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Note from the President
At the board meeting held on April 13 a number of actions were taken in response to the work of the Fee Structure Task Force. This group was convened to look into ways to better distribute our revenue streams. I had asked them to work quickly with the intent that proposed changes to club dues might be effective for the next recharter cycle. Their proposal on club dues was to eliminate the club membership fee and change start fees to $1 for White/Yellow and similar beginner starts and $2 for other starts. The board had a number of questions about the proposal and felt that if we did make a change it was too late for the next cycle and we'd have to wait until the 2021 recharters. We postponed a vote until the next meeting to allow for more research into the effects of the proposal and to obtain additional feedback from clubs.
We did take action on a few other proposals from the committee. Junior memberships will be available to those up to age 20. This puts us in compliance with our bylaws and is consistent with the definition of "Junior" in other areas of our sport. Student memberships will be available up to age 24.
We also approved a bylaws proposal to be voted on by the membership at the AGM. This changes the definition of family from "A family membership consists of two or more individuals related by blood or marriage living in the same household" to "A family membership consists of multiple people with a single primary address with at most two over the age of 24."
We will have open board seats to fill at the next AGM. If you've ever considered serving the sport as a National board member, now could be the time! Feel free to contact me with any questions if you are interested.
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Recent and Upcoming Board Meetings
- Minutes from the April 13, 2019 meeting of the OUSA Board of Directors
- Minutes from the OUSA Board of Directors teleconference, March 13, 2019.
Information about upcoming Board meetings will appear here.
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OUSA WOC Team Announced
The team that will represent OUSA at this year's World Orienteering Championships in Østfold, Norway, August 12–17, has been selected. We saw some great performances at the Team Trials at West Point, and we hope all the athletes are able to stay/get healthy and train well. Note that this is the first forest-only WOC. Sprint disciplines will be contested at the 2020 World Championships,
Thank you to West Point (USMAOC) for hosting a great Trials, and to all Review Panel Members. This year's Review Panel (RP) consisted of Peggy Dickison, Tori Campbell, Will Hawkins, and Glen Tryson.
Men
Women
Race assignments
- Middle Qualification, Tues, Aug 13 (Final on Aug 16): (M) Anton, Greg, Eric, Jordan (F) Sydney, Åsne, Alison
- Long, Wed, Aug 14: (M) Morten, Jordan (F) Ali, Sydney
- Forest Relay, Sat, Aug 17: (M) Anton, Greg, Morten (F) Ali, Åsne, Alison
You can see the full team announcement here.
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OUSA JWOC Team Announced
The following orienteers will represent the U.S. at the Junior World Orienteering Championships 6–12 July 2019, in Aarhus and Silkeborg, Denmark.
Women Men
Siri Christopherson, COC Aidan Minto, ICO
Julia Doubson, BAOC Thomas Laraia, MNOC
Bridget Hall, NEOC Adrian Vartia,OK Löftan (Sweden)
Caroline Sandbo, COC David Runde, MNOC/Kristiansand
Diana Aleksieva, QOC Peter Zakrevski, HVO
Kirsten Mayland, DVOA Anthony Riley, DVOA
*** ***
Jessica Colleran, COC (1st Alternate) Kai Mihata, COC
Alexis Merka, QOC (2nd Alternate) Keegan Harkavy, CSU
Follow along with the juniors' adventures this summer on the Junior Team blog.
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OUSA WTOC Team Announced
Open PreO and Relay:
Clare Durand, Mika Latva-Kokko, Sharon Crawford (alternate: Mike Poulsen)
Para PreO and Relay:
David Irving, Daniel Heimgartner, Jonathan Fox
TempO:
Clare Durand, Mika Latva-Kokko, Sharon Crawford, fourth slot TBD
Congratulations to those selected!
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Join the Junior National Team!
If you were at Junior Nationals, and now are thinking, "What next?" or if you missed it, and wish you had the chance to connect with other junior orienteers, then you might want to consider applying for the U.S. National Junior Program (NJP). The NJP consists of the Junior Development Team and the Junior National Team.
The Junior Development Team (JDT) is designed to help young orienteers who are capable of orienteering on orange-level courses (M/F-16, ISJV and ISV) to transition to the advanced level and become nationally competitive. It is also designed to help athletes connect with other juniors around the country so they become part of a larger U.S. junior orienteering community.
Members of the Junior Development Team work with the Junior Development Coach, Greg Ahlswede. They receive coaching in navigation training, racing, physical training, and in becoming a competitive athlete. Juniors engage regularly in team calls, during which they talk through training, receive coaching advice, learn from teammates, have access to special NJP camps, and connect with their peers.
