Tag: TeamUSA

WOC ’22 Denmark Event Recap

June 26-30, 2022

  • Under Construction: Additional content to be added as it becomes available

Sun June 26, 2022 – Sprint Relay @ Kolding

Leg 1Tori Borish (24th)17:44 (+3:10)
Leg 2Ricardo Schaniel (25th)17:38 (+2:45)
Leg 3Joseph Barrett (27th)18:01 (+4:00)
Leg 4Evalin Brautigam (25th)18:38 (+4:40)
Place & time diff are per leg, not cumulative

Tue June 28, 2022 – Knock Out Sprint @ Fredericia

Women Qual AAlison Campbell (27th)12:21 (+2:40)
Women Qual BTori Borish (25th)12:02 (+1:59)
Women Qual CEvalin Brautigam (23rd)12:17 (+2:08)
Men Qual ASergei Rhzhkov (25th)10:55 (+1:13)
Men Qual BJoe Barrett (29th)11:40 (+1:44)
Men Qual CRicardo Schaniel (26th)11:25 (+1:20)
No TeamUSA Runners advanced to Quarter-Finals

Thu June 30, 2022 – Sprint @ Vejle

  • Maps – coming soon
  • Livestream Full Broadcast at IOF Youtube
  • Photos – coming soon
Women Qual AAlison Campbell (27th)16:00 (+4:04)
Women Qual BTori Borish (24th)15:09 (+3:03)
Women Qual CEvalin Brautigam (18th)14:26 (+1:50)
Men Qual ARicardo Schaniel (27th)13:57 (+2:19)
Men Qual BSergei Rhyhkov (28th)14:37 (+2:09)
Men Qual CJoe Barrett (24th)13:51 (+1:49)
No Team USA Runners qualified for Finals

TeamUSA Welcomes Newest Members

The Executive Steering Committee is pleased to announce the promotion of four athletes to the US National Team bringing the TeamUSA roster to 36 athletes for 2022.

Sergei will be competing in Denmark next month as part of our 6-person team at the 2022 Sprint World Orienteering Championships (WOC). In July, Anna & Holden will be part of our 10-person roster competing at the 2022 Junior World Championships (JWOC) in Portugal and Tyler joins our 12-person squad heading to Switzerland for the biennial 2022 World University Orienteering Championships (WUOC) in mid August.

We’re looking forward to a great summer of international racing with full teams traveling to all the major competitions, including the The World Games right here in the US. Congratulations to all the athletes on the 2022 TeamUSA Roster!!

Sergei Ryzhkov (DVOA)
Elite Squad
Anna Campbell (NEOC)
Junior Squad
Holden Sopoti (USMAOC)
Junior Squad
Tyler Wilson (USMAOC)
Junior Squad

Be sure to visit the National Team page on the website for details on all 2022 team members and the international events they have been selected for this year. Historical info on previous years teams can be found in the OUSA Library. Thanks to all the volunteers on the Executive Steering Committee and the various team selection committees for their efforts in putting together such a great roster of athletes to represent us!

2022 WUOC Team Announced

The selection committee for the World University Orienteering Championships (WUOC) is pleased to announce the 2022 team for this biennial competition. The committee members are Linda Kohn, Peggy Dickison, Will Enger and Jeff Saeger.

The competition will be held in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland from August 16-21, 2022 and is open to athletes between ages 18 & 25 that are currently registered in a degree/diploma granting program of study at a recognized institution of higher learning or having earned said degree within the prior 12 month period.

Congratulations to the following athletes who have been selected to represent TeamUSA at this year’s World University Orienteering Championships!!

