To view news from past years, go the history page.

News

• 13 May 2012: The Orienteering Team held its annual end of year party where team members and faculty enjoyed time together just as finals week begins at West Point . The rookie team members received their orienteering patch and Firsties were presented with a poster commemorating their four years on the team. MAJ Sean McCafferty and MAJ Pete Nelson, who were both on the team as cadets and have helped with the team the past three years were presented going away gifts by the cadets. COL Hendricks, the team head Officer Representative, also received a gift from the cadets. 
  
  
• 09 May 2012: The Orienteering Team was named the Competitive Sports Club with the highest average GPA for the third year in a row at the Annual Department of Physical Education (DPE) awards event.  The team's 30 team members obtained an impressive 3.55 average GPA.
  
  
• 5-6 May 2012: “The Orienteering Team hosted 230+ competitors at the 33rd running of the West Point Orienteering A-Meet 5 thru 6 May 2011. The meet director, CDT  Michael Rodriguez (12, I2), led the 31 cadet strong Orienteering Team in planning and executing this complex event for competitors from throughout North America and other countries. The meet consisted of three races over two days. Saturday morning’s middle distance race, set by Keith Andersen (‘12, H4), covered areas around Bull Pond.  Cadet Zachary Schroeder (‘14, A2) designed Saturday afternoon’s Sprint Courses around Camp Natural Bridge.  The Long Course was designed by Nolan Miles (‘13, D2) and covered areas surrounding Camp Shea. West Point Ski Patrol assisted with first aid.”
  
  
• 28 Apr 2012: The West Point Orienteering Team, led by CDT Ian Jones ('13, C4), hosted over 200 participants at their 8th Annual Orienteering Skills Workshop at Camp Shea, 28 April 2012. The participants, most of which were Boy Scouts, began the day with cadet led classes followed by a terrain walk.  This training was followed with two beginner orienteering courses to test the Scout's newly acquired skills.
  
  
  
• 21-22 Apr 2012: The USMA Orienteering Club traveled to Seattle, Washington for the U.S. Intercollegiate Championships and secured their 10th consecutive and 34th national title as the best collegiate orienteering team in the country. The team put forward an impressive effort to persist through the tough northwestern temperate rainforest over two days of competition, running a classic course and sprint relay on Saturday and another classic course on Sunday. The team of CDT Keith Andersen (2012, H4), Hannah Burgess (2012, E3), Zach Schroeder (2014, A2), Charles Whitaker (2014, H3), and John Hensley Williams (2015, I1) took overall top school and club collegiate positions. In the individual categories, Cadets Keith Andersen and Hannah Burgess took first place as the varsity intercollegiate champions. Cadet Charlie Whitaker took men’s varsity second place and Cadet Theodore Fong took third. Cadet McKenzie Hudgins took third place in women’s varsity. The junior varsity team of CDTs Carl Adams (2015, E3), Victoria Emerson (2013, G4), Matthew Means (2015, I4) , and Chris Murray (2014, A3) finished first as well.

• 18 Apr 2012: John Hensley Williams (2015, I1) and Teddy Fong (2014, I2) were named to the U.S. Junior National Orienteering Team.  The U.S. Junior National Orienteering Team competes at the Junior World Orienteering Championships (JWOC), this summer held in Kosice, Slovakia, July 7-14.
  
• 17 Apr 2012: Hannah Burgess (2012, E3) was named to the U.S. National Orienteering Team for the second consecutive year. The U.S. National Team team competes at the World Orienteering Championships (WOC), this summer held in Savoie France. Team Alumni, Jordan Laughlin (2011) was also named to the team as the first alternate.
  
• 13-15 Apr 2012: Eight cadets traveled to the Atlanta areas to compete in the 2012 US Individual Orienteering Championships hosted by Georgia Orienteering Club. Hannah Burgess (2012, E3) placed third in the Elite Women's Middle Distance Race, while newcomer, James O'Keefe (2015, E3) placed second in the Men's Developmental category (Green). In the long distance race Hannah Burgess again placed third in the Elite Women's Long Distance (12.2km) category. James O'Keefe placed second in the Men's Developmental category (Green) while McKenzie Hudgins (2014, F3) also  placed second in the Women's Developmental category (Green).
  
