US Ski-Orienteering Team Selected

The US Ski-Orienteering Team’s Executive Steering Committee is pleased to announce that it has selected the team for the 2025 World Cup based on past results and potential. This is a rebuilding year for the US Ski-O Team so only two people have been selected to the senior team. This year the World Cup races will take place in Norway, Germany, and Finland.  The US Senior team has opted not to race in the races in Finland this year.  

Chris Burnham

Chris Burnham of Stowe, VT was named to the team. Chris comes from a strong skiing background including an impressive 2nd place finish in the American Brikebeiner classic ski marathon in 2022. He is back to international ski-orienteering after taking a two-year break to focus on setting back-country distance skiing records like last year setting the record for the fastest time skiing the largely ungroomed 300km Catamount Trail in Vermont in 6 days, 10 hours, and 31 minutes. When not skiing, Chris is an underwater robot programmer. 

Adrian Owens

Chris will be joined on the team by veteran ski-orienteer Adrian Owens of Craftsbury, VT who also orienteers for Green Mountain Orienteering Club. Adrian was the US’s top performer on the US senior team last year at World Championships. Adrian hopes to use his many years of ski-orienteering experience to ensure that he has clean races. Adrian, who is an outdoor enthusiast and has great concern for the environment even living in an environmentally-friendly home, excels at producing consistent stable race results even in difficult conditions and having good endurance.  

For additional information contact: Carl Fey, US Ski-O Team Coach at: carlffey@nullgmail.com 

US Youth Ski-Orienteering Team Selected for 2025 European Championships in Finland

The US Ski-Orienteering Executive Steering Committee is pleased to announce that the US Team for the 2025 European Youth Ski-Orienteering Championships has been selected based on past results and perceived potential. The races will take place March 19-23, 2025 in Posio, Finland well north of the Artic Circle. One must be 17 or under to race in European Championships and since there are no World Championships for youth, this is the major international ski-orienteering event for people under the age of 17 world-wide. The 2025 team to European Youth Ski-Orienteering Championships consists of: Erik Fey (16 years old), Mark Fey (13 soon 14), Liam Browne (16), and Euell Browne (14 soon 15). There is great excitement in the US ski-orienteering community since most expect that this team will be the strongest youth ski-orienteering boys team that the US has ever fielded.  

Erik Fey at the 2024 Open Nordic Ski-Orienteering Championships in Estonia

Erik Fey will be looking to improve upon his 14th place at European Championships last year.  He will be joined on the team this year for the first time by his younger brother Mark Fey who hopes to have solid results. Erik and Mark both have extensive ski-orienteering experience and currently live in Oslo, Norway and do orienteering and ski-orienteering for the strong Nydalens Skiklub which has other strong ski-orienteers as members such as 2024 Middle Distance and Sprint Relay World Champion in Ski-Orienteering Anna Ulvensøen. They also actively do cross-country skiing for Hemming IL. Their US club is Rochester Orienteering Club.  

This year the US team is full of brothers and the Feys will be joined for the first time by Liam Browne and Euell Browne of Kalispell, MT. Liam is a strong experienced cross-country skier who qualified to be part of the Intermountain Division Ski Team to US Junior Nationals in cross-country skiing last year. He and his younger brother Euell are members of the Glacier Nordic Comp Pro Team which ensures they have extensive regular training year-round. Great lovers of outdoor endurance sports, Liam and Euell were attracted to ski-orienteering thanks to a ski-orienteering race organized in nearby Missoula, MT by Boris Granovskiy and other members of Grizzly Orienteering three years ago. Since then, they have been excited about orienteering and ski-orienteering and rapidly gaining experience and strong results mostly in their area. They are now interested in taking their ski-orienteering racing to the next level and look forward to seeing how they stack up internationally. Look out world, here they come! They are now members of the relatively new, but rapidly becoming quite strong, Grizzly Orienteering Club which would probably win the award for the most improved orienteering club in the US in the last several years if there was such an award.  

Liam Browne at the 2024 US Cross-Country Skiing Junior Nationals

Unfortunately, it is expensive to travel to and race at European Championships. As such, donations to support our increasingly strong US Youth Ski-Orienteering Team would be greatly appreciated and can be made online at orienteeringusa.org. Please note that your donation is for the US Youth Ski-Orienteering Team if it is. For more information about the US Ski-Orienteering Team please contact Team Coach Carl Fey at carlffey@nullgmail.com.