  • Men
    • Keegan Harkavy
    • Thomas Laraia
    • AJ Riley
    • Danny Riley
    • Tyler Wilson
    • Peter Zakrevski
    • Edgardo Cruz (1st alternate)
  • Women
    • Diana Aleksieva
    • Jessica Colleran
    • Julia Doubson
    • Bridget Hall
    • Kirsten Mayland
    • Oriana Riley
    • Grace Zoppi (1st alternate)
Keegan Harkavy
Harvard University
Thomas Laraia
University of Edinburgh
AJ Riley
Stanford University
Danny Riley
Cornell University
Tyler Wilson
US Military Academy
Peter Zakrevski
Rutgers University
Diana Aleksieva
University of Virginia
Jessica Colleran
University of Washington
Julia Doubson
Amherst College
Bridget Hall
Mt Holyoke College
Kirsten Mayland
Dartmouth College
Oriana Riley
Stanford University
Edgardo Cruz (1st alt)
US Military Academy
Grace Zoppi (1st alt)
University of Washington

2022 WOC Team Announced

The WOC Selection Committee (Jeff Saeger, Glen Tryson & Peggy Dickison) is pleased to announce the US Team for this year’s World Orienteering Championships in Denmark. This years championships, to be held June 26-30, will be the first WOC to focus exclusively on the sprint discipline (aka Sprint WOC). Future WOC’s will alternate between Forest WOC & Sprint WOC formats.

The first event will be a Sprint Relay in the town of Kolding which includes an old town area with asymmetrical street patterns including the castle Koldinghus dating from around 1200 that rises about 20m above the town.

Image: Hubertus, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The second event will consist of qualifying and final rounds of a Knock-Out Sprint in and around the military fortifications of Fredericia, characterized by hilly ramparts now covered by grass and forest. Within the fortifications lies the town proper with a symmetrical road network divided into quadrants.

Image: CC BY-SA 1.0 via WikiTravel

The final events of the championship will be the Individual Sprint qualification and final races in the Danish town of Vejle including a complex old town area with shopping streets, backyards and narrow alleyways. Modern residential areas with public buildings and schools are also present. To the north lies a steep 90m slope with deep ravines and partly vegetated with deciduous forest areas. To the south lies a flat area cut by multiple railways and two water courses passable by bridges and, in some cases, tunnels.

Privat fotograf, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Because the sprint relay team consists of 2 men + 2 women, TeamUSA will be sending three men and three women to this year’s competition. Congratulations to the following athletes selected to represent the US at this years Sprint WOC:

  • Men
    • Joe Barrett – QOC
    • Sergei Ryzhkov – DVOA
    • Ricardo Schaniel – Bussola OK
    • Eric Bone – COC (alternate)
  • Women
    • Tori Borish – RMOC
    • Evalin Brautigam – WCOC
    • Alison Campbell – DVOA
    • Oriana Riley – DVOA (alternate)

Because the relay is the first event, it has been pre-determined that Joe Barrett, Ricardo Schaniel, Tori Borish, and Evalin Brautigam will run the relay, running order to be determined.

Joe Barrett
QOC
Sergei Ryzhkov
DVOA
Ricardo Schaniel
Bussola OK
Tori Borish
RMOC
Evalin Brautigam
WCOC
Alison Campbell
DVOA
Eric Bone (alt)
COC
Oriana Riley (alt)
DVOA

There will also be a WOC Tour held concurrently with 3 Sprint races held on the same terrains the WOC competitors will face plus 3 Forest Middle distance races for spectators to enjoy. Come to Denmark and cheer on TeamUSA and get a solid week of races in for yourself as well!

2022 JWOC Team Announced

The JWOC Selection Committee (Tori Borish, Greg Ahlswede and Jon Torrance) is pleased to announce the 2022 US Team selected to compete at the Junior World Orienteering Championships (JWOC) to be held July 10-16 in Aguiar da Beira, Portugal.

  • Women:
  • Alexis Merka
  • Anna Campbell
  • Bridget Hall
  • Kirsten Mayland
  • Lily Addicott
  • Zoe Sibthorp
  • Annika Mihata (1st alternate)
  • Oriana Riley (2nd alternate)
  • Men:
  • Benjamin Brady
  • Holden Sopoti
  • Keegan Harkavy
  • Victor Frolenko

National Team member Evalin Brautigam, Head Coach & Teacher at Orienteering South Australia, will accompany the team to Portugal in the role of head coach.

Congratulations to all our 2022 JWOC athletes!

