State pucks bid goes to WHS

May 4, 2007

By Jeremiah Bartz/ Frontiersman

WASILLA - When major construction to the Big Dipper Ice Arena in Fairbanks during the winter forced the state high school hockey championships out of the Interior, Wasilla High School stepped in to host the 2006 event.

After a successful first attempt, WHS earned the right to host the event for another three years. The ASAA board of directors voted Monday to approve Wasilla's bid to host the small and large school state pucks tourneys at the Wasilla Multi-Use Sports Complex through 2010.

WHS assistant principal Dan Michael said the school is excited about the opportunity to make the state championships a premiere event in Alaska.

Not only is the work of the school key, Michael said he anticipates tremendous support from the city of Wasilla and the Wasilla Multi-Use Sports Complex.

Michael applauded the efforts of the city and Wasilla Multi-Use Sports Complex officials - specifically the facility's director Bruce Urban - during the work to organize and host the 2006 championships.

&#8220We've got a really good partnership,” Michael said. &#8220(They are all) very community minded. We're excited about working with them for three more years.”

Michael noted the geographic location of Wasilla and the sports complex makes the state championships a natural fit for the Mat-Su Valley. Before the Big Dipper Ice Arena hosted the event, the state championships had been played at the Soldotna Sports Center on the Kenai Peninsula.

ASAA reported in February the large-schools state title game attracted the largest number of fans in the history of the event, and Michael said he hopes organizers can build on that.

The approval of Wasilla's bid to host the state pucks tourney was just one of several matters settled by the ASAA at its meeting.

The state track and field championships will stay in Fairbanks for another three seasons. Lathrop has been awarded the bid to host the season-ending meets.

ASAA also voted to add a small-schools class to track and field.

Beginning in 2008, large-schools programs will compete in the 4A class, and the small-schools teams will participate in the 1-2-3A class.

Palmer, Wasilla, Houston and Colony will compete in the 4A class, and Susitna Valley will move to the 1-2-3A class.

About 15 years ago SVHS track and field coach Larry Buskirk was involved in a proposal to ASAA to split the championships into two classes.

&#8220We weren't really ready at that time,” Buskirk said. &#8220A lot of people have talked about it for years.”

Buskirk said he is excited about the addition of a small-schools state meet.

&#8220It's kind of nice to recognize as many kids as we possibly can,” Buskirk said. &#8220The more athletes we recognize, the better job we're doing.”

Qualification for the large-schools state championships will not change, according to ASAA. The region champions of each event and the top 12 times or distances from each event in the state will qualify for the state championships.

At the 1-2-3A level, the region champions and the top four times or distances will qualify for the state event.

The state soccer championships will stay at Anchorage Football Stadium for another two years, but will move to Juneau in 2010.

Juneau-Douglas High School is one of two schools awarded bids to host tournaments.

Mt. Edgecumbe High School, in Sitka, will host the small-schools state wrestling tournament in December.

ASAA also approved the addition of a high school state championship for the sport of tennis to the schedule.

There are currently 16 tennis programs in the state, with teams in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau and Kodiak.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.