TrailBlaze National Orienteering League

The TrailBlaze National Orienteering League (NOL) has taken a new format this year! Within NOL, there are now two disciplines: a forest discipline and a sprint discipline, each with its own separate leaderboard, but both are now under the NOL name. TrailBlaze NOL is a multi-round competition for elite orienteers in New Zealand. Points are given at races in the series to identify the top orienteers each season. These competitions are an important part of the pathway for athletes aiming for international representation.

The Forest competition focuses on forest/farm orienteering events, such as middle and long-distance races. The best 6 out of 8 races count towards an athlete’s final ranking. The three finalists also go into automatic selection for the next round of the Forest World Cups.

The Sprint focuses on sprint orienteering. The best 4 out of 5 races count towards an athlete’s final ranking.

Thanks to TrailBlaze for supporting elite orienteering in New Zealand.

2026 Forest League calendar

Leaderboards

Round 1

Waitangi /

Middlemarch

Friday 6 February 2026

Round 2

Waitangi / Long

Gladbrook

Saturday 7 February 2026

Round 3

Auckland Trials / Middle

Terlesk-Huck-Kereta

Saturday 7 March 2026

Round 4

Auckland Trials / Long

Terlesk-Huck-Kereta

Sunday 8 March 2026

Round 5

NZOC Wairarapa / Middle (WRE)

Rewanui Forest Park

Saturday 4 April 2026

Round 6

NZOC Wairarapa / Long (WRE)

Coonoor

Sunday 5 April 2026

Round 7

Kings Birthday Weekend / Middle (WRE)

Woodhill Forest North

Saturday 31 May 2026

Round 8

Kings Birthday Weekend / Long (WRE)

Woodhill Forest South

Sunday 1 June 2026
WomenMen
1. Kaia Joergensen1. Zefa Fa’avae
2. Lara Molloy2. Felix Hunt
3. Renee Beverage3. Joseph Lynch

A big thank you also to the 2024 NOL sponsors TrailBlaze, The Crafty Weka Bar, Str8compass for supporting the series with prizes for the winners.

Huge congratulations to the podium finishers for 2024:

Men

  1. Felix Hunt (579.3)
  2. Riley Croxford (507.4)
  3. Jake McLellan (495.8)

Women

  1. Tide Fa’avae (543.3)
  2. Katherine Babington (507.2)
  3. Phoebe Hunt (505.0)

Regional

  1. Southerly Storm (7711.5)
  2. Northern Knights (3857.7)
  3. Central Scorchers (2449.6)

Men’s 2024 NOL leaderboard

Women’s 2024 NOL leaderboard

Men’s 2022-2023 NOL leaderboard

Women’s 2022-2023 NOL leaderboard

  • There are 4 classes for NOL: M20E, W20E, M21E, W20E.
  • Athletes will need to race 20E and 21E classes to get points.
  • Points are awarded based on time behind the winner.
    • 21E classes get points based on 100 for the winner
    • 20E classes get points based on 80 for the winner, unless 20E is on the same course as 21E, when points are based on 100 for the overall winner.
  • The 20E and 21E leaderboads are combined, so there is only one leaderboard for men, and one for women.
  • Regional points are assigned according to ONZ regions.

2026 Sprint League calendar

Leaderboards

Round 1

Oceania Knockout Sprint (WRE)

Central Coast, NSW

Saturday 24 January 2026

Round 2

Oceania Sprint (WRE)

Central Coast, NSW

Sunday 25 February 2026

Round 3 

Auckland trials / Sprint

Auckland

Friday 7 March 2026

Round 4

NZOC Sprint (WRE)

Masterton, Wairarapa

Friday 3 April 2026

Round 5 

King’s Birthday Weekend Sprint (WRE)

Auckland

Saturday 30 May 2026
WomenMen
1. Zara Stewart1. Jake McLellan
2. Kaia Joergensen2. Nathan Borton
3. Renee Beveridge3. Jakob Knoef

Podium finishers for 2024:

Men

  1. Joseph Lynch (598.2)
  2. Felix Hunt (587.0)
  3. Ronan Lee (562.3)

Women

  1. Katherine Babington (567.3)
  2. Georgia Lindroos (536.2)
  3. Tide Fa’avae (534.5)

Regional

  1. Southerly Storm (8055.9)
  2. Northern Knights (6568.6)
  3. Central Scorchers (4347.8)

Men’s 2024 NSL leaderboard

Women’s 2024 NSL leaderboard

Men’s 2022-2023 NSL leaderboard

Women’s 2022-2023 NSL leaderboard

  • There are 4 classes for NSL: M20E, W20E, M21E, W20E.
  • Points are awarded based on time behind the winner.
  • Since 20E and 21E classes race on the same course, all athletes get points based on 100 for the overall winner.
  • The 20E and 21E leaderboads are combined, so there is only one leaderboard for men, and one for women.
  • For KO sprints, the calculation is more complex but roughly follows that adopted by the IOF for WRE KO races.
  • The final score is based on the best 5 individual sprints plus the KO.
  • Regional points are assigned according to ONZ regions.