Alexis Merka
(QOC)
Anna Campbell
(NEOC)
Bridget Hall
(NEOC)
Kirsten Mayland
(DVOA)
Lily Addicott
(GAOC)
Zoe Sibthorp
(COC)
Annika Mihata (1st alt) (COC)
Oriana Riley (2nd alt)
(DVOA)
Ben Brady
(COC)
Holden Sopoti
(USMAOC)
Keegan Harkavy
(NEOC)
Victor Frolenko
(DVOA)

National Team adds two new members

The National Team Executive Steering Committee (ESC) is pleased to announce the addition of two new athletes to the Junior Squad roster.

Oriana Riley from the Delaware Valley Orienteering Association is currently attending Stanford University. She has been competing consistently this year at the Georgia O-Fest in January including the Sprint WRE in F-21+, the Big Woods Classic NRE in March and most recently the West Point NRE held this past weekend in New York where she took part in the WOC Team Trials in F-21+. She is currently nationally ranked 6th in F-20.

Zoe Sibthorp from the Cascade Orienteering Club joins Oriana on the Junior Squad and currently attends Woodinville Montessori High School in Washington. Zoe is currently ranked 5th in F-20 having recently competed at the Lighthouse Middle NRE in February and the OUSA Junior Nationals in early April.

Congratulations to both of you and we look forward to your continued success as members of TeamUSA!!

42nd Annual West Point NRE Recap

April 23-24, 2022

Saturday AM: Middle at Black Rock Forest

Saturday PM: Sprint at Trophy Point

Sunday: Long Distance at Black Rock Forest

TeamUSA: WOC Team Trials update

The National Team ESC has announced that races at the 42nd West Point National Ranking Event weekend will serve as team trials to select a team to compete at the World Orienteering Championships to be held June 26-30 in Denmark.

This year’s WOC will be a ‘sprint-WOC’ featuring a Sprint Relay, Knockout Sprint and Individual Sprint events. As such, the Saturday afternoon sprint (4/23) at Trophy Point will be one of two trials races for team hopefuls. An additional Friday sprint (4/22) is scheduled (pending permitting) to be held at Fort Tryon Park in New York City to serve as the second trials race.

Additional information regarding the Friday sprint will be forthcoming as details are confirmed. At this time only Red & Blue courses will be offered and may be open to non-trialers pending decision of the organizers. Of course the full slate of sprint courses on offer as part of the S/M/L event at West Point are open to all.

World Ski-O Championships: Day 2 – Pursuit

US Ski-Orienteers Performances Continue to Improve on the 2nd Day of the World Ski-Orienteering Championships and European Youth Championships.

The 2022 World Ski-Orienteering Championships and European Youth Ski-Orienteering Championships are taking place in the North of Finland in Kemi this week. The men’s race on Wednesday, March 16th, 2022 was a long pursuit race. In a pursuit race racers start the amount of time they were behind the leader in the previous race which was a sprint. The men’s race was noteworthy for starting with skiers skiing up a downhill area, thus pulses were very high from the very first seconds of the race. The race had three loops.

The men’s race was won by Jörgen Backlid of Norway in 69:02 (his time for day 2 was 57:08) who had been in the lead of the sprint race until he made a small mistake of about 15 seconds near the end and ended up in 4th place 7 seconds behind the winner. Tuomas Kotro of Finland was second and Nicola Mueller of Switzerland had an impressive race ending third. Chris Burnham of Stowe, VT, who is coming off of an impressive 2nd place finish in the American Brikebeiner classic ski marathon which had over 1600 participants, had a solid race. Chris was 47th in the long pursuit race and the top American man with a day 2 time of 83:09. Chris commented, “I was happy that the race was longer today than yesterday as I enjoy and do better at longer races. Some of the mazes of small trails were really dense and thus quite difficult.”