Applications are accepted throughout the year ... why wait?
Read all about it here.
And you can find the team application here.
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noname Uniforms
noname is a genuine Scandinavian sports  brand specializing in the design, production, and sale of custom-made sport textiles for clubs and companies for Nordic Skiing, Orienteering, Track and Field, and Cycling. In addition, noname offers an expanding retail collection with delivery from stock.
The noname head office and warehouse is located in Vaasa, Finland, while national offices are situated in Borlänge, Sweden; Halden, Norway; Moscow, Russia; and Tartu, Estonia. During 2009, noname opened its first brand store in central Tampere, Finland.
 At noname, we live and breathe running, skiing, and orienteering. It’s in our veins and it’s built into our textiles. noname sports gear lives up to the highest standards of every aspect in sports textiles. The excellent function and style is designed by people who love their sport. No matter if you are a world-class athlete or just exercise for fun, we have the products that will help you go all the way. The rest is up to you. Blood, sweat, and tears—that’s all it takes. |
Orienteering
noname offers a complete collection of orienteering textiles. Our collection includes several training and warm-up suits, four different racing shirts, and a huge selection of trousers and pants for every level of orienteering. For many pieces, we use digital printing techniques since it is a superior technology for profiling the club with a great design and high quality sponsor logos.
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QualityNordic
QualityNordic is a Park City, Utah-based clothing distributor that sells noname sport textiles in USA and Canada. All of our products are made with the highest quality materials and available for the lowest prices possible. Shop online (no minimum) or contact us for custom made design for your team/club.
noname is the proud partner of Team OUSA since 2014.
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Orienteering at Swedish-American Museum
On April 6, the American Swedish Historical Museum in Philadelphia, PA, debuted an exhibition on Nordic navigation centered on the Swedish-American orienteering pioneer Bjorn Kjellstrom and his contributions.
Photo courtesy of Chris Cassone
The exhibit will contain several key prototypes of the first liquid-filled, protractor-based "Silva" compass as well as many from Bjorn's collection that he gave to the Boy Scouts.
As a bonus, the museum is working with DVOA members to make orienteering courses available in adjacent FDR Park.
The exhibit in Philadelphia runs through September 22.
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Greg Alswede Starts Training Subscription Service
The Training Subscription Service (TSS) is a  project to provide orienteers who wish to improve their map reading skills with weekly simulation exercises based on the French Saint-Étienne Method developed by Michel Gueorgiou, father of Thierry Gueorgiou.
In these exercises, Greg provides specific instructions for proper execution as well as an explanation of the exercises' goals. See the images below for an example of one type of simulation.
While running to simulate the conditions of orienteering, TSS subscribers must determine if the controls on the contour-only map are on the lines drawn on the full map. The two maps are printed on double-sided paper, meaning that the subscribers must flip the sheet to see the other side. This exercise develops zoom map reading, 3d map reading, and memorization, terms defined by The Winning Eye.
 
For more information on the TSS, including how to sign up, please click on this link.
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Highlight Your Club/Event!
Every club is unique and can contribute to the growth and health of orienteering in the U.S. Whether your club had an extraordinarily successful event, is planning something unique or special, or simply wants to advertise quality events that it puts on, we want to highlight it here!
Please contact the editors at newsletter@orienteeringusa.org to add content to the next newsletter!
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April and May NREs
Our thanks to Quantico Orienteering (Junior Nationals), Capital Region Nordic Alliance (Trail-O NRE), U.S. Military Academy Orienteering Club (West Point NRE and Team Trials), Gold Country Orienteers (Deer Creek Hills NRE).
Thanks to the key volunteers for these events:
Junior Nationals: Meet Director - Jon Torrance, Course Setters - Sid Sachs, Videlin Aleksiev, Registrar - Aaron Linville
Five Rivers Trail-O: Event Organizer - Russ Meyer
West Point NRE / Team Trials: Meet Director - Bridge Bordelon, Course Setters - Branton Fletcher, Joey Hendrichs, David Sayles, Registrar - Whitney Gunderman
Deer Creek Hills: Meet Director and Course Setter - Mats Jansson, Registrar - Bill Cusworth
   
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2019
Notes:
* = OUSA BOD Meeting
** = Pending sanctioning
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Recap: Junior Nationals 2019
Interscholastic/Intercollegiate Varsity Female Middle Distance
The 2019 Junior Nationals were held by Quantico Orienteering on the Beaver Dam Run map at Marine Corps Base Quantico. The event included the Team Trials to select the US team competing at JWOC, as well as a sprint relay on Saturday afternoon.
