07/07/2025

The 24th USA Radio Orienteering Championships were held June 19 - 22, 2025. The event was hosted by the Backwoods Orienteering Klub (BOK) at Morrow Mountain State Park in Albemarle, North Carolina, and drew about 30 athletes from across the United States and Canada. Radio orienteering is also known as amateur radio direction-finding, or ARDF.

There were four World Championship-style races: Foxoring, Sprint, 2m Classic and 80m Classic. 

The Elite results:


o Eduard Nasybulin (Massachusetts), unofficial overall crown, dominated the men's field, winning Sprint, 2m and 80m Classics, and adding silver in Foxoring. 
o Gheorghe Fala (North Carolina/BOK) seized Foxoring gold and finished second to Nasybulin in 2m and 80m Classics.
o In W35 (women ages 35 and older), Lori Huberman (California Bay Area Orienteering Club) captured Foxoring and Sprint, while Erin Hammer (NC/BOK) sprinted to 2m and 80m Classics gold and added silver in the other formats.

Masters stand-outs:


o Nadia Scharlau, KO4ADV (North Carolina/BOK), extended her W55 (women ages 55 and older) legacy with victories in both 2m and 80m Classics.
o The M60 class (men ages 60 and older) became a two-way battle: Evgeny Danilov, KQ4QYZ, and Nicolai Mejevoi traded wins and podium spots across all four events, with Mejevoi topping the Sprint and 80m Classic races while Danilov took 2m Classic and Foxoring gold.

Senior competitors:

Every entrant in the M70 (men 70 and older) and W75 (women 75 and older) divisions completed at least three of the four demanding courses. Their steady performances - and obvious enjoyment - underscored the value of adding senior categories to future championships.

Youth sweep:

BOK junior Tiger Zhao claimed a perfect four-event sweep in M16 (men 16 and under) and teammates Anastasia Afonkin W16 (women 16 and under) and Adalia Schafrath-Craig W19 (women 19 and younger) also took golds - some with times that would have placed competitively in older divisions.

Team USA will go on to compete at the 2025 IARU World Championships, to be held in Lithuania in August. The complete results of these championships, available at the BOK website, will be used for selecting the US team. Learn more about amateur radio direction finding on the ARRL ARDF page.

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