Anchorage Daily News

It's been quite the year for sports in the Valley. State championships in basketball, hockey and wrestling; locals winning the Iron Dog snowmachine race as well as the International 500 in Michigan, one of the largest snowmobile races on the planet. A high school football game that will be long remembered.

A look back at the year in sports in the Valley:

Tazlina Mannix wins Europa Cup ski race, two titles at U.S. Cross-Country Ski Championships -- Talkeetna's Mannix, who trains with the Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center, had her best season by far, winning a 15-kilometer Europa Cup skate race in Slovenia in February, followed two months later by national titles in the 30-K marathon and the pursuit. A U.S. Ski Team member, Mannix has her sights set on the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Houston hockey completes unprecedented four-peat -- Houston ended its final season of small-schools' hockey play on top -- a 5-0 victory over Glennallen for its fourth straight state championship. The Hawks now play in the large-schools Mid- Alaska Conference.

Wasilla's Chad Gueco and Bill Wilkes win International 500 snowmobile race -- Gueco and Wilkes teamed to win an endurance race dubbed the Indy 500 of snowmobile racing. It takes place in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., and is the largest oval-track snowmachine race in North America.

Colony rolls to second consecutive Class 4A wrestling championship -- Despite no individual champions, Colony dominated the mats, wrapping up the team title with an insurmountable lead well before the finals began. Because of a change in the wrestling season schedule, Colony actually won the championship twice in 2007 -- in February for the 2006-07 school year, and in December for this school year.

Colony's win continued the Valley's dominance in wrestling to five years -- Wasilla won titles in the three previous seasons.

First Dude wins Iron Dog -- After several years of runner-up finishes, Todd Palin, husband of Gov. Sarah Palin, finally returned to the winner's circle in the 2,000-mile snowmachine race across Alaska. Partnering with Scott Davis of Soldotna, Palin won his fourth Iron Dog. It was Davis's seventh title, tying him for the all-time lead with Wasilla's John Faeo, who recently retired from the snowmachine racing.

Wasilla captures boys and girls state basketball titles -- Quite an evening for Valley sports fans at the Sully. First, the Wasilla girls hold off Juneau to win the school's first basketball title in 25 years. Then a tearful Gov. Palin, a point guard on that 1982 Warriors team, hands out the trophy. And finally, the Wasilla boys win their first championship in an all-Valley final against Colony, which entered the tourney seeded seventh and upset No. 2 Juneau and No. 3 East to reach the final.

Wasilla ends Potato Bowl heartburn -- In the most thrilling football game of the season, Wasilla rallied from a 14-point deficit to win its first Potato Bowl after five straight losses to Palmer. Wasilla's Tim Orr made a one-handed catch on a 73-yard gain to set up Chris Crane's winning touchdown plunge with 25 seconds left for a 36-35 win. The victory put Wasilla in the playoffs for the first time in five seasons. Palmer avenged the loss a week later in the playoffs, defeating Wasilla 29-19 in the state quarterfinals.

Palmer advances to state championship football game -- Despite a 1-3 start and a bitter, last-second loss to Wasilla in the Potato Bowl, Palmer battled to the large-school championship, where it lost to Juneau. It was Palmer's second appearance in the title game in three seasons. The Moose upset Service in the semifinals, giving longtime coach Rod Christiansen his 100th victory -- just the fourth coach in Alaska high school football with 100 or more wins.

Chandice Cronk leads Santa Clara into Shootout final -- The former state player of the year for Wasilla High, Cronk scored 20 points in the Great Alaska Shootout championship game against UAA, but the Seawolves posted a remarkable rally to win 52-50.

Colony falls to South in Class 4A volleyball championship -- Colony rallied to win a dramatic five-game match against Dimond to advance to its first championship since 2003. But against defending champion South, the Knights couldn't win a crucial second game in which they had game point, and fell in three games.

This column is the opinion of Daily News reporter Ron Wilmot. Find him online at adn.com/contact/rwilmot or call 352-6712.

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