MISSOULA — When you walk through the woods, you might be coming to connect with nature, but for four University of Montana students, this is their competition ground — and they’ve already proven that they are the best in the country.
Orienteering came to the Missoula area in 2021, but how it’s played is what makes this sport so unique.
"You use a topographical map and a compass and you navigate from checkpoint to checkpoint through the wilderness or urban areas and it's really cool and I love it!” said freshman Zariah Zosel.
Zosel has participated in the sport for nine years, and this year, she finished fourth in the nation.
Zosel has competed in the national competition before, but this was her first time competing collegiately.
“It was really cool to get to race at a different level of competition with... obviously much more experienced people that could be like up to 24 or older," Zosel noted. "So, it was, it was really interesting. It was a really cool step up from racing at the high school level."
Four UM students went to Quincy, Washington to compete against the best in the country. The Grizzly Orienteering team placed first in the country, winning over the University of Arizona and West Point.
Ben Conley, who has been competing since elementary school, says that this sport is how he pushes himself while enjoying the outdoors.
“I like trying to push myself in the woods on my own. I've always liked sports like that and orienteering is the next level of that,” Conley said.
Teammate Ben Brady, who placed second this year, says that in the 10 years he’s been running there are two things that keep him going.
"The ability to get out in the outdoors and run out in the woods. I mean it's beautiful out here," Brady told MTN. "And also secondarily, the people I've met along the way. I’ve met a lot of really great friends through the sport."
Brady explained what went into bringing the first-place trophy to Missoula for the first time in Grizzly Orienteering history, saying it was training and teamwork.
But how exactly do you train for orienteering? Brady said that it’s a lot of studying.
“One of the main things that goes into training is like getting time studying the actual maps themselves," Brady said. "So, we knew ahead of time where the events were going to be. And we had the maps, although we did not have the courses. And so, we spent a lot of time looking over maps together."
In many individual sports, your teammates are there to motivate you and orienteering is no different. Brady says that his teammates are a huge part of his success.
“I think that the fact that we have a team that's always working together makes it so much easier to keep yourself motivated on an individual level,” Brady said.
And with the club only being in up and running for about three years, Calvin Olsen — who has been running with the club since 2021 — told MTN what it’s been like to watch the success of the club as more and more people participate.
“Just seeing, you know, at our events when we get 60, 70 people come out and run a course, and, and like more and more people in town...know what I'm talking about when I bring it up," Olsen said. "And yeah, just seeing it grow — I think especially the youth program...is just really exciting to me to get young people involved and find these folks who realize their passion for the sport at like such a young age,."
Visit https://www.grizzlyorienteering.org/ to learn more about getting involved with Grizzly Orienteering.
