Local NYO athletes ready for state meet

WASILLA — A large delegation of Valley athletes are set to kick, hop and pull their way into Sullivan Arena this weekend for the 36th Native Youth Olympics statewide competition.

“We’re starting to get bigger and bigger each year,” Wasilla High School NYO coach Jim Shetter said Monday.

Coaches from around the Valley agreed that the traditional Native sports events are growing in popularity among young athletes both in the Mat-Su and statewide.

“We’re expecting probably 650 from across the state,” game co-coordinator Brian Walker with Cook Inlet Tribal Council said Monday.

CITC puts on the games, which Walker said attract athletes from 69 communities across Alaska. He said this year’s field is expected to be the largest ever.

Local teams sending athletes to this year’s state competition include programs based at Wasilla High School, Palmer Middle School, Burchell High School, Chickaloon, the Alaska Job Corps Center, the Knik Tribal Council, Susitna Valley High School, Houston Middle School and Colony Middle School. Teams include both middle and high-school athletes, most of whom have been competing since January in a variety of Native games.

Though the 10 events to be contested at the state competition are based on traditional Native events, participants come from all races and backgrounds.

“It’s an Alaska sport,” Shetter said.

Events include the kneel jump, wrist carry, Alaskan high kick, Eskimo stick pull, toe kick, one-hand reach, two-foot high kick, Indian stick pull, one-foot high kick and the seal hop.

The state competition gets under way Thursday at 9 a.m. with an opening ceremony, followed immediately by the first event of the games, the kneel jump.

In recent years, NYO games have become more integrated with traditional high school and middle school programs, and athletes can now earn varsity letters at most schools for taking part in the games. Though NYO is not an Alaska Sports Activities Association-sanctioned sport, Palmer coach Melanie Cole said students must adhere to the same academic requirements placed on athletes in more “traditional” sports like basketball or football.

“We’re getting a lot tighter on that,” Cole said.

Each program can send up to 10 male and female athletes (one athlete for each event) to state, although some teams send fewer because some athletes compete in more than one event. One such athlete is Wasilla’s Kris Firey, a senior who last year won both the Eskimo and Indian stick pull events at state.

“He’s just a big old brute,” Shetter, who also coaches the WHS football team, said of Firey, the team’s center last year.

Most teams practice at least three to four times a week, although Shetter said practices aren’t as structured as with more traditional sports.

“It’s not like coaching football where it’s high intensity, they actually get to see me smile a little bit,” he said.

Palmer’s Melanie Cole said the more laid-back nature of the sport is what first drew her into coaching NYO.

“That is probably one of the biggest appeals to me,” she said. “It’s a lot more about personal best as opposed to beating someone else. It’s a big difference.”

That doesn’t mean the games aren’t competitive. Gold, silver and bronze medals are handed out at state for each event, and some events — such as the popular one-foot high kick — typically draw large crowds to Sullivan Arena to watch competitors can kick a sealskin ball suspended more than nine feet in the air.

The state NYO competition is the culmination of a winter’s worth of meets held at various locations around the state and in the Valley. Houston Middle School recently hosted the final local event of the season over the weekend, holding a district meet for athletes from Wasilla, Su Valley, Knik Tribal Council, Colony, Burchell and Palmer.

Houston coach Jared Barrett said the meet was a big success, and he believes the large turnout at the meet — and what’s expected this week in Anchorage — goes to show how popular NYO is becoming.

“It’s a fun experience to see all the teams getting together,” he said.

While NYO athletes will be going head-to-head this weekend, many involved in the sport say it’s not the competition, but the camaraderie which makes the sport truly special.

“There’s not an ‘us and them’ kind of thing,” Palmer’s Melanie Cole said. “Even the top guys, those guys are really proud of what they’re doing but they’re just as quick to get down on the floor and help the brand new kid.”

The 36th Native Youth Olympics state competition will begin at 9 a.m. with an opening ceremony at Sullivan Arena in Anchorage. For a full schedule of the three-day event, visit Cook Inlet Tribal Council’s Web site at www.citci.com.

Contact Matt Tunseth at 3523-2265 or matt.tunseth@frontiersman.com

Native Youth Olympics

District Competition

Friday, Houston Middle School

Boys individual results

Kneel Jump — 1. Barton Johnson- Palmer; 2. James Alpiak- Wasilla; 3. Jeremy Griffin- Palmer.

One Arm Reach — 1. James Alpiak- Wasilla; 2. Bradford Johnson-Palmer; 3. Tyler Barron- Houston.

Alaska High Kick — 1.Sean Dittman- Su Valley; 2.Jeremy Griffin- Palmer; 3. James Alpiak- Wasilla.

Toe Kick — 1.Manny Curtis-Wasilla; 2.Sean Dittman- Su Valley; 3. Justin Constantine- Houston.

Eskimo Stick Pull — 1.Kris Fiery-Wasilla; 2.Forrest Cook- Su Valley; 3. James Hardin- Knik Tribal.

Two Foot High Kick — 1. Sean Dittman- Su Valley; 2. Manny Curtis- Wasilla; 3. Jeremy Griffin- Palmer

Wrist Carry — 1.Lucas Hickle- Colony; 2. Jeremy Griffin- Palmer; 3. Skyler Shadbolt-Palmer.

Indian Stick Pull — 1.Kris Fiery-Wasilla; 2.Cody Pfeifer-Wasilla; 3. Corey Kelly-Palmer.

One Foot High Kick — 1. Sean Dittman- Su Valley; 2.Manny Curtis- Wasilla; 3. Justin Constantine- Houston.

Seal Hop — 1.James Alpiak- Wasilla; 2. Collin Mcglothin- Palmer; 3. Tyler Meyer- Palmer.

Girls individual results

Kneel jump — 1. Kendra Nelson- Wasilla; 2. Sarah Allender-Palmer; 3. Tiffany Meyer- Houston.

One arm reach — 1. Revie Tony-Houston; 2. Kierra Mcdaniels Holmes- Houston; 3. Jessica Cole- Palmer.

Alaskan high kick — 1.Revie Tony- Houston; 2.Meda Warrior-Knik Tribal; 3. Lottie Carter- Houston.

Toe kick — 1.Meda Warrior- Knik Tribal

Eskimo stick pull — 1. Kristin Johnson-Knik Tribal; 2.Rena Tony-Houston; 3. Courtney Caywood-Wasilla.

Two foot high kick — 1.Irene Attungana- Houston; 2.Jessica Cole-Palmer; 3. Racheal Pamlenke-Colony.

Wrist carry — 1. Kendra Nelson-Wasilla; 2.Adia Miles-Wasilla; 3. Irene Attungana- Houston.

Indian stick pull — 1.Melissa Wood- Wasilla; 2. Rena Tony- Houston; 3. Amanda Wagner-Palmer.

One foot high kick — 1.Irene Attungana- Houston; 2. Revie Tony- Houston; 3. Melissa Wood- Wasilla.