Heading from one area of her life into another, Yukon orienteer Justin Scheck will have an extremely busy transition period this summer.

Scheck, who will graduate from high school this June, is planning to attend McMaster University in Hamilton in the fall, but will be making a few European stops along the way.

The 17-year-old athlete is set to compete in the junior world orienteering championships in Lithuania at the beginning of July, as well as an event in Switzerland with the junior national team.

She's never been to a world competition before, although she has competed in North American championships.

'I'm going to be competitng against the best orienteers in the world,' she said, in an interview this morning. 'I just want to go get the experience. Competition in Canada and North America doesn't even compare.

'When I go there, there will probably be at least 100 junior girls. I'll probably be in the middle to bottom of the pack.'

Coach Brent Langbakk said for Scheck to even be going to the junior world at her age is 'an amazing accomplishment.' The people fighting at the top for the spots on the podium are going to be 20 years old, he said, so the Yukoner will be up against much older competitors.

'This is her first time, so she needs to look at it as a learning experience,' he said. 'She just needs to focus on orienteering well and running well. Then she'll be better prepared for next time. She's young, so she still has another two chances to go after this year.'

Scheck said her plan before junior worlds is to train as much as she can, and on as many different maps as possible. She'll be attending the senior national team trials, for the experience, the first week in June.

She's also been able to take a peek at a few maps for the junior worlds online, so she can start visualizing what the terrain is like. From what she's seen, it looks similar to the Chadburn Lake and Long Lake maps followed by the Yukon Orienteering Associaiton (YOA).

Following the junior worlds, and the five-day competition in Switzerland later in July, Scheck may head to Denmark to check out the senior world championships. That's where Langbakk hopes to be as well, but first he'll have to make the national team at June trials.

The senior Yukon orienteer is also going to be spending a lot of time in Europe prior to the senior worlds.

'At the end of this month, I'll be going to Sweden and running a big relay event there,' explained Langbakk. 'It's one of the biggest events in orienteering as far as relay. There will be 15 to 20,000 people that do the event.

'It's kind of a fun event, but it's a good way to start the season.'

From Sweden, Langbakk will head to a World Cup race in Estonia, which he said is pretty exciting. He was selected as one of eight Canadians to run the event, based on his results from last season. Pam James, a national team member who moved to the Yukon last year, was also supposed to attend the World Cup, but health reasons will force her to stay home.

After the World Cup, Langbakk will take part in a Canadian training camp in Denmark, in preparation for the senior worlds later in th summer.

He won't return home until the beginning of July.

That's when Whitehorse will host the Western Canadian Orienteering Championships, July 14-16. The event is open to newcomers and experts alike and is a great opportunity to run on new maps in the Whitehorse area.

Langbakk said up to 200 of the best orienteers in Western Canada will be in town that week, and the competition will cover every age group, from eight years old to 80.

If they haven't fallen over from complete exhaustion following Westerns, Langbakk and Scheck will hop back on planes and continue their crazy summer travel. Providing everything goes as planned, Langbakk will head to the senior worlds while Scheck will head off to Hamilton for the school year.

'No school in Canada has an orienteering team,' said Scheck. 'But the club in Hamilton is really active, with a lot of elite-level athletes. One of the professors has been on the national team and been to worlds, so I'll probably train with him.'

Scheck isn't the only junior athlete getting involved in competitive orienteering, as the Yukon also has an active junior program.

Registration for the program will take place on April 19, from 6-8 p.m. in the foyer of the Sport Yukon building. Children from age eight on up are welcome to participate in the junior training, though younger kids must be accompanied by a parent.

Training sessions are held every other Wednesday from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. in various locations. The first training session will be on April 26 and the program will continue through August.

Juniors have the opportunity to orienteer every week, as club events are held on alternate Wednesdays. The first club event will be held on May 3. B meets are held every other Wednesday for the rest of the season. A special Learn-to-Orienteer event will be held on June 10, for those people who would like more hands-on help.

Then, on May 15, more Yukon school children will have a chance to try out the sport at the fourth annual Orienteering Adventure Challenge. Last spring, about 220 Grade 4-6 students took part in this popular all-day event, which is co-sponsored with the Recreation and Parks Association of the Yukon.

This year's event will be based at the Elijah Smith School, and use the Paddy's Pond map.

If you would like more information on orienteering in the Yukon, check the website at www.yukonorienteering.ca.