WOC Knock-Out Sprint

Team USA will race in the Knock-Out Sprint, the final race of this year’s World Orienteering Championships in Edinburgh, Scotland. The qualifying round starts quite early; TV coverage for the semi finals and finals starts at 11:00 a.m. Eastern / 8:00 a.m. Pacific. For live tracking and TV coverage, visit this page.

The qualification race will have 3 parallel heats with an interval start. The top runners in each heat qualify for the quarter-finals. The quarter- and semi-finals have multiple sets of 6 runners with a mass start and forking. The final is just one race with 6 runners in a mass start with forking.

TeamUSA Athletes selected for 2024 Young Leaders Academy

Three TeamUSA athletes – Bridget Hall (NEOC), Lily Addicott (GAOC) and Oriana Riley (DVOA) were recently selected to represent the United States at the 2024 IOF Young Leaders Academy to be held one month from now in conjunction with the “Five Days Italy” competition in the Dolomites of Italy. These athletes were chosen in a competitive application process earlier this year. Oriana unfortunately will be unable to attend due to prior commitments that have arisen since the awards were announced.

Bridget is “looking forward to a great week of orienteering and, more importantly, spending a week building connections with youth from across the globe while learning skills that can (hopefully) help build orienteering in the United States. I’m excited that this is the first stop on our adventure this summer, and extremely grateful that I get to do the whole thing with Lily.” Lily adds “The Italian 5 day is going to be such a blast with Bridget by my side, and we will bring home a ton of useful connections and information that we can share.

The Orienteering USA Board of Directors, at its most recent meeting on May 20th, voted to award a $300 stipend to each athlete to offset the costs of travel to the academy. The Youth Development Program (YDP) is also providing a $1000 stipend to each athlete. This is just one example of the ways that the YDP supports youth and young adults in developing their competitive interests as well as mapping, event direction, course design, sport journalism, or other aspects of orienteering that they love. All youth are welcome. We especially welcome older youth who would like to inspire younger kids.

Congratulations to all three of these inspirational young ladies on their selection to attend this important conference.

2024 Wilson Character through Competition Awards Announced

Philadelphia, PA — The Wilson Awards, in partnership with Orienteering USA, proudly announce three winners of our 2024 Character through Competition Awards. Paige Suhocki of Freehold of New Jersey along with Ben Cooper and Greta Leonard, both of Maple Valley, Washington, have been chosen to receive this $1,000 award, which honors the memory of our friend and family member, Iain Wilson. The awards seek to amplify the energy and commitment young orienteers bring to our sport and community. While we are delighted when our awardees are successful in local and even international competition, in a broader sense we hope to encourage the kind of character that communicates to others the joy of competing as a shared endeavor.

Paige has been orienteering since the age of 10 and was one of the youngest volunteers at the World Games at just 14. Lena Kushleyeva of Delaware Valley Orienteering Association shared, “She is an energetic and charismatic teenager whose love for orienteering is extremely catching, to both her peers and to adults.” Lena then spoke to her passion for the sport igniting a similar passion in her teammates and its impact on recruiting new orienteers. Paige writes that the resilience she has built through Orienteering “will not only help my performance but will keep me moving forward toward my higher aspirations.”

Paige’s application mentioned something that Iain Wilson and so many orienteers love, “Orienteering has given me a new appreciation for nature and how fortunate I am to experience it in this way.” We are delighted to see Paige’s enthusiasm is so infectious. Paige plans to use this year’s award to extend her Junior World Orienteering Championship (JWOC) participation by visiting Italy to train and compete. Paige was also selected as 2nd Alternate to this year’s Sprint World Orienteering Championships (WOC) team in Scotland in July.

Ben and Greta continue a long tradition of Orienteering excellence amongst athletes from Tahoma High School in Washington state. Like many Wilson Award winners, they compete for their school’s track and cross country teams while balancing a challenging academic workload and extra-curriculars just like our beloved friend, Iain Wilson.

