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Whitehorse orienteer Pia Blake has been named a 2014 Rising Star Award recipient by Orienteering Canada.

Blake and Winnipeg orienteer Damian Konotopetz were the two winners chosen from a strong group of athletes, and each will receive $1,500 to help with travel and competition costs this season.

Blake is currently living in Wales as a student. She moved from Whitehorse to Norway and then Wales to complete her schooling and improve on her orienteering.

This year will mark Blake's second year representing Canada at the Junior World Orienteering Championships. The junior athlete has been orienteering since she was just seven years old.

"I am so very, very grateful to Orienteering Canada for funding this award, and through it helping Canadian orienteers to attend orienteering events and training camps both in Canada and abroad,鈥� Blake said.

"I hope that with the help of this award I will be able to continue to grow as an athlete and to improve as an international competitor, and then to bring that experience back to Canada.鈥�

Konotopetz has been competing in orienteering ever since he won races at the Asia Pacific Orienteering Championships in 2002. He has represented Canada six times since 2009 at the world junior, senior, and university championships.

The rising 麻豆社区award is presented by Orienteering Canada's High Performance Committee annually.

The goal of the award is to recognize up-and-coming orienteering athletes, and assist them with the high training and competition costs associated with high performance sport participation.