EYOC 2026

EYOC 2026 — Nova Gorica, Slovenia

24–27 June 2026

The Irish Junior Squad travelled to Nova Gorica for the 2026 European Youth Orienteering Championships, sending a team of 16 athletes across the M/W16 and M/W18 categories. The team selected was:

• M18: Aidan McKenna, Liam Casey, Eanna Grennan, Liam O'Donnell

• W18: Sadhbh Hassett, Fionnuala Rowe, Niamh Browne, Ellie Simpson

• M16: Eoin Simpson, Marcus Richardson, James Ewart, Alec O'Brien

• W16: Aoife Masterson, Deirbhile Hassett, Eimear Casey, Beth Joyce

The team was accompanied by Dave Masterson, Toni O'Donovan, Eoin Browne, Andy Simpson, and Anne McKenna

Many of these juniors had previously visited the area a few weeks earlier at the 2nd official training camp, which didn't clash with either the JK or the IOC this year. As a result, we had a good idea what the terrain was going to be like, and the kinds of courses the setters were likely to plan. 

Sprint — Nova Gorica, 25 June

The championships opened with the sprint through Nova Gorica's town centre - tight streets, route choice legs and closely-spaced controls, always a cruel discipline for young orienteers under pressure. Gold went to Ekain Fernández García (ESP, 13:25) in M18, Lotta Marit Lüthi (SUI, 13:01) in W18, Daniel Sanz (ESP, 11:58) in M16, and Dora Delić (CRO, 12:52) in W16.

The weather on the sprint day was hot and humid - easily in the mid 30s. As a result, the coaches (and parents who had travelled to support) spent a large part of the week making ice, and then using said ice to keep everyone cool before the race (in the quarantine) and in the arena afterwards. Thankfully, the organisers had also considered this, and gave us all free gelato - yay!

Aidan McKenna produced the squad's standout run of the championships, taking 12th in M18 (14:07, +0:42) — a step up on his 14th place in M16 sprint at Szczecin two years ago, and Ireland's best individual result of the week. Liam Casey backed him up in 33rd (14:48).

• M18: Aidan McKenna 12th (14:07), Liam Casey 33rd (14:48), Liam O'Donnell 90th (20:48), Eanna Grennan mispunched

• W18: Sadhbh Hassett 47th (16:04), Ellie Simpson 67th (17:12), Niamh Browne 70th (17:21), Fionnuala Rowe mispunched

• M16: Eoin Simpson 54th (15:06), Marcus Richardson 57th (15:14), James Ewart 87th (18:31), Alec O'Brien did not finish

• W16: Aoife Masterson 65th (17:13), Deirbhile Hassett 72nd (18:03), Eimear Casey 83rd (20:09), Beth Joyce mispunched

Long Distance — Lokve, 26 June

Day two moved out to the hilly karst and forest around Lokve for the long distance. Gold medals went to Martin Bulička (CZE, 53:31) in M18, Brina Kolner (SLO, 54:44) in W18, Daniel Sanz (ESP, 41:45) in M16, and Sara Delić (CRO, 49:47) in W16 - the terrain clearly suiting the Croatian and Spanish athletes across both days.

It was another warm day, but thankfully the forest provided some shelter from the direct sun, and although it wasn't at a very high altitude, the hills were several degrees cooler than the valley floor.

Aidan McKenna was again our leading finisher, 19th in M18 (1:05:37, +12:06), with Liam Casey 49th (1:16:48). Niamh Browne led the W18 team home in 67th (1:29:13), and James Ewart was the pick of the M16 runners in 64th (1:11:52).

• M18: Aidan McKenna 19th (1:05:37), Liam Casey 49th (1:16:48), Liam O'Donnell 88th (1:46:31), Eanna Grennan 89th (1:49:59)

• W18: Niamh Browne 67th (1:29:13), Fionnuala Rowe 77th (1:34:53), Sadhbh Hassett 85th (1:44:33), Ellie Simpson 88th (1:50:26)

• M16: James Ewart 64th (1:11:52), Marcus Richardson 76th (1:17:35), Alec O'Brien 89th (2:11:50), Eoin Simpson did not finish

• W16: Eimear Casey 91st (1:39:57), Beth Joyce 96th (1:51:37), Aoife Masterson 97th (2:18:07), Deirbhile Hassett mispunched

Cooldown after the event took place in the local swimming spot, above the white-water center on the river in Nova Gorica - a great spot to chill out in the refreshing waters.

Relay — Nemči, 27 June

The championships closed with the relay back in the karst forest at Nemči. Gold went to Finland in M18 (1:40:01), Czechia in W18 (1:47:38) and M16 (1:22:05), and Croatia in W16 (1:31:28).

The undoubted highlight of the week came on the first leg of the M18 relay: Aidan McKenna went out hard and came through in 32:21 — the second-fastest leg-one split of the entire field, just two seconds off the fastest, and briefly had Ireland sitting in 2nd place. Liam Casey (36:22) held on to third position after his leg, and Liam O'Donnell (55:08) brought the team home in 16th of 27 (2:03:51, +23:50), comfortably our best relay result of the championships. The M16 team of James Ewart, Eoin Simpson and Marcus Richardson also finished 16th, of 25 teams (1:52:20, +30:15), with Eoin Simpson gaining six places on the second leg. The W18 team of Niamh Browne, Fionnuala Rowe and Sadhbh Hassett were 21st of 28 (2:47:44). The W16 team of Deirbhile Hassett, Eimear Casey and Beth Joyce were unable to complete the course after a mispunch on the final leg. Eanna and Aoife ran legs for mixed teams.

Full results are online here for the sprint, long and relay

Summary

All in all, we had a great time at EYOC, and with some great results to boot. Huge thanks to the coaches, and the supporting parents for all their help throughout the trip. If you'd like to see what we got up to, theres a full album of photos here!