From basketball to wrestling, 2009 had it all

Published on January 7th, 2010

By VAN WILLIAMS

Some broke barriers, some broke records and others just broke down emotionally.

Either way, 2009 was a year to remember at Alaska Newspapers Inc., which prints the Arctic Sounder, Bristol Bay Times, Cordova Times, Dutch Harbor Fisherman, Seward Phoenix Log and Tundra Drums.

There were historic feats, like Barrow sprinter Lexy Seifert breaking barriers by becoming the first athlete from the Bush to win a state title in track and field.

There were impressive achievements, like do-everything Noorvik athlete Tim Field qualifying for state competition in four different sports, winning championships in two of them and earning player-of-the-year honors in another.

There were bad times for some, such as the Seward boys basketball team overcoming an 18-point deficit during the state tournament semifinals only to lose a heart-breaker to Nome in the closing seconds.

And there were good times, like the Kalskag boys basketball team rising from the ashes to win the ASAA Class 1A state championship, just two months after the high school gymnasium had burned to the ground.

Indeed, 2009 had a little bit of everything.

Hall of fame comes calling

Two Northwest Arctic athletes were honored by the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame in November when Kotzebue's Reggie Joule and Noorvik's Elliott Sampson were inducted into the Hall with the Class of 2010.

Joule, 57, was a perennial Native Games champion in the 1970s and 1980s in events such as the one-foot high kick, blanket toss and two-foot high kick. He won a record 10 gold ulus at the World Eskimo-Indian Olympics and helped lift the Games to a new level.

"It's a huge honor," Joule said. "I'm not sure if the whole reality of it has hit home yet."

Sampson won the 1981 Alaska state cross-country running championships in what is considered one of the greatest upsets in Alaska sports history. He was a relative unknown kid from the Bush who stunned the big boys from the big city.

"It's like a miracle," Sampson said after his victory.

Classic comeback falls short

Trailing 43-25 with just two minutes left in the third quarter of this state semifinal, the Seward boys basketball team looked deader than a doornail. But the Seahawks didn't see it that way.

Behind the play of all-state guard Robert Perea, Seward completed an are-you-kidding-me comeback that saw the Seahawks score 19 consecutive points to take an improbable lead against Nome. Unfortunately for the green and gold, however, it wouldn't hold.

Nome won 52-50 behind head coach Patrick Callahan, a Seward graduate.

"Of course it's a hard loss, but you definitely recognize how good of a game it was," said Perea, who had 18 points. "We hope we can play something like that again in our lifetime."

Mackey wins third Iditarod

Lance Mackey's fingerprints were all over the 2009 Iditarod.

Not only did the Fairbanks musher win his third consecutive title, he helped Kwethluk's Harry Alexie finish his first 1,100-mile race.

Alexie, who represented the Alaska Army National Guard, used some of Mackey's dogs to place a respectable 37th as a rookie in a field of more than 70. He also trained with his friend and mentor Mackey, the only musher to win the Iditarod and 1,000-mile Yukon Quest in the same year, an advantage most newcomers could only dream about.

"To me it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I'm proud to say that I finished," said Staff Sgt. Alexie. "Anything I start I must finish is what I tell myself. I found along the way a determination and a willpower that I didn't know I had."

Hanson bags third championship

Four years ago, Randy Hanson of Bethel lost a wrestling match that changed his life.

He vowed never to lose again at the ASAA Class 1-2-3A state tournament, and that's exactly what happened.

Hanson capped his Warriors career with a third straight championship, making him the first Bethel wrestler to claim three titles and just the sixth Bush wrestler to three-peat in a tournament that dates back to 1961.

"It feels great. A big relief off my chest," Hanson said after his final match. "It's just a great way for me to finish off my high school career."

Small schools get big stage

For the first time since ASAA combined all four classifications into one week of March Madness, the state's governing body for high school sports voted to give the small-school teams the prime weekend dates at the 2010 state basketball tournament in Anchorage.

For years, small schools played Monday through Wednesday while the large schools played Thursday through Saturday. Now it will flip.

It was a surprise to many who believed it would never happen.

"It's been a controversial and contentious item on the board," said ASAA official Billy Strickland of Bethel.

The eight-person board voted 6-2 in favor of adopting the format change for a one-year trail basis, which drew complaints from Anchorage coaches who think the world revolves around them.

"The 1A and 2A people were just ecstatic about the move," Strickland said. "They feel like it's been long overdue."

Kalskag rises from the ashes

When a fire destroyed the gymnasium at Kalskag High School on Jan. 28, a lot people worried about what would happen to the basketball program.

But many Alaskans stepped up to give the Kalskag players hope. They donated equipment and uniforms to keep the boys and girls playing through the end of the season. Both teams practiced in the cafeteria.

And then in March the boys team did the unthinkable, beating Newhalen 71-57 in the Class 1A state championship game to capture the school's first title on the hardwood.

"In terms of healing, the community has something good to rally behind," Severin Gardner coach said. "We can hold our heads high."

Afterward, the players mobbed each other and their coach in an emotional celebration.

"He did a great job sticking with us," Kalskag senior D.J. Dorris said of Gardner. "He lost everything in the fire."

Dillingham dynasty chugs along

Despite losing two-time state champion J.J. Larson to injury on the first day of the ASAA state tournament, the Dillingham Wolverines didn't skip a beat.

Dillingham bagged four individual champions (Jared Miller, Jesse Rogers, Reed Tennyson, Quentin Backford) and got points from virtually everybody in the lineup to seize its third state title in five years.

It was enough to soften tough-guy coach John Lee Johnson.

"This is a pretty special one because of the things we went through," he said. "The big thing is we won as a team; it always has been. That's why we've been successful."

Seifert on top of the world

Growing up in the Lower 48, Lexy Seifert wasn't sure if she would be able to continue her budding track and field career when she moved to Barrow for her freshman year of high school.

But she made it happen anyway.

Despite training on a makeshift track, Seifert used her personal drive and the motivation from coach Bob Meade to make history at the ASAA state track and field meet in May.

Seifert qualified in four events - winning the 200 meters, placing second in the long jump and 100 meters, and finishing third in the triple jump.

Her title made her the first athlete from the Bush to win a state title in track and field.

"She just broke the barrier," he coach said.

Seifert wasn't into the historical significance of her achievement.

"I'm really glad that I got to come out here and run," she said. "It's great being at this (meet) because there is some real competition and they really helped me run a lot faster."

Hallidie doesn't wilt under pressure

Unalaska runner Hallidie Wilt turned in the performance of her life when it mattered most, leading the University of Alaska women's cross country team to its first NCAA West Region title in November.

The junior led the Seawolves by placing third among 161 finishers.

She was sixth coming down the final stretch before unleashing a killer kick that landed her on the podium.

"It was pretty exciting," Wilt said of her fantastic finish. "I wasn't expecting it. It just kind of came throughout the race."

It was a pretty special season for Wilt, who earned all-conference honors in track in the spring and then earned all-conference and all-region honors in cross country in the fall.

Field of dreams

You could argue that no Alaska athlete enjoyed a better 2009 than Tim Field of Noorvik.

He was an all-conference runner in cross country.

He was his school's first state champion in wrestling.

He was named Class 2A player-of-the-year in basketball and led the Bears to the state championship game.

And he equaled the one-foot high kick record at the Native Youth Olympics.

"Every kid from every village knows exactly who he is," said Jake Stoops of the Northwest Arctic School District. "He just had that 'it' factor."