Asked to share his proudest orienteering accomplishments, Ben spoke about his role as a team captain and his passion for mentoring, planning workouts, course setting, updating maps, and designing courses. Ben also states, “Racing allows me to go beyond my limits and gain valuable experience.” Ben clearly loves mentoring opportunities and finds the sport “provides valuable connections with people.” Ing Uhlin, Vice President of Cascade Orienteering Club writes, “What makes Ben stand out is not just his speed and skill in orienteering, but the time and effort that he devotes to others.”

Greta is known for putting her team and learning first. She has volunteered with Cascade Orienteering Club to coach part of an introductory mini-course for over 50 JROTC cadets. She wrote in her application, “In the process of training and competing, intangible gains are realized that have a greater impact on my life. Orienteering has taught me adaptability, grace, and the importance of a positive attitude. Often, a non-podium finish can result in more growth than a win.” John Brady of Cascade Orienteering Club writes about Greta, “She takes feedback so well, is willing to assess her own weaknesses with an open and mature mind, then applies the feedback to try and improve – she is a Respectful Warrior.” 

Paige and Greta will compete in the Junior World Orienteering Championships (JWOC) in Pilsen, Czechia this summer while Ben is the first alternate on the men’s team. Additionally, previous awards winners Bridget Hall, Alex Merka, Keegan Harkavy, and Thomas Laraia will be competing in this summer’s World University Orienteering Championships (WUOC) with Bridget, Keegan & Thomas also be representing TeamUSA at the World Championships in Scotland (WOC). We wish them all great success!

The committee seeks individuals who have the willingness and ability to see beyond their own individual ambition and spread the spirit that brightens their lives and the lives of those around them. We feel their enthusiasm for the outdoors, for running, for navigation, and for their fellow competitors sets an example for all of us.

Iain’s college roommate and committee member Anthony Belber notes, “What stands out about all the applicants for this year’s award is how invested in the sport these young people are and how much they are growing and learning from their investment. Not only have our award winners given back to their orienteering communities, but they are being shaped and developed into fine leaders and competitors by their experiences in the sport and within those broader communities.”

Applications for the 2025 Wilson Awards will be accepted later this fall. Additional information can be found at  https://orienteeringusa.org/about/recognition/#wilson.

Official Press Release (PDF)

TeamUSA Announces 2024 WOC Roster

The TeamUSA WOC Team Selection Review Panel – Peggy Dickison (chair), Tyra Christopherson, Jeff Saeger, and Glen Tryson – is pleased to announce the Team members for this summer’s Sprint WOC in Edinburgh, Scotland. There were some very strong results, which made our job difficult. We all feel that we have a strong team, and we look forward to seeing your performances.

Given that the Team will not have a coach at WOC (but there will be a Team Administrator, TBD), the Review Panel will determine who runs in the Relay. There will be one team, with two men and two women; we will announce the members soon. (Note that the Team can decide, as a group and with the Team Administrator, to make changes to the relay make-up if everyone feels it is warranted.)

Congratulations to all the Team members and alternates!

WOC Women

  • Evalin Brautigam (NAOC personal spot)
  • Bridget Hall (automatic qualifier from Sprint Storrs)
  • Alison Campbell
  • Lily Addicott (by petition)
  • 1st Alternate: Oriana Riley
  • 2nd Alternate: Paige Suhocki

WOC Men

  • Joe Barrett (NAOC personal spot)
  • Thomas Laraia (automatic qualifier from Sprint Storrs)
  • Keegan Harkavy
  • Ricardo Schaniel
  • Alternate: Anthony (AJ) Riley

TeamUSA Announces 2024 WUOC Roster

The Selection Committee – Jon Torrance, Andrea Berger, Eric Bone, Ethan Childs, and Ioana Fleming – is pleased to announce the 2024 US Team to compete at the FISU World University Orienteering Championships in Bankso, Bulgaria from August 1st-5th, 2024. The WUOC competition is held every other year.

Congratulations to this year’s WUOC Team!!