American Nikolay Nachev from Seattle, WA was 52nd with a day 2 time of 102:15. The mazes also stood out to Nikolai who commented, “The gentle slope with no wide tracks was like the Bermuda Triangle. You go in there and you don’t know whether you are going to get out.” The men’s race was noteworthy for starting at the bottom of a downhill ski slope which the athletes had to ski up making a great spectacle for spectators. Many thought this was a somewhat harsh to start a race like this, but Chris and Nikolai who both like tough races were excited by this intensive start to the race. One can watch the races on web-TV at: https://orienteering.sport/event/world-ski-orienteering-championship/pursuit/

The European Youth Ski-Orienteering Championships had a middle distance race today. The race was won by Pyry Riissanen from Finland in 18:01. American Erik Fey had an impressive race, especially given that he is 13 years old and racing in the 17 and under class, ending 18th in a time of 23:24. These European Championship races are Erik’s first time racing internationally for the US. Erik was excited to be solidly competitive and in front of some skiers from top nations like Sweden. Erik commented, “It has been a great experience to race at the European Youth Ski-Orienteering Championships. I love the feeling of flying along the narrow trails with quick turns. I am very pleased with my race today, but I did have one 15 second mistake early in the race. Being here really motivates me to train harder for future years. I am really looking forward to racing in these races in a few years when I am 17.”

Tomorrow will be a rest day and then the races continue with a middle distance race for World Championships and a long distance race for the European Youth Ski-Orienteering Championships on Friday. However, being only 13 Erik has opted not to race in the long race this year. He says he looks forward to hopefully trying that next year….

Press Release courtesy Carl Fey

US Ski Orienteering Team Heads to Finland for World Championships

Chris Burnham, Cambridge Sports Union (CSU), and Nikolay Nachev, Cascade Orienteering Club (COC), will race in Kemi, Finland March 15-19, 2022 in the World Ski Orienteering Championships. The pair will be joined by Erik Fey, of Espoon Suunta, who will race in the European Youth Ski Orienteering Championships held concurrently with WSOC.

Kemi is in northern Finland, a long way for Chris and Nikolay, but not as far for Erik who lives with his family in Espoo, a suburb of Helsinki.

The WSOC races for Chris and Nikolay will be the Sprint March 15, Pursuit March 16 and Middle Friday March 18. Erik’s EYSOC races will be the Sprint on Tuesday March 15 and the Middle Wednesday March 16.

Chris lives in Stowe, VT and competed at the WSOC in Pitea, Sweden in 2019. He has extensive Nordic experience, placing an outstanding second place in last month’s Birkebeiner Classic 55 km marathon in Hayward, WI out of 1,600 competitors.

Nikolay, from Redmond, WA, also is a top athlete, on the winning team at the North American Rogaining Championships last year in Lake Tahoe, CA. He has previously raced in World Cup ski orienteering races and at SWOC in Tanndalen Sweden in 2011.


Erik, currently living in Finland and being 13 years old, is unknown to most US orienteers, but has raced extensively in Finland, one of the world’s most competitive ski orienteering countries.

To prepare for the races during winter school holidays this year Erik went to Sweden to take part in the open youth races at Swedish Ski-Orienteering Championships and finished 1st and 2nd in the boys 14 class.  Erik commented, “It was a good experience to race in Sweden two weeks ago and see that I could do well against people there as well as in Finland.  This gave me increased confidence for the upcoming European Youth Ski-Orienteering Championships.” 

Erik was 4th in a close race in H15 in Finnish Medium Distance Ski-Orienteering Championships this year.  He did not race in the Finnish Long Distance Championships as one must be turning 15 in the calendar year to do so.  When asked about his goals for the upcoming European Youth Ski-Orienteering Championships Erik continued, “Since I am only 13 and my category at European Youth Ski-Orienteering Championships is 17 and under my main goal for this year is to gain experience in international racing and not make any mistakes larger than 15 seconds.” 

Erik represents Espoon Suunta in ski-orienteering and orienteering and Espoon Hiihtoseura in cross-country skiing. Both clubs are among the top in Finland. Erik is coached by Carl Fey (his father and former US Ski-O Team member) and Tero Jantunen. When asked why he likes ski-orienteering Erik responded, “I love the technical difficulty and feeling of flying down hills on winding narrow trails. The steeper and bigger the better. Normal cross-country skiers don’t know what they are missing!”

Press release courtesy Ken Walker Sr.