Valley NYO athlete eyes state record

WASILLA — For whatever reason, things have not always worked out for Josh Hughes during the Native Youth Olympics state competition. Hughes has been among the best in the wrist carry event, but has fallen short of his goals at the state meet.

But things are different this year for the Mat-Su Career and Technical High School junior. Hughes has another year of experience and a newfound confidence after shattering his personal best and setting an unofficial state record during the Mat-Su NYO District Meet earlier this month.

Thursday, the first day of the NYO state meet at the Dena’ina Center in Anchorage, Hughes will have one goal in mind. Hughes is set to carry his name right into the record books.

“Knowing I could swamp my personal best gives me the mindset I can do it at state,” Hughes said recently. “I’ve never been able to do it at state, because of the differences.”

The official state record, that can only be set at the Alaska state meet, is 611 feet. Hughes finished first in the wrist carry at the Mat-Su district meet with a mark of 699 feet and 11.5 inches. Not only did that blow away the state record, but also his previous personal best of 580 feet. Hughes said he’s both excited and ready to set the state record.

“It would mean a lot to have that big of an accomplishment,” Hughes said.

Hughes has participated in NYO since the sixth grade. He was a member of the Wasilla NYO team throughout middle school and high school until Career Tech created an NYO team during his junior year.

“In (physical education) in the sixth grade they did it as part of gym class. I really liked it. I was good at it,” Hughes said of his start in NYO.

Hughes has participated in all of the events during practice, but his focus is the wrist carry. His small build makes him ideal for the event, which features an athlete who hooks a wrist around the middle of a stick while gripping the forearm with the other hand, as he is being carried by two teammates around an oval course.

Hughes said there is much more that goes into it than some might expect.

“To be successful in wrist carry, you have to have a lot of (strong) abs to hold your legs up. A big part is good pain tolerance on the wrist,” Hughes said.

Hughes said it took him about a year to build a callus on the inner side of his wrist and forearm, and develop the pain tolerance to allow him to be carried hundreds of feet. That’s important, but Hughes said strong abdominal muscles are just as big.

“We focus a lot on abs,” Hughes said.

Hughes said your legs naturally want to touch the floor, and success in the event has a lot to do with lower-body strength.

“When you watch somebody, you think about the pain in your wrist. That’s usually what I think people think about,” Hughes said. “You don’t think about that your legs have to stay up.”

Hughes said chemistry with the two carriers is also very important.

“You need them to be the same size. You need them to have the same stride,” Hughes said. “They have to be able to keep pace with each other and have really good communication.”

Hughes said once an athlete gets used to the same two carriers, they learn the rhythm of the stride, and can anticipate when the stick will bounce when the carriers jog around the course.

There’s also the mental aspect.

“For a lot of people, the mental part is a really big part. It took me a lot of practice to get the mental part,” Hughes said.

During a competition, Hughes said he tries to block out the background noise and stay as focused as possible. In sports such as distance running, athletes often like to know their split times when they reach certain distances. The distances are often written on tape on the gym floor during the wrist carry, but Hughes said if he looks at the distance markers, it breaks his focus.

Every time he competes, Hughes said his intent is to, “stay focused and keep (my) breathing in rhythm.”

Hughes is one of 16 Valley athletes slated to compete as part of the Mat-Su combined A team during the state meet, which is scheduled for Thursday through Saturday at the Dena’ina Center in Anchorage. After the district meet, Mat-Su head coach Jared Barrett said he’s excited about the potential of the Valley’s 2014 team.

“We’re extremely happy. We’ll have a very competitive state team this year,” Barrett said. “We should be top 3 at least, as long as everything goes the way it should go.”

Barrett said since the Mat-Su NYO programs opted to make one combined team for the state meet about four years ago, the team has finished in the top five at state every year. The best finish is second in state, he said.

The winner of each event during the district meet qualified for state as part of the Mat-Su A team. Three athletes qualified for the team in multiple events. Wasilla High School’s Forrest Strick will compete in the boys’ seal hop, Indian stick pull and knee jump. Palmer High School’s Daniel Adams qualified in the boys’ Alaskan high kick and one hand reach. Colony High School’s Teyah Clark qualified in girls’ Alaskan high kick and one hand reach.

Mat-Su will also be sending a B team to state. Every athlete who finished second in their respective events during the district meet will compete as part of the Mat-Su B team during state.

Mat-Su A Team:

Boys:

Kneel jump: Forrest Strick, Wasilla; One hand reach: Daniel Adams, Palmer; Alaskan high kick: Daniel Adams, Palmer; Wrist carry: Josh Hughes, Career Tech; Toe kick: Kevin Horton, Wasilla; One foot high kick: Will Byrd, Burchell; Indian stick pull: Eric Hartman, Career Tech; Two foot high kick: Noah Brown, Wasilla; Seal hop: Forrest Strick Wasilla.

Girls:

Kneel jump: Stephanie Egnaty, Wasilla; One hand reach: Teyah Clark, Colony; Alaskan high kick: Teyah Clark, Colony; Wrist carry: Mikara Klawitter, Career Tech; Toe kick: Kaarena Cruse, Colony Middle; One foot high kick: Olivia Davies, Teeland Middle; Eskimo stick pull: Ashley Hoglund, Houston Middle; Indian stick pull: Deandra Nicholai, Houston Middle; Two foot high kick: Allison Qualls, Palmer; Seal hop: Lacey Holms, Houston.

2014 NYO state schedule:

Thursday:

Kneel jump and awards, 2 p.m.; Wrist carry and awards, 3 p.m.; Alaskan high kick and awards, 5:30 p.m.

Friday:

Eskimo stick pull and awards, 10:30 a.m.; Toe kick and awards, 1:30 p.m.; One hand reach and awards, 3:30 p.m.; Two foot high kick and awards, 5:30 p.m.

Saturday:

Indian stick pull and awards, 10 a.m.; One foot high kick and awards, 1:15 p.m.; Seal hop and awards, 3:45 p.m.