Dillingham athletes excel at Native Youth Olympics

May 4th 1:59 am | Van Williams    

Dillingham's Dennis Wilson came to the Native Youth Olympics looking to win a medal.

But he wound up doing much better.

The high school senior won four medals, including the silver he earned in the one-hand reach with a personal-best effort in front of hundreds at the Dena'ina Center in downtown Anchorage

"That was probably my highlight of the season," Dillingham coach Karl Clark said. "The look on his face and the reaction he had when he went out there and finally hit 64 inches in competition at state. He had been struggling with [reaching] that number."

Things didn't initially go well for Wilson, who missed his first two attempts at the 64-inch mark.

"I was kind of nervous," he confessed. "I had never hit 64 in competition before."

Clark, a former NYO athlete himself, saw the signs and pulled Wilson aside for an inspirational pep talk.

"We go have a little talk," the coach said. "He says, 'OK, I got it.' Let's take care of business."

Message received.

Wilson hit his 64 inches to leapfrog others and claim the silver medal, just shy of the winning mark of 65 inches by Jeremy Andrew of the Lower Kuskokwim School District.

"He goes out there and hits it perfect," Clark said. "He didn't drop his shoulder or anything. He shouted out a big yes even before he landed."

Wilson just couldn't contain himself.

"I was jumping everywhere," Wilson said. "I was the happiest kid ever."

Wilson also had a hand in helping teammates Jorden Lisac and Daniel Miller sweep the gold medals in the wrist carry as one of the carriers; Jared Miller was the other one.

Lisac won her second consecutive state title for girls with a mark of 373 feet, 4 inches.

"Jorden had great form this weekend," Clark said.

Daniel Miller won with a marvelous mark of 593 feet, 4 inches - more than 100 feet farther than the closest competitor. It was a personal best.

"Daniel was about 15 feet away from tying the record," Clark said.

The wrist carry is one of the more grueling events at the Native Youth Olympics because it requires physical, mental and core strength.

"It's a really tough event," Clark said. "Somebody has to hang from their wrist, with all their body weight."

The carriers are an under appreciated aspect of the event because you almost don't even notice they are there. But it's up to them to maintain a steady pace and shift the height of the stick around corners while running in an oval.

"They need to communicate very well with each other," Clark said. "They have to make sure they keep the same stride. Around the corners one person picks up and one side drops down to take strain off the person hanging."

The Wilson-Miller combination produced two gold medals and helped Point Hope's Solomon Nashookpuk earn fourth place in the boys competition.

Why would they carry a competitor?

Well, that's just the sportsmanship nature of the Native Youth Olympics.

"He didn't have any carriers and we were no doubt the smallest but best carriers in the state," Wilson said.

Dillingham's Kendall Dray collected medals in the knee jump and two-foot high kick.

"She peaked at the right time this season," Clark said. "She has been working pretty hard the last two weeks to get to where she is now. She put everything she had into it."

Other medal winners for Dillingham included Kristin Smeaton, Martin Gardiner and Kaley Rolf.

"It was amazing," Clark said. "These kids came out and performed to higher expectations than what I was hoping for. I wanted them to do their best, have fun and hit their personal best, and I mean, every one of the kids on the team did it."

Reach Van Williams at sports@reportalaska.com.

Native Youth Olympics

At Dena'ina Center, Anchorage

Results

Kneel Jump - Female

1st Apaay Campbell, BSSD, 50 1/2"

2nd Kendall Dray, Dillingham, 44 1/2"

3rd Jordan Kashatok, LKSD, 44 1/4"

4th Autumn Ridley, ANCA, 43 1/4"

5th Molly Norback, MEHS, 41 1/4"

Kneel Jump - Male

1st Austin Sundown, Anchorage Team B, 61 3/4"

2nd Dylan Magnusen, Unalaska, 60"

3rd Yako McCarr, LKSD, 57 1/2"

4th Steven Ahvakana, Anchorage Team A, 53 1/2"

5th Martin Gardiner, Dillingham, 51 1/2"

Wrist Carry - Female

1st Jorden Lisac, Dillingham, 373' 4 1/2"

2nd Samantha Ishnook, SWRSD, 307'

3rd Amanda Burke, Mat-Su, 282'

4th Rizalie Rollin, Unalaska, 259' 8"

5th Elena Evan, LKSD, 251' 8"

Wrist Carry - Male

1st Daniel Miller, Dillingham, 593' 4 1/2"

2nd Jacob McAnulty, Mat-Su Team B, 488' 1/2"

3rd Aaron Ulroan, Chevak, 481' 7 1/2"

4th Solomon Nashookpuk, Pt. Hope, 469'

5th David Chagluak, LKSD, 424' 9"'

Alaskan High Kick - Female

1st Autumn Ridley, Anchorage Team A, 82"

2nd Kaley Rolf, Dillingham, 77"

3rd Chinace Egoak, LKSD, 73"

