Sports

Unalakleet cousins share the spotlight at Native Youth Olympics

Two cousins from Unalakleet starred in a double feature Saturday at the Native Youth Olympics, and for much of the afternoon they competed against each other for the spotlight.

Allie Ivanoff, 16, and Arctic Ivanoff, 18, both registered personal-bests to capture championships in the one-foot high kick, one of the most show-stopping events in Native sports.

Allie flirted with the NYO girls record of 92 inches during her final three attempts. She missed the record but was thrilled to leave with the gold medal and a personal-best kick of 91 inches.

"I just wanted to get on the podium," she said. "I've been looking at this since the eighth grade. This event, this medal — it's everything."

Allie and the rest of the girls competed on one half of the Alaska Airlines Center gymnasium floor at the same time the boys competed on the other half — which meant that sometimes, the cousins jumped at the same time.

"I was keeping an eye on Allie," Arctic said after claiming the boys victory with a kick of 106 inches. "I knew she had it."

While Allie was going for the record, Arctic was battling for supremacy among the boys. That created a bit of a conflict for coach Nick Hanson, who ran back and forth between the two competitions to keep tab on the Ivanoffs.

ADVERTISEMENT

Hanson, known as the Eskimo Ninja for his exploits on the American Ninja Warrior television show, made sure to watch all of Allie's final jumps, including her three attempts at the 92-inch record set in 2012 by Miriam Wamsley of Valdez.

"Let's get a record," he said after Allie clinched the gold medal with a kick of 91 inches. Between Allie's first and second attempts, Arctic sealed his victory by kicking 106 inches on his second attempt. "Yes! Yes!" Hanson cheered.

In the one-foot high kick, athletes try to kick a seal-skin ball, about the size of a softball, suspended overhead. They must land on one foot — the same foot they kick with.

A test of jumping ability, balance and flexibility, the one-foot high kick is spectacular to watch and is one of the glamour events at the three-day NYO, an annual competition for high school-aged students across Alaska.

To get an idea of the effort required, consider that Allie Ivanoff stands 5-foot-4, or 64 inches. For her winning attempt, the ball dangled more than two feet — 27 inches — above her head.

Arctic Ivanoff is 69 inches tall (5-foot-9), and on his winning kick, the ball hung more than three feet over his head.

Last year, Arctic tied for second place with a jump of 104 inches and Mat-Su's Kaiden Jimenez triumphed at 106. This year, the two swapped places, with Jimenez taking second at 104 inches.

After Arctic missed three times at 107 inches to end the competition, Jimenez — with nothing on the line — took a shot at the same height and kicked the ball with a couple of inches to spare.

"It's a lot more pressure (during competition)," said Jimenez, a 17-year-old at Colony High. "But when you're happy and having fun, you can do it."

NYO is one of his happy places, Jimenez said, and he said he was thrilled to trade places on the podium with Ivanoff.

"I started doing this in eighth grade, and seeing all these kids grow up and get better, seeing Arctic outkick me after I outkicked him last year — these guys are family," he said.

In the case of the Ivanoffs, they really are family. Paul Ivanoff, Allie's dad and Arctic's uncle, helps coach the cousins, who also help each other.

"He pumps me up and helps me do the best I can," Allie said.

"Really it's just about pushing each other," added Arctic.

Arctic, an all-tournament pick at last month's Class 2A state basketball tournament, earned five podium finishes over the three days of competition.

Besides his win in the one-foot high kick, he was second in the scissor broad jump, fourth in both the two-foot high kick and one-hand reach and fifth in the Alaska high kick.

Allie captured gold medals in three events — the one-foot high kick, the two-foot high kick and the scissor broad jump — and placed second in the kneel jump.

ADVERTISEMENT

Until this year, she had never made it into the top five in any event. After placing sixth in last year's one-foot high kick at 86 inches, she dedicated more time and effort into her training, motivated by the prospect of reaching the podium this year.

She was blown away by the extent at which she exceeded her expectations.

"I can't wrap my mind around it," she said. "(NYO) is my absolute favorite sport. The sportsmanship, the competitiveness and the will to do your absolute best is the biggest in this sport."

Saturday's events

Indian stick pull

Girls — 1) Alexiah Ahkiviana, Barrow; 2) Kaia Beebe, LPSD; 3) Misty May Wilmarth-Agoff, Chickaloon; 4) Chloe Phillips, Anchorage; 5) Laura Ekada, Mt. Edgecumbe.