US Team juniors described their experience at Junior Nationals on their blog:
Sprint, by Siri Christopherson
Middle, by Thomas Laraia
Long, by Julia Doubson
Here are your 2019 Junior Nationals Champions:
Team
Interscholastic Varsity - Henry County HS
Interscholastic JV - Henry County HS
Interscholastic Intermediate - Union County MS
Interscholastic Varsity Club - DVOA
Interscholastic JV Club - QOC
Interscholastic Intermediate - QOC
Intercollegiate Varsity - US Military Academy
Interscholastic Varsity JROTC - Henry County HS
Interscholastic JV JROTC - Henry County HS
Podium in the Middle School Female Category: Samantha Walker (1st), Osmary Garcia (2nd), Emilia Lundblad (3rd). Photo by Ken Walker, Jr.
Individual
Primary School Male - Kyle Hopkins
Primary School Female - Nicole Aleksieva
Intermediate School Male - Mikal Moreland
Intermediate School Female - Samantha Walker
High School JV Male - Benjamin Brady
High School JV Female - Zoe Sibthorp
High School Varsity Male - Adrian Vartia
High School Varsity Female - Bridget Hall
JROTC High School JV Male - Richard Booth
JROTC High School JV Female - Angelina Vargas
JROTCHigh School Varsity Male - Phillip Harrington
JROTC High School Varsity Female - Caitlyn Charles
College Varsity Male - Thomas Laraia
College Varsity Female - Siri Christopherson
Full results, splits, and RouteGadget are available here.
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Recap: Trail-O NRE
Results from the Five Rivers Trail-O National Ranking Event, held April 13-14 in Delmar, NY, are available here.
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Recap: 40th Annual West Point National Meet
The U.S. Military Academy Orienteering Club hosted their 40th annual National Ranking Event the weekend of April 27-28. The event included three races: middle distance and sprint on Saturday and a long distance on Sunday.
The races were all held in top-notch West Point terrain and with spectacular settings. The sprint, in particular drew praise. In the words of Australian visitor Eric Morris: It was a real privilege (especially as a foreigner) to be allowed to race around West Point. The town and Base/Campus looked like a movie set. Everything neat and tidy and suitably impressive from the parade ground, the buildings, the sports fields (the finish was on the indoor running track) and the views over the Hudson River. The only negative was the wind and sleeting rain which made warming up a real ordeal.
Trophy Point, site of the sprint at the West Point NRE
The weekend was used as Team Trials for the U.S. (and Canadian) teams that will compete at the World Orienteering Championships (WOC) in Norway in August. Since this year's WOC features only forest disciplines, most U.S. athletes trying out for the team either skipped the sprint or took it at a training pace. You can see the U.S. WOC team announcement above. It is worth mentioning that Eric Bone (COC) was selected for his 19th WOC, the most of any athlete from any country in history!
Route Gadget:
Middle
Sprint
Long (White-Yellow)
Long (Orange-Blue)
Results:
Middle
Sprint
Long
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Recap: Deer Creek Hills
After a rainout (due to road conditions) in April, we finally got back to beautiful Deer Creek Hills on Saturday May 18. What could have been a very hot day in a normal year ended up feeling more like February than May. Rain keeps haunting us at this location, but that didn't keep hardy souls from trying their best at seven different courses set by Mats Jansson in an area mostly different from the 2018 two-day meet (part of California Orienteering Week).
See results here.
See RouteGadget here.
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Preview: Trail-O Nationals
The New England Orienteering Club is proud to invite you to the 2-day OUSA Trail Orienteering National Championships June 15-16, 2019!
There will be pre-assigned interval starts each day. Awards for highest class rankings will recognize winners for each day and for combined score for both days.
The historic grounds of Phillips Academy, Andover serve as the venue for the Saturday timed Trail-O event (Temp-O).
Beautiful Houghton’s Pond, part of the Blue Hills Reservation, will be the backdrop for Sunday’s Precision Orienteering event (Pre-O).
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Newsletter Contributions
If you would like to send content for the next edition of the newsletter, please email it to the editors by the 20th of the month.
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Newsletter Compiled and Edited by Allison Brown and Boris Granovskiy
Banner Photo credits: Cristina Luis, WCOC/HVO, Valerie Meyer, Facebook
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