FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jon Nash, Director of Media Relations, (207)439-7096; jonnash@juno.com

THE 2004 US INTERCOLLEGIATE ORIENTEERING CHAMPIONSHIPS ARE COMING TO WESTERN CONNECTICUT

Two parks in Western Connecticut will be the sites of the 2004 United States Intercollegiate Orienteering Championships, which will be contested on the first weekend in April. On Saturday, April 3^rd, orienteers will compete at Osbornedale State Park in Derby, with the competition shifting to the Ansonia Nature Center, in Ansonia, on Sunday, the 4^th.

The United States Intercollegiate Orienteering Championships are sanctioned by the United States Orienteering Federation (USOF), and will be hosted by the Western Connecticut Orienteering Club (WCOC). The Championships are a two-day, combined time, competition. Individual intercollegiate titles will be contested in the men’s and women’s varsity, and men women’s junior varsity, classes. In addition to the individual competition, collegiate orienteers will also be representing their schools in the team competition. Perennial intercollegiate orienteering powerhouse Army is expected to be tough to beat for the team title, but a number of other schools are expected to try.

The United States Intercollegiate Orienteering Championships will also serve as the team trials for the US Team that will compete at the World Student Orienteering Championships, to be held in the Czech Republic in late June. Top individual finishers, in the men’s and in the women’s varsity classes, will earn automatic invites to join the US Team for that event. Rick DeWitt, directing the competition for WCOC, said “Orienteers here in Connecticut are very excited about hosting this championship. Orienteering is growing, and is catching on among young athletes. The Intercollegiate Championships will be a great showcase for orienteers whom we can expect to see representing the US for years to come.” He added, “It’s quite possible that one of the podium finishers at the Intercollegiates will be standing on a similar podium in the Czech Republic just months from now.”

In addition to the races for intercollegiate orienteers, the United States Intercollegiate Orienteering Championships will also feature a simultaneous orienteering competition for orienteers in other competition age groups. Top orienteers from throughout North America are expected to travel to Western Connecticut for that competition.

Orienteering, a medal sport in the World Games, involves participants navigating to checkpoints on an unknown course with the aid of just a map and a compass. It began in Sweden around 1900 as a military exercise. It was not long before it had caught on as a sport with the public at large, and soon became quite popular throughout Scandinavia. In the United States, orienteering is a relatively small, but growing, sport. WCOC is a member of the USOF, the sport's national governing body. The USOF is an affiliated member of the United States Olympic Committee. Ski-orienteering, the sport's winter discipline, is under consideration for addition to a future Winter Olympic Games program. Other internationally recognized disciplines of the sport include mountain bike orienteering and trail-orienteering. Orienteering is also rapidly gaining recognition as an integral part of adventure racing, an important element in hunter safety programs, and as part of the sports programs of youth organizations.

The public is invited to attend the United States Intercollegiate Orienteering Championships. Detailed information about the event, as well as how someone in Connecticut can get started in orienteering, can be found at the WCOC web site, http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/rdewitt/wcoc/index.html . Those without Internet access may call Mr. DeWitt at 203-743-6425. Additional information about orienteering can be found at the USOF's web site, http://www.us.orienteering.org .

[Additional information about collegiate orienteering in the United States may be obtained from Liz Kotowski, who oversees intercollegiate orienteering programs in the US. Her e-mail address is lizk@netway.com .]