Boys — 1) Arnold Phillip, LKSD; 2) Dillon Chaney, Dillingham; 3) Name not available, Anchorage; 4) Jasiah Mila, Barrow; 5) Steven Woods, Tanana.

One-foot high kick

ADVERTISEMENT

Girls — 1) Allie Ivanoff, BSSD, 91 inches; 2) Milya Wright, Barrow, 88; 3) Emily Pomrenke, Nome, 86; 4) Suzanne Beaty, Mat-Su, 86; 5) Kaia Beebe, LPSD, 86 (ties broken by number of misses).

Boys — 1) Arctic Ivanoff, BSSD, 106 inches; 2) Kaiden Jimenez, Mat-Su, 104; 3) Name not available, Anchorage, 104; 4) Braden Dallmann, Aniak, 104; 5) Al Lane, Nenana, 101 (ties broken by number of misses).

Seal hop

Girls — 1) Abi Fry, Nunamiut, 133 feet, 5.5 inches; 2) Maysa Brown, Chevak, 127-6.5; 3) Trillium Kell, Chickaloon, 106-5.5; 4) Lisa Tran, Unalaska, 100-6.75; 5) Celeste Katcheak, Bering Strait, 97-7.

Boys — 1) Harberg Paul, LKSD, 157 feet, 9 inches; 2) Edward Atcherian, Chevak, 155-1.5; 3) Alvin Washington, Bering Strait, 116-9.5; 4) Trevor Wilson, Unalaska, 112-5.25; 5) Luther Walker, LYSD, 99-8.

Friday's events

Eskimo stick pull

Girls — 1) Ashley Hoglund, Mat-Su; 2) Kiara Nelson, LPSD; 3) Rayna Peterson, Mt. Edgecumbe; 4) Rose Lincoln, Anchorage; 5) Madison Ortega, Mat-Su.

Boys — 1) Haley Osborne, Mt. Edgecumbe; 2) Dylan Jackson, Mat-Su; 3) Derrick Roberts, Juneau; 4) Matthew Faosua, Unalaska; 5) Simeon Zackar, LPSD.

Scissor broad jump

Girls — 1) Allie Ivanoff, BSSD, 28 feet, 6.5 inches; 2) Emily Pomrenke, Nome, 27-3.5; 3) Susan Beaty, Mat-Su, 26-8.75; 4) Crystalynn Tula'i, Barrow, 26-7.5; 5) Lizzie Tran, Unalaska, 26-3.

Boys — 1) John Villena, Unalaska, 35 feet, 7 inches; 2) Arctic Ivanoff, BSSD, 35-0.25; 3) Name not available, 33-9.5; 4) Tony Oktollik, Nenana, 33-8; 5) Johnny Bosco, LKSD, 33-5.25.

ADVERTISEMENT

One-hand reach

Girls — 1) Chantal Synder, LKSD, 58 inches; 2) Jodi Carlson, BSSD, 57; 3) JoBeth Stuart, Bethel, 56; 4) Jessica Lindsey, Mat-Su, 54 (0 misses); 5) Kiara Kapotak, SWRSD, 54 (1 miss).

Boys — 1) Brian Conwell, Unalaska, 65 inches; 2) Brayden Dallmann, Aniak, 64; 3) Iris Paul, LKSD, 62; 4) tie, Arctic Ivanoff, BSSD, and Shelby Samuel, Mt. Edgecumbe, 61.

Two-foot high kick

Girls — 1) Allie Ivanoff, BSSD, 75 inches; 2) Katelyn Paul, LKSD, 71; 3) Andrea Apthorp, Mat-Su, 70; 4) Amber Gray, Nome, 68; 5) Hana Miles, Mat-Su, 66.

Boys — 1) Trevor Wilson, Unalaska, 90 inches; 2) Brayden Dallmann, Aniak, 90 (4 misses); 3) Jacob Kompkoff, Chenega, 88; 4) Arctic Ivanoff, BSSD, 88 (1 miss); 5) Clayton Mesak, LKSD, 87.

Beth Bragg

Beth Bragg wrote about sports and other topics for the ADN for more than 35 years, much of it as sports editor. She retired in October 2021. She's contributing coverage of Alaskans involved in the 2022 Winter Olympics.

ADVERTISEMENT