Kendra Murray sets sights on orienteering Westerns, nationals

Yukoner Kendra Murray has been orienteering for as long as she can remember.

Yukoner Kendra Murray has been orienteering for as long as she can remember.

“My mom would take me out and we would go out on courses together when I was really little. I didn’t do it competitively for a while.”

The 18-year-old started orienteering competitively when the Canadian Orienteering Championships were held in Whitehorse in 2004.

That experience failed to sink in at the time, she noted.

“I was a lot younger. But it’s great to have such a big event in Whitehorse, even if you’re not really competitive. It just opens your eyes; it’s great to see everyone and have everyone to compete against in those big competitions,” Murray said.

Since then, she’s been hooked.

Murray is preparing for a good showing at the Western Canadian Orienteering Championships starting in Whitehorse with the middle-distance on Saturday and followed by the long-distance Sunday and the sprint on Monday.

Then Murray will get a week to prepare for the Canadian Orienteering Championships in Whitehorse from July 22-24.

Orienteers from around the world will descend on the Yukon this week.

The Westerns will feature maps at Hidden Lakes, Long Lake Southeast and Elijah Smith Elementary School.

Murray and Lee Hawkings will be the Yukon representatives at the championships.

Murray was reluctant to say whether competing at home will be much of an advantage.

“You know what to expect in the woods; you know the general type of terrain better that you’ll see on the course when you’re at home. When you’re away you usually have a couple of training days to get used to it,” she said.

Murray is coming off a big year competing nationally in cross-country skiing.

This ski season marked a break-out year for Murray, who peaked with a gold and bronze medal at the 2011 Haywood Ski Nationals in Canmore, Alta., in March.

She has been competitive in cross country skiing longer than orienteering.

And orienteering is perfect for cross-training, she added.

“It’s cross-country running, pretty much, but harder, because you have to think and it’s tougher terrain.”

Orienteering Yukon head coach Brent Langbakk said that cross-training has paid dividends for Murray.

Murray is very strong and can deftly navigate her way through thick forests and up steep hills, Langbakk said.

“On top of that, she’s very good at reading a map. Orienteering involves being able to look at that two-dimensional image and being able to get a clear picture in your mind of what it would look like in 3-D before you actually get to the terrain, so you’re always anticipating the terrain before it comes up. Through lots of practice, she’s got a natural ability to do that; she’s able to see in her mind what’s coming up in the terrain before she actually gets there.”

There’s no secret to Murray’s success, Langbakk added.

“She’s a dedicated athlete and she’s been doing it for a long time, so I think she’s got that foundation behind her,” said Langbakk.

Murray was named to the junior orienteering national team this year after being a member of the Canadian Orienteering Federation High Performance Program last year.

As a member of the High Performance Program – held in Whitehorse – this year, Murray competed in her first Junior World Orienteering Championships in Poland last month.

“It was a great experience. Compared to some of the best orienteers in the world, it’s so hard coming from Canada because we just don’t have the orienteering atmosphere here. In Europe, it’s a huge sport. But it was an amazing experience, and it will pay off. My orienteering will get better because of it,” Murray said.

She and Hawkings are two of six junior national team orienteers training at the National Summer Training Centre in Whitehorse.

“When you’re training with other people, you feed off each other and push that much harder if you know that you’ve got someone with you,” Murray said.

“It’s been great having people to train with this spring.”