WUOC Men

  • Keegan Harkavy
  • Thomas Laraia
  • Dylan Poe
  • Anthony (AJ) Riley
  • Danny Riley
  • Tyler Wilson
  • 1st Alternate: Shawn Mather
  • 2nd Alternate: Victor Frolenko

WUOC Women

  • Lily Addicott
  • Diana Aleksieva
  • Bridget Hall
  • Alex Merka
  • Oriana Riley
  • Grace Zoppi
  • 1st Alternate: Jessica Colleran
  • 2nd Alternate: Ava Suhocki
  • 3rd Alternate: Grace Suhocki

TeamUSA Announces 2024 JWOC Roster

The JWOC Selection Committee – Jon Torrance, Andrea Berger, Eric Bone, Ethan Childs, and Ioana Fleming – is pleased to announce the 2024 US Team to compete at the Junior World Orienteering Championships in Pilsen, Czechia from June 30th-July7th, 2024.

Congratulations to this year’s JWOC Team!!

JWOC Women

  • Alex Merka
  • Astrid White
  • Danny Buchholz
  • Greta Leonard
  • Paige Suhocki
  • Zariah Zosel
  • 1st Alternate: Samantha Walker
  • 2nd Alternate: Ava Suhocki

JWOC Men

  • Ben Brady
  • Benjamin Conley
  • Ian Dunlap
  • Jackson Rupe
  • Ludvig Hagwall
  • Mori Finlayson-Johnecheck
  • 1st Alternate: Ben Cooper
  • 2nd Alternate: Collin Thompson

2024 WOC Selection Criteria Announced

The 2024 Sprint World Orienteering Championships (WOC) will be hosted in Edinburgh, Scotland, from July 12-16, 2024.

Orienteering USA’s WOC Review Panel (RP – Peggy Dickison, Tyra Christopherson, Jeff Saeger, Glen Tryson) will choose up to 3 (three) male and 3 (three) female athletes to represent the USA at WOC, in addition to the one male and one female already selected by winning the NAOC sprint in 2023. Using the same selection criteria, the WOC RP may also choose alternates who will step in, should the need arise.

There will be two official Team Trials.

  • Sprint Scotland will be held in Glenrothes, Scotland (north of Edinburgh), on May 4-5, 2024. This event consists of three sprint races, two on Saturday and one on Sunday. All three are individual start races.
  • Sprint Storrs will be held in Storrs, Connecticut (University of Connecticut) on Saturday, 11 May 2024. This event consists of two sprint races, an individual start race in the morning and a mass-start race in the afternoon.
  • Note to Petitioners: Petitioners who cannot attend either Team Trials events will be required to register for the Sprint Storrs Team Trials as Non-Compete and fill in the declaration page.

To be considered a candidate for 2024 WOC Team Selection, a WOC candidate must meet the WOC eligibility requirements and also declare their intent to seek selection to the team.

Candidates should refer to the Full WOC 2024 Selection Criteria document which can be found in the Orienteering USA Library.

Trail-O Standing Team Applications Now Open

Applications are now open for the TeamUSA Trail Orienteering Standing Team. The application link will stay active for another week until Monday, April 8th.

However, if you are interested in representing US in the trail orienteering European championships (ETOC) in Turku, Finland May 8th -May 12th please fill in your application for the standing team as soon as possible. Preferably this would be done by Monday Apr 1st, as the team size deadline for ETOC in Apr 8th.

Fill out the Team Application here.

Orienteering USA rules stipulate that all National team members must complete SafeSport training.  There is also a link to this training in the application form.

Here is the language in OUSA rules regarding the standing team:

  • G.4.4 The U.S. Trail Orienteering National Team shall be composed of a maximum of 10 applicants from each class who meet the following conditions:
    • a. Have full passport qualifying citizenship for the United States.
    • b. Regular member of Orienteering USA in good standing.
    • c. Agree to be an active part of the team.
    • d. Participate in Team discussions, elections, and fundraisers.
    • e. Agree to represent the USA in International Orienteering Events (if selected and available).
    • f. Subscribe to the Official Team communication channel.
  • G.4.5 The top five highest ranked applicants of each class from each of the PreO and TempO ranking lists shall be automatically selected to the team. Any remaining spots will be filled by the ESC using a combination of the PreO and TempO ranking lists.  In the event that fewer than 10 applicants for the team in a class have a valid ranking, the ESC may, at their discretion, name non-ranked applicants to the team.

As a member of the standing team you are eligible to wear US National team uniform in any US Trail-O event

Sincerely,
Mika Latva-Kokko
Trail-O ESC