• 29 Mar - 01 Apr 2012: The entire West Point Orienteering Team plus our Air Force exchange cadet, Zachary Hoeffner, competed this past weekend in the 16th annual “Flying Pig” national-level meet in Florence, KY, just outside Cincinnati. Hannah Burgess finished first in her category on Saturday and Sunday's middle length race. Keith Andersen took 7th , 12th, and 7th on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday respectively on the middle courses in the Men’s elite category. Team Freshman Duncan Miller and James O’Keefe did very well in their category as well, taking 2nd and 4th on Friday and 3rd and 1st on Saturday, respectively. Cadet O’Keefe earned 3rd place on Sunday as well.  The Point Orienteering team represented West Point well this weekend and is prepared to perform exceptionally in Washington at Intercollegiates in two weeks.
  
• 24-25 Mar 2012: Cadet Hannah Burgess (2012, E3), led a young group of team members at the U.S. Junior Team Training Camp at Peekskill NY 24-25 Mar 2012 that included Victoria Emerson (2013, G4), Carl Adams (2015, E3), Jacob Grant (2015, D1), William Miller (2015, F1), James O'Keefe (2015, E3), Cody Stamm (2015, F1), Samuel Thompson (2015, G4), and John Williams (2015, I1). Saturday's training focused on route choice and memorization. Sunday consisted of middle distance training and two head to head sprint races.
  
• 10-11 Mar 2012: A small contingent of the West Point Orienteering Team competed in the U.S. Classic National Championships in Birkhead Wilderness North Carolina. CDT John Hensley-Williams place first in the Junior Male 2-day Classic Course (8km)  Category with a combined time of 2 hrs, 18 min, 42 secs. CDT Hannah Burgess placed second in the highly competitive Women's  Open 2-day Classic Course (8km)  Category with a time of 2 hrs 31 min, 19 secs.
  
• 10-12 Feb 2012: The USMA Orienteering Team attended three days of classroom and field training on post from 10-12 February. Classes were centered around using Electronic scoring, GPS hardware and Route tracking software as a training aid. Classes included basic GPS, mapping, Route Analysis concepts, using online training logs as a tool for recording workouts and comparing race results with other athletes, along with conducting course AARs using GPS data to analyze performance in three different programs. Team members ran three courses in order to record GPS data, and by the end of the weekend were proficient in uploading and analyzing that data in order to identify areas of improvement. The skills they learned over the weekend are applicable beyond West Point as they design training for soldiers in their Army careers.

• 16 Dec 2011: West Point was named the runner up Orienteering Team of the Year. The Orienteering Team of the Year is awarded to the best USA national or club orienteering team in 2011, based on results at national and international events. West Point won the Intercollegiate team champs and plus placed two members, Jordan Laughlin and Hannah Burgess, on the USA team to the 2011 World Orienteering Championships.
  
• 19 Nov 2011: Nineteen Orienteering Team cadets volunteered at the Hudson Valley Orienteering JROTC Fall Regional Championships held in Putnam Valley, NY. In addition, team members competed against other adult orienteer on advanced courses.
  
• 21-23 Oct 2011: The West Point Orienteering Team traveled to the Boston region to compete in the US Individual Sprint, Middle, and Long Distance Orienteering Championships. Friday’s sprint event was held at Franklin Park in Dorchester where Hannah Burgess (2012, E3) placed second in the women’s elite category and Keith Andersen (2012,  H4) placed second in the men’s elite category. McKenzie Hudgins (2014, F3) and Teddy Fong (2014, I2) both raced to second place in their respective junior categories. Chris Murray (2014, A3) posted a winning time in the developmental category.  The venue for Saturday’s middle distance event was at Lynn Woods, in Lynn MA. On a very technical course which stymied many of the competitors , Hannah Burgess (2012, E3) placed second in the women’s elite category. Sunday’s long distance race occurred at Middlesex Fells in Stoneham, MA. Hannah Burgess (2012, E3) continued her excellent performance this weekend again placing second in the women’s 10.1 km elite race. Teddy Fong (2014, I2) had a great race on his 9.7 km junior category course placing second, only 2 seconds behind the leader. McKenzie Hudgins (2014, F3) placed well on her 6.4km junior category course.
   