4th Raven Phillips, Aniak, 68"

5th Tahnee Esparzam, BSSD, 68"

Alaskan High Kick - Male

1st Yako McCarr, LKSD, 93"

2nd Andrew Demientieff, Anchorage Team A, 90"

3rd Daniel Adams, Mat-Su, 86"

4th Austin Sundown, Anchorage Team B, 86"

5th Everdan Sugabo, Unalaska, 84"

Eskimo Stick Pull - Female

1st Mariam Wamsley, Valdez

2nd Mesa Rohrer, Gilson

3rd Shalisa F., Anchorage Team B

4th Amber Shields, Anchorage Team A

5th Kaity Wasillie, Bristol Bay

Eskimo Stick Pull - Male

1st Dalton Beatie, Mat-Su Team A

2nd Travis Turgiuna, SWRSD

3rd Jaylin Prince, MEHS

4th Lonner McConnell, Unalaska

5th Johnathan Wilson, Kenaitze

Toe Kick - Female

1st Raven Phillips, Aniak, 76" (New World Record)

2nd Renee Romer, MEHS, 58" 3m/50

3rd Alecia Egoak, LKSD, 58" 4m/50

4th Jonisha Wilson, BSSD, 58" 6m/38

5th Rebekah Sawers, LYSD, 58" 8m/50

Toe Kick - Male

1st Michael Charles, LKDS, 90"

2nd Chris Undbo, Anchorage Team A, 85"

3rd Michael Kanuk, Nenana, 84"

4th Kevin Horton, Mat-Su Team A, 76" 2m

5th Forest Strick, Mat-Su Team B, 76" 3m

One Hand Reach - Female

1st Revie Tony, LKSD, 59"

2nd Brittany Akaren, MEHS, 58"

3rd Kristen Smeaton, Dillingham, 58" 1m

4th Rebecca Brink, BRHS, 54" 1m @ 54"

5th Chelsea Morrow, Burchell, 54" 1m @ 50"

One Hand Reach - Male

1st Jeremy Andrew, LKSD, 65"

2nd Dennis Wilson, Dillingham, 64"

3rd Douglas Krukoff, Unalaska, 63"

4th Andrew Demientieff, Anchorage Team !, 62"

5th Vance Gregory, Mat-Su Team B, 62" 1m

Two-Foot High Kick - Female

1st Autumn Ridley, Anchorage Team A, 75"

2nd Tahnee Esparza, BSSD, 73"

3rd Frederica Shaeffer, Mat-Su Team A, 67"

4th Kendall Dray, Dillingham, 67" 1m

5th Teresa Korn, McGrath, 66" 2m

Two-Foot High Kick - Male

1st Andrew Demientieff, Anchorage Team A, 94"

2nd Austin Sumdum, Anchorage Team B, 94" 1m

3rd Kevin Brown, LKSD, 90" 1m

4th Stuart Towarak, BSSD, 90" 3m

5th Donavan Phillips, MEHS, 90" 6m

Indian Stick Pull - Female

1st Olivia Shields, Anchorage Team B

2nd Deborah Hersrud, NWA BSD

3rd Summer Ulroan, Chevak

4th Christina Glenzel, KP NYO

5th Lori Paul, LKSD

Indian Stick Pull - Male

1st Mike McCain, Valdez

2nd Randy Standur, Tebughah

3rd Forrest Strick, Mat-Su Team A

4th Charles Teer, Lathrop

5th Daniel Ballais, Mat-Su Team B

One-Foot High Kick - Female

1st Marion Wamsley, Valdez, 92" (New World Record)

2nd Autumn Ridley, Anchorage Team A, 87"

3rd Tahnee Esparza, BSSD, 82"

4th Jordan Lisac, Dillingham, 80"

5th Ashley Apangolook, Mat-Su Team A, 79"

One-Foot High Kick - Male

1st Stuart Towarak, BSSD, 112"

2nd Jens Irelan, Nome, 106"

3rd Andrew Demientieff, Anchorage Team A, 104"

4th William Byrd, Mat-Su Team A, 104" 1m

5th Donovan Phillip, MEHS, 104" 2m

Seal Hop - Female

1st Dajan Treder, Anchorage Team A, 160' 9 1/4"

2nd Teresa Korn, McGrath, 128' 4 3/4"

3rd Kristin Smeaton, Dillingham, 126' 9 1/4"

4th Haley O'Brien, Bethel, 123' 9 1/4"

5th Megan Friday, LKSD, 118' 5 3/4"

Seal Hop - Male

1st Michael Kanuk, Nenana, 139' 5"

2nd Demck Black, Galena, 133' 9 1/2"

3rd Fabian Pete, LYSD, 121' 3 3/4"

4th Eddie Chuchkwurk, LKSD, 120'

5th Wigberto Gonzalez, Mat-Su Team A, 118' 11"

 

---

Contact us about this article at editor@thebristolbaytimes.com