JEC 2026

JUNIOR EUROPEAN CUP 2026 - Trip Report

Sörenberg, Switzerland, 2–4 October 2026

We're just back from our trip to Sörenberg, Switzerland, to compete in the Junior European Cup (JEC) - organised by OLV Luzern / Swiss Orienteering. This is an annual competition for M/W18s and 20sm and consists of three races: this year, a relay on Friday, a sprint on Saturday and a long distance on Sunday.

Eleven athletes made up the Irish team:

• W20: Eve Buckley

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

• M20: Gerry Browne, Oscar Rowe

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

(Eanna was injured shortly before traveling to JEC, and just jogged the sprint and long distance at an easy pace, so his results are not reported below.)

Team officials: Dave Masterson, Anne McKenna

JEC is typically attended by a smaller set of countries than EYOC, and also tends to contain a higher proportion of strong nations. Despite this, the team showed great resolve and ran well, with some standout results:

- Eve Buckley finished 11th of 54 in the W20 sprint, 2:09 behind the winner.

- Eve also ran the 13th-fastest first leg in the women's relay (out of 42 teams).

- Aidan McKenna placed 25th of 73 in the M18 sprint and 26th of 74 in the M18 long.

The team were based in Beckenried, where Anne, Vince and Aidan live. The McKenna family housed half the team, while the others slept in a nearby AirBnB - all the cooking and socialising taking place in Chez McKenna. A huge debt of thanks is owed to the McKennas for putting up with us all for the four days, and making sure all the athletes were entertained, and fed throughout. 

FRIDAY 2 OCT – RELAY (Willbrig)

Courses: Men 5.1–5.3 km, 220 m climb, 16 controls. Women 4.5–4.6 km, 155 m climb, 14 controls.

Terrain: a mostly flat plateau with steeper edges, many ditches and fast trails. Off the trails, dense blackberry slowed the running. Many competitors would describe the terrain as "green", or "a hellscape of undergrowth and brambles". The going was certainly tough for everyone, and the best runs were from runners who knew when to just bail out to the paths and run in and out of the terrain selectively to keep their foot speed up. Straight was not great.

Women – Ireland: 33rd of 42 teams, total 2:21:55

  Leg 1 Eve Buckley       38:37

  Leg 2 Fionnuala Rowe    54:12

  Leg 3 Niamh Browne      49:06

Men – Ireland: not placed (mispunch on leg 3)

  Leg 1 Aidan McKenna     44:05

  Leg 2 Gerry Browne      45:58

  Leg 3 Liam Casey        mp   (punch didn't register)

Mixed Women – Ukraine/Ireland (39th, 2:46:22)

    Leg 1 Karina Fedoryshyn (UKR) 47:37

    Leg 2 Ellie Simpson     1:07:09

    Leg 3 Sadhbh Hassett    51:36

Mixed Men – Ireland (incomplete team)

    Leg 1 Oscar Rowe        mp

    Leg 2 Liam O'Donnell    47:53

Winners: Switzerland 1 won both the women's relay (1:47:18) and the men's relay (1:45:05).

Results: https://ol-soerenberg2026.ch/documents/JEC2026-Results-Relay.pdf

Livelox: https://www.livelox.com/Events/Show/204799/JEC-2026-Relay

Photos:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/prqScUELQ9wE6B3v5

SATURDAY 3 OCT – SPRINT 

This turned out to be a very technical sprint in Sörenberg village - the map was far more intricate and detailed that the satellite imagery indicated, as the organisers had obtained access to many of the gardens and private areas around many buildings. The terrain also featured a much higher percentage of grass and off-road terrain than your typical sprint, which meant that all the talk on the day was about the choice of footwear - dobbs were still prohibited, but many runners elected to run in trail shoes. There was some drama on the courses too, as not every resident seemed to be on board with the plan to send runners through their garden, hastily erecting makeshift barriers on one particular leg - this leg subsequently had to be voided on 3 out of 4 courses, causing a reshuffle of placings late in the day.

W20 (3.3 km, 120 m, 21 controls) – Winner: Leonie Mathis (SUI) 15:13

•   Eve Buckley 11th, 17:22

W18 (3.1 km, 110 m, 19 controls) – Winner: Elsie Hördegårdh (SWE) 14:31

•   Niamh Browne 56th, 19:59

•   Ellie Simpson 58th, 20:11

•   Sadhbh Hassett 60th, 20:30

•   Fionnuala Rowe 63rd, 21:12

M20 (4.0 km, 150 m, 25 controls) – Winner: Loïc Berger (SUI) 16:31

•   Gerry Browne 60th, 20:44

•   Oscar Rowe 66th, 22:51

M18 (3.7 km, 140 m, 23 controls) – Winner: Finn Selmer-Duguid (GBR) 16:25

•   Aidan McKenna 25th, 17:31

•   Liam Casey 42nd, 18:18

•   Liam O'Donnell 59th, 20:34

Results: https://ol-soerenberg2026.ch/documents/JEC2026-Results-Sprint.pdf

Livelox: https://www.livelox.com/Events/Show/204742/Regionaler-Dorf-OL-und-JEC-2026-Sorenberg

Photos:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/K5vbmrtjCd18EtUp7

SUNDAY 4 OCT – LONG DISTANCE

Back to Sörenberg on the final day for early starts, as the journey to the pre-start involved a gondola ride up to the higher slopes above the village. The terrain was super fast alpine open mountain side -  short grass, steep slopes and some rocky features, interspersed with small clumps of forest. The race also had a large net downhill, with the finish arena at the bottom of the hill, back in the village. The racing was tough, but everyone enjoyed the atmosphere and the amazing views of the surrounding mountains.

W20 (9.2 km, 360 m, 23 controls) – Winner: Rahel Good (SUI) 1:03:36

•   Eve Buckley 45th, 1:25:34

W18 (8.3 km, 220 m, 23 controls) – Winner: Felicia Persson (SWE) 57:06

•   Niamh Browne 44th, 1:14:25

•   Fionnuala Rowe 56th, 1:23:03

•   Ellie Simpson 61st, 1:28:45

•   Sadhbh Hassett 63rd, 1:39:20

M20 (12.0 km, 470 m, 26 controls) – Winner: Lucas Verjux (FRA) 1:12:36

• Gerry Browne 60th, 1:41:37

• Oscar Rowe 64th, 1:49:21

M18 (9.7 km, 360 m, 33 controls) – Winner: Martin Bulicka (CZE) 59:38

•   Aidan McKenna 26th, 1:08:25

•   Liam Casey 38th, 1:11:46

•   Liam O'Donnell 60th, 1:24:15

Results: https://ol-soerenberg2026.ch/documents/JEC2026-Results-Long.pdf

Livelox: https://www.livelox.com/Events/Show/204706/Nationaler-OL-JEC2026-Sorenberg

Photos:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/ki1HVBWEQUCt99C5A