• 08-09 Oct 2011: The USMA Orienteering Team travelled to Bear Brook State Park, NH this weekend to compete in the 2011 Boulder Dash 2-day Classic. Hannah Burgess (’12 E3) took first place in both races, winning her age category overall. Charles Whitaker (’14 H3) placed second overall and Theodore Fong (’14 G2) third overall in their age category. McKenzie Hudgins (’14 F3) took third overall in her age category. John Williams (’15 I1) placed first in the red course category. Samuel Thompson (’15 G4) took first in the green course category. Several team members also moved up to higher course categories, including Jacob Grant (’15 D1) and William Miller (’15 F1). The first course on Saturday challenged the team, but after a thorough AAR, the team showed marked improvement during Sunday's race. Team Alumni and recent graduates Kevin Culberg and Jordan Laughlin took time out from their Army training and competed with the team.  The Boulder Dash will certainly set the team up for success in the upcoming CSU US Individual Orienteering Championships.
  
• 02 Oct 2011:  25 Cadets from the orienteering team competed in Hudson Valley Orienteering’s “Hudson Highlander” long distance orienteering race, considered to be among the toughest orienteering races in North America.  11 Cadets ran the long 26.2km Highlander race with 14 cadets running the shorter but still extremely tough 13.1km Lowlander race. Cadet Hannah Burgess, E3 '12 placed first for women in the highlander race with a time of 4 hours, 21 minutes.  Cadets Jon Bangert and Zach Schroeder finished in 3 hours and 48 minutes, placing 6th and 7th. All other cadets finished the race within the allotted time and represented West Point well on the course.
• 18 Sep 2011: 16 Cadets competed at the Hudson Valley Orienteering Club's National Orienteering Day event at Hudson Highlands Nature Museum, Cornwall NY. 1st Year cadet John Hensley Williams (2015, I1) posted the fasted time of the event, with a 44:47.
  
• 10-11 Sep 2011:  30 cadets participated in a weekend training event at Hickory Run State Park, Pennsylvania. The annual event, held September 10-11, allows cadets newly selected to the Orienteering Team a chance to hone their skills prior to the competitive season. The Delaware Valley Orienteering Association was responsible for the training, which included several mini courses to test the cadets knowledge of orienteering. The first day culminated with a day sprint course and a night orienteering course. On the final day of the meet, cadets ran their respective course ranging in difficulty from intermediate to advanced. Overall the trip was a success, the cadets had the opportunity to learn from elite orienteers (members of the US National team), the chance to test their knowledge of orienteering, and prepare themselves for next meet and eventually Nationals.
• Aug 2011: Cadet Hannah Burgess (2012, E3) competed as a member of the U.S. national team at the World Orienteering Championships 10-20 August 2011 in Savoie France. Hannah is the first women from West Point to compete at this very competetive event. Joining Hannah was 2Lt Jordan Laughlin, a recent graduate of West Point and member of the Orienteering Team. Both these talented athletes represented their country and the Academy well at this prestigious international event.

Resources

• Intramural Orienteering Briefing (Includes Five Skills of Orienteering)
• West Point Permanent Land Navigation/Orienteering Course (Permission to Access Land Required)
• Map Comparison Document - a quick look at imagery, orienteering maps, and military topographic line maps (TLM)
• US Military Academy Prep School Orienteering Club

Accomplishments

• U.S. Intercollegiate Orienteering Team Champions: 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996, 1995, 1992, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988, 1987, 1986, 1985, 1982, 1981, 1980, 1979, 1978
• Field and Stream Intercollegiate Club Champions: 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2003, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993, 1992, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988, 1987, 1986, 1985, 1982, 1981, 1980, 1979, 1978
• U.S. Intercollegiate Orienteering Individual Women's Champion: 2012 - Hannah Burgess, 2010 - Hannah Burgess, 2007 - Sarah Klaben, 2005 - Sarah Klaben, 1994 - Frances Danaher, 1989 - Amy Williams, 1988 - Kelly O'Rourke, 1987 - Donna Everson, 1986 - Donna Everson, 1983 - Mary Costello, 1981 - Marianne Keil, 1980 - Erin O'Connor
• U.S. Intercollegiate Orienteering Individual Men's Champion: 2012 - Keith Andersen, 2011 - Jordan Laughlin, 2009 - Neal Trump, 2008 - Jordan Laughlin, 2007 - Andrew Komm, 2002 - Josh Barten, 1999 - Pete Nelson, 1998 - Jeremy McKnight, 1980 - Mikell Platt, 1977 - Tim Daniels

U.S. Senior Orienteering Team at World Orienteering Championships (WOC)

The USMA team is sponsored by the Department of

with Special Technical support from the

Geospatial Information Science Program

Send comments to  COL Michael Hendricks