Brookwood Junior Brings Home National Orienteering Championship Title

Brookwood High School junior Matt Stout won Gold and is now the 2013 National Varsity Orienteering Champion.

Matt competed in the National Interscholastic Orienteering Championships near Kansas City, Kansas on March 9 - 10 in a fierce competition among 59 high school boys from around the country. His teammate, Austin Fowler, also a Brookwood junior, joined him on the podium and brought home a Bronze medal.

About Orienteering
Orienteering is often called the thinking sport because it involves map reading and decision-making in addition to being a great workout. It's a sport that everyone can enjoy, regardless of age or experience. The competitive athlete, male and female, can experience the exhilaration of running through the woods at top speed, finding his way through unfamiliar terrain with only a detailed map and a compass and his own wits.

Competitors try to maneuver through the forest as fast as possible, using maps to locate hidden controlmarkers. On their hands, they wear electronic fingersticks that interface with an electronic reader at each control. These devices precisely measure how long the runner spent on each leg and calculate the total time on the course. Each orienteer is striving to beat the time of his competitors in the same class to win the race and earn a spot on the podium.