and Dylan Poe are pleased to announce the 2025 EYOC team representing the US in Czechia this summer:

F-18

  • Paige Suhocki
  • Adalia Schafrath-Craig
  • Kendal O’Callaghan

F-16

  • Ally Coates

M-18

  • Erik Fey
  • Ben Cooper

M-16

  • Mark Fey
  • Misha Biryukov
  • Alex Eriksson

EYOC is an annual competition for orienteers aged 15-18, with competitions for the -18 and -16 age classes. This is the first time that the US will field an officially supported team to EYOC, supported by coaches Caroline Sandbo and Carl Fey. Congrats to all who were selected!

April Forum: Starting a New Club

The April forum topic is about starting and building a new orienteering club. The forum will feature Radu Greavu, Boris Granovskiy, and Bruce Moore, who will talk about their experiences launching a new club. It will take place on Wednesday, April 16th online at 8:30pm ET.

Join us on Google Meet on Wednesday, April 16th at 8:30pm ET.

Add to you Google Calendar.

March OUSA Member Spotlight: Ali Crocker

Ali Crocker running at 2022 Masters Nationals.

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

Cristina Luis: Ali, I would like to hear about your athletic background, from the beginning, and how that melds into orienteering. 

Alison Crocker: From the very beginning? Okay.

As early as you want to go. It doesn’t have to be the very beginning.

Okay. I think at my earliest ages I was dragged along to running races with my parents. Totally loved doing all the kids’ races. So I was active from the beginning, and then probably the first serious sport I did was cross-country skiing, up through young juniors. I went to a ski academy for one year–where Alex Jospe currently coaches. I just went there for the winter trying to take skiing really seriously. But then I went to a boarding school where there was more snow than at my house so I could ski but still do academics. And it was there that I discovered two new sports. First, I discovered rowing, which I took seriously for quite a while during all of high school.

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US Youth Ski-Orienteering Team Wraps up an exciting week at EYSOC!

US Youth Ski-Orienteering Team: Coach Carl Fey, Euell Browne, Erik Fey, Liam Browne, and Mark
Fey.

The US Youth Ski Orienteering Team delivered record-breaking performances at the 2025 European Youth Ski Orienteering Championships, which serves as the de facto World Youth SkiO Championships.

Erik Fey led the team with historic results, placing 5th in the long, 6th in the sprint, 6th in the middle, and anchoring the US to 6th in the relay—marking the best-ever individual finish by a male non-European in a major international skiO event. [Ali Crocker has the best ever American result, with a 4th place in a 2011 World Cup race.] He narrowly missed 4th in the long by just four seconds, pushing to the limit in the final stretch. “I really wanted a top-three finish, but I’m proud of my performance and our growing US SkiO youth team,” Erik reflected.

Erik Fey on his way to 5th place in the European Youth Ski-Orienteering Championships long distance race.

Liam Browne (22nd), Euell Browne (24th), and Mark Fey (25th) also delivered strong results in the long distance race, with Euell edging Mark by five seconds.. The Browne brothers, competing in their first international skiO event, impressed many, showcasing the rising strength of Grizzly Orienteering Club in Montana and the US SkiO program.

Map for the long distance race.

Liam called the experience “amazing,” crediting Erik and Finnish champion Niklas Hirvilahti for inspiring his improvement. When reflecting back on the week of races Euell Brown said, “It was a great privilege to race for my country at European Youth Champs. My navigation got better with each race, and by the long event I felt much better making decisions on the go. I am very thankful
for encouragement of my team: Mark, Erik, Liam and Coach Carl!”

With Erik and Liam moving up to the junior category next year, the US Youth SkiO Team seeks new talent. Interested athletes and media inquiries can contact Coach Carl Fey at carlffey@nullgmail.com.

Level 1 Coaching clinic announced

Orienteering USA and Vanguard NJROTC will host a Level 1 Coaching Certification Clinic this summer.

Level 1 Coaching Certification Clinic

  • When: June 17-19, Ocala, FL
  • Who: Hosted by Suncoast Orienteering (SOAR)
  • Priority: JROTC & military coaches, open to all

Calling JROTC and military coaches!

Join us in Ocala, FL for a Level 1 Coaching Certification Clinic from June 17-19. Priority for JROTC and military, but open to all.

Course Highlights:

  • Team Training Plans: Workshop to plan for goal races for your next season
  • Training Sessions: Create and share specific exercises that you can use with your team
  • Development Opportunities: Explore Orienteering USA options beyond JROTC

Experienced instructors with JROTC, ROTC, or USMA backgrounds will lead. They are involved with OrienteeringUSA at the national level. 

Sign up by April 13, 2025. Capacity is 24 students. Priority to local JROTC, then military-affiliated, then others. Reimbursement: Up to $200 for out-of-state travel funded by OUSA passion projects. Don’t forget to ask your schools to help out with financial support for this important certification!

The syllabus includes 30 hours of instruction.

Continuing Education Credits: Contact Tori (victoria.campbell@nullorienteeringusa.org) to see if this course might meet your state’s requirements.

