Heading to the Games
Southeast lands 37 athletes, coaches on Team Alaska for Arctic Winter Games
Tristan Knutson-Lombardo enjoyed his stripped-down Arctic Winter Games experience two years ago so much he's going again so he can get the full effect.
Back
Knutson-Lombardo, a Juneau-Douglas High School junior who will compete in the snowshoe events, is one of 37 Southeast athletes, coaches and Team Alaska mission staff members headed to Fort McMurray, Alberta, on Friday for the 2004 Arctic Winter Games. The Arctic Winter Games open on Saturday and continue through March 6.
The Games are held every two years and combine sports and cultural events for young athletes from Alaska, several northern Canadian provinces and territories, Greenland, two Siberian Russian regions and, for the first time this year, a group of Sami (Laplanders) from Scandinavia. The 2002 Arctic Winter Games were split between Nuuk, Greenland, and Inuvik, Nunavut, Canada, the first time the Games had been split between more than one region.
"I went two years ago, in Greenland," Knutson-Lombardo said. "They were awesome. Not to mention the competitiveness, but the international aspect. I mean, who goes to Greenland? But I didn't get to see the skating or the hockey. The last time I got half the sports. This time I'll get all of them."
Knutson-Lombardo isn't the only Team Alaska member from Southeast making a repeat trip to the Arctic Winter Games, and most of them echoed his comment about getting to experience a complete event instead of having things split between two distant venues.
"We'll get the whole experience this time," said Collin Rielly, a 2003 JDHS graduate who is playing men's volleyball for the second time. "Being able to play volleyball, then go and see some of the other events is pretty fun. A lot of the sports were in Canada last time. We're really hoping to win a medal this time."
The snowshoe and men's volleyball events will have a definite Southeast Alaska flavor. Six snowshoers and both coaches are from Southeast, as are seven of the nine men's volleyball players and their coach. Other Southeast athletes will compete in indoor soccer, gymnastics, basketball, table tennis and women's volleyball.
Competitions also take place in arctic sports (Inuit and Dene games), badminton, ice hockey, speedskating, figure skating, alpine and nordic skiing, biathlon, snowshoe biathlon and sled dog racing. Each of the contingents also provides cultural performers and artists for the Arctic Winter Games.
Some athletes wanted to go the Arctic Winter Games for the competition, while others wanted the international flavor. Phil McMurray of Juneau, who will coach the men's volleyball team for the second time, said he wanted to see his namesake town.
"Two years ago it was split up, so we finally get to experience the whole thing," McMurray said. "We got fourth place last time, and we missed competing in the gold-silver (ulu) match in the fifth game. But we were the only team to beat the gold-ulu team, Northern Alberta, and this team's better."
Most of the Juneau athletes met Wednesday afternoon and received their team jackets and uniforms. But some of the teams with more of a Southeast flavor have been practicing together for the last two months.
"I can't wait," said Margaret Sekona, who will compete in indoor soccer. "I just wanted to see how other countries are."
"I wanted to try something different, I hadn't done anything like this before," said Kayla Walton, who will be Sekona's teammate. "I'm really excited. I kind of like the competition and being there in general."
The 37 people from Southeast mark one of the area's largest contingents to participate in an Arctic Winter Games, if not the largest. Interest in the Games has picked up in Southeast in recent years as more people have become involved, and Juneau even made a bid to host the 2006 Arctic Winter Games but lost out to the Kenai Peninsula.
"We're still involved, we're very involved," said Juneau Assembly Member Jim Powell, who is one of two representatives from Southeast Alaska on the Team Alaska Board of Directors (George Smith is the other Southeast Rep). "But what gets the kids involved is the coaches, and we've got a motivated group."
Kristi West, who runs the Zach Gordon Youth Center, is on the Team Alaska Mission Staff. Besides McMurray, other coaches from Juneau are snowshoers Guy Thibodeau and Merry Ellefson, indoor soccer coach Gary Lehnhart and gymnastics coach Beth Landvatter. Boys basketball coach Arne Erickson is from Hoonah.
While Knutson-Lombardo is a snowshoe veteran, his teammates all are rookies. Joining Knutson-Lombardo are JDHS sophomore twins Wesley and Tyler Dinnan, sophomore Carly Craig and freshman Megan Bush. Christine Hansen of Haines is the other snowshoer from Southeast. The snowshoers use old-fashioned wood-and-sinew snowshoes in the Arctic Winter Games, not the high-tech aluminum ones, although the athletes now can purchase the old-fashioned snowshoes instead of being required to build their own.
"The time trial in January, that was the first time I'd been on snowshoes," Craig said. "You have to kind of shuffle when you run. I just like being around people who are all doing different things, and I'll get to see the dog mushing."
The men's volleyball team features Juneau residents Bryan Diebels, Collin Rielly, Brett Rielly, Robby Hickok, Adam Peterson, Dmitriy Stepanov and Evan Thibodeau. Julie Heard of Juneau will compete on the women's volleyball team.
"I've been looking forward to this for three years," Peterson said. "I didn't go last time. I missed it."
"We're going for the gold," said Brett Rielly, who is going for the first team after seeing the fun his older brother had in Greenland.
Besides Sekona and Walton, other indoor soccer players from Juneau or Douglas are Erin Flynn, Colin Flynn, Monica Daugherty, Nils Domke, Lindsey Kato, Jessy Post, Greta Thibodeau and Matthew Walton.
Gymnastics competitors from Juneau are Paige Pahlke and Alexandria Wagoner. Table tennis players from Juneau are Eric Pak and Ryan Hart.
Keith Stedman of Sitka is playing basketball and rounds out the Southeast contingent.
Web links
For more on the Internet, check out www.2004.teamalaska.org and www.awg2004.com
• Charles Bingham can be reached at charles.bingham@juneauempire.com.