Athlete Profile: Jeff Teutsch

2011 Highlights

• Strong results in all races at the US team trials at the end of May
• 3rd place at the Barebones long in September in the Bow Valley
• Excellent results at the Ottawa O-Fest culminating in an Ontario Champs bronze medal in the long
• Very strong results at the US individual champs in Boston in October, particularly my 6th place in the sprint

When and how did you get involved with orienteering?
After orienteering as a very young child in a hiking backpack with my parents I started orienteering regularly around 1999. My first major event was the 2006 North American Champs when I surprised myself by coming in in the middle of the pack in the 17-20 age category (I was 17). I’ve been hooked on competing ever since.
What do you love most about orienteering?
I love almost everything about orienteering. The fact that every race represents a new challenge, that you can travel a lot to see new and exciting places and find areas of wilderness few people have explored before. The people are amazing of course, and it helps that there’s an awesome club in Ottawa with lots of people to train with. I wouldn’t be training and competing right now if it weren’t for club mates and fellow HPPers Eric Kemp and Robbie Anderson!
What is your favourite orienteering discipline?
My favourite discipline is the middle distance. To me orienteering is all about the technical challenge and that’s captured best in the middle discipline.
Which event is always on your calendar?
The COCs have been on my calendar since 2007, the first year I went. Always an amazing week chalk full of racing, training, coaching, meetings, learning and becoming exhausted! Ottawa-O-Fest is always on my calendar as well of course! It helps that it’s in my hometown and I’ve been involved in organizing since 2009. I really enjoy helping with the organization and pushing the envelope for what is expected from orienteering meets as well as racing in it.
Who’s your orienteering idol?
I can’t say I have an orienteering idol as such but I’m very impressed with both Will Critchley and Ali Crocker’s recent rise to the top of orienteering in North America in such a short time. That’s definitely something I’m hoping to emulate over the next several years.
What was the highlight of your 2011 season?
The highlight of my 2011 season was coming in 6th in the US champs sprint in Boston in October. It felt particularly good after all the results were compiled and I was fourth North American behind club mates Eric Kemp and Jon Torrance and having people comment that OOC could easily field a Team Canada relay team on its own for the NOACs.
What are your 2012 orienteering goals?
I approach everything with the goal of doing the best I can and improving every time I do something. Orienteering is no different and there’s always some aspect of it you can improve on. A few specific goals I have this year are to make the Canadian WOC team, to medal in one of the COC races and to make one of Canada’s relay teams for the NOACs. Time will tell the rest of the story.
What races are on your 2012 calendar?
My 2012 calendar is pretty full. It starts with the Vancouver Sprint Camp in February. The spring includes 3 or 4 races and a few training camps including the WOC team trials in Ottawa (Ottawa O-Fest) and Calgary (Barebones). I’m hoping to go to the World Universities in Spain in June and then the Post Finance Sprint World Cup races and WOC in Switzerland in July. Then I’m back home before heading out to Alberta for the Western Canadians and Canadians in August. My fall season includes the Ontario Champs and North Americans.
What’s your favourite international location to orienteer?
Unfortunately I haven’t yet built up a very large list of places I’ve orienteered internationally. I have to give a mention to Harriman State Park and Blue Mountain in New York State but otherwise it’s nearly impossible to pick favourite.
When you’re not orienteering, where can we find you?
Now that I’m not at school, I’ve been spending a lot of my non-training time at home working on my various projects. I divide most of this time between working to make the o-store bigger and better and working on various club projects. I spend a fair bit of time out mapping parks in and around Ottawa. My biggest mapping project right now is a huge sprint map of downtown Ottawa which is about 2 km2 so far.