Junior Nationals and Spring-O Event Recap

March 22-23, 2025

Host: North Texas Orienteering Association (NTOA)

Venue: Sid Richardson Scout Ranch, Bridgetport, TX

This event was a two-day Classic distance NRE, and also the Interscholastic and Intercollegiate Championships.

Results, Maps, and Photos

YMP March Map of the Month

The Youth Mapping Program March Map of the Month is MetroWest YMCA Outdoor Center in Hopkinton, MA. This map was created in 2021 and is still being used extensively!

The YMCA’s summer camps introduce as many as 650 youth per day to orienteering. They also use the map for hiking, geocaching, and to teach basic map-reading skills. In addition to their own programming, MetroWest YMCA has partnered with local scout troops to utilize their orienteering course and with the New England Orienteering Club, who use the space for their large annual Intro to Orienteering event!

“It has certainly been a huge asset that greatly benefits our ability to serve the community and engage youth into outdoor education,” said Adventure and Outdoor Ed Director Tyler Reynolds.

Have you received a map from OUSA’s Youth Mapping Program? We want to hear how you’re using it! Let us know here.

2025 JWOC Team Selected

The JWOC Selection Committee is pleased to announce the team to represent the US at the 2025 Junior World Championships (JWOC), which will be held in Trentino, Italy, from 26 June to 4 July.

Men:

  • Ben Brady
  • Ben Conley
  • Ian Dunlap
  • Alex Eriksson
  • Mori Finlayson-Johnecheck
  • Ludvig Hagwall
  • 1st alternate, Ben Cooper
  • 2nd alternate, Lenni Kallela

Women:

  • Danny Buchholz
  • Anna Campbell
  • Anna Green
  • Greta Leonard
  • Paige Suhocki
  • Zariah Zosel
  • 1st alternate, Kendal O’Callaghan
  • 2nd alternate, Sophie Howes
  • 3rd alternate, Kate deBlonk

Congratulations to all the athletes! We wish them the best of luck in the European forests.

Peggy Dickison, National Team ESC Chair & Chair of WOC Review Panel
JWOC Selection Committee: Jon Torrance, Brenda Blacklock, Ethan Childs, Will Enger, Tyra Christopherson, and Julia Doubson

2025 WOC Team Selected

The WOC Review Panel is pleased to announce the team to represent the US at the 2025 World Orienteering Championships (WOC) in Kuopio, Finland, from 7 to 12 July. Regional champs in the Middle and Long races—for North Americans, last summer’s NAOC races—earn personal starts in those WOC races. Joseph Barrett thus earned a long start at this year’s WOC, and Ali Crocker earned both a middle and a long start.

2025 WOC Team

Men:

  • Joseph Barrett
  • Ricardo Schaniel
  • Anthony Riley
  • Thomas Laraia
  • 1st alternate, Greg Ahlswede
  • 2nd alternate, Anton Salmenkylä

Women:

  • Ali Crocker
  • Lily Addicott
  • Alison Campbell
  • Evalin Brautigam
  • 1st alternate, Bridget Hall
  • 2nd alternate, Siri Christopherson

Congratulations to all the athletes! We wish them the best of luck in the European forests.

Peggy Dickison, National Team ESC Chair & Chair of WOC Review Panel
WOC Review Panel: Glen Tryson, Jeff Saeger, Ioana Flemming, Peggy Dickison

Erik Fey Finishes 6th in the Sprint at the European Youth Ski-O Champs!

The US Boys Youth Ski-Orienteering Team followed up their strong result from yesterday’s relay with top finishes again today in the Sprint race at the European Youth Ski-Orienteering Championships in Posio, Finland. American Erik Fey, age 16, placed sixth which, to the best of our knowledge, is the first time a male athlete representing a country outside of Europe has placed in the top six in an individual race at a major international ski-orienteering competition.

Erik Fey pushes hard in the Sprint.

When asked about the race Erik said, “I am very happy to place in the top six today which was my goal for these races, but goals and dreams do not always come true. I have been training hard working towards this step by step for a number of years. I felt good and skied really fast today, but perhaps I went a little too fast. Thus, I made a few small mistakes which I hope I can eliminate in the remaining races by keeping my heart rate a little bit lower.” The race was won by Marek Lesak of Czech Republic ahead of Veeti Vippola from Finland in second place and Joakhim Savinanein of Finland in 3rd place.

Euell Browne, a strong skier from Grizzly Orienteering Club in Montana, also skied especially well today. He was the US’s second fastest skier coming in 22nd place– a very impressive result, especially considering that this is only Euell’s second major international ski-orienteering race (yesterday was his first international ski-orienteering race). Euell was followed by older brother Liam Browne in 24th place and Erik’s younger brother Mark Fey in 26th place. These all represent solid performances for the US. 

The races continue on Saturday with the medium distance race and end on Sunday, March 23rd with the long race. You can follow the US Ski-Orienteering Team’s results at: Liveservices – Lapin Lumirastit & ESOC, JWSOC, EYSOC 2025. Enquires from the press or messages of good luck to the US Ski-O Team can be sent to: carlffey@nullgmail.com