Briana Steven
Brian was in the schools team for three years, 2015-2017, so she has run in a few states. She has also achieved a good number of podiums over the years . Although she feels that best position she won she wasn’t actually on the podium, because she was beaten by three other NZ junior girls, but they managed to black-out the top 4 placings! Her favourite Australian map is probably Cascades in Queensland from Aus champs long in 2016 (lots of granite highways, just like this year). We have interviewed Briana just before JWOC in 2022 – so read more about her here

Shaun Cantwell 
Shaun began orienteering with Pinelands in 1975, during a time when the sport was just starting and attracted many athletic runners, including Olympic silver medalist Gordon Pirie and national athletics champion Colin Battley. As the sport developed, Shaun recalls babysitting Tania Robinson and meeting Darren Ashmore as a child, maybe hinting at his early coaching instincts.

In the late 70s and 80s, family priorities took precedence, but he always planned to return to orienteering. He later focused on coaching teams in various sports, including ultra/mountain running and swimming. After moving from Rotorua to Te Anau in the 2000s, he became involved with navigation training for Get 2Go teams. Under his guidance, the Te Anau Fiordland school has excelled, qualifying for Hillary events and contributing to a surge in local orienteering participation.

Although Shaun didn’t qualify for the Australian champs in his youth, he later travelled as a coach for the Southern Cross Challenge, enjoying the collaborative spirit of the sport. He enjoys helping young athletes stay focused while ensuring they have the support needed to connect and recharge between events.

Rachel Smith
Rachel started orienteering around 1991 while in High School. A friend had been going along to some local events and our group of friends all went along and would later form the school orienteering team.She is currently Orienteering Bay of Plenty, but reviously, Dunedin, WACO. Rachel has raced in Australia many times before over the last few decades, at Australian Champs,  MTBO events, World Cups and even at the inaugural Southern Cross Challenge!  The most memorable map in Australia is.The Cascades Granite terrain near Stanthorpe. But elsewhere, Suzhou Amusement Park – Park World Tour (PWT) 2004 Sprint race. It was the first sprint race in really unique surroundings with amazing crowds. 
Rachel has been  a coach to Perth with the ASOC 2023 team., and camp Manager at last year Junior Camp and is a  a regular parent organiser for Rotorua Lakes High School orienteering and adventure race teams. 
Rachel predicted that the biggest challenge would be getting there, and while over there perhaps the biggest challenge might be getting used to the volume of singing while driving the vans!

Susanna Carryer & Michael Croxford 
We interviewed both Suzy & Michael last year. They have experience in spades with managing groups of students and orienteers. We do wonder how many books Suzy will be able to read on this trip, and Michael’s spreadsheet updating skills were very much needed and on standby along with the flights this year. Read here

Tane Cambridge
Tane started orienteering in year 5 at school and his first major event was the Wanaka Otago champs organised by a school teacher. His family moved to Dunedin and he then  joined the local club there, and now living in Christchurch he is with PAPO. He has helped at many junior and U23 camps, and run in many Australian Champs. His favourite Australian map was from the 2016 World Rogaine champs in Alice Springs.  Tane’s Australian World Rogaine Map: