Father of UAA hockey leads group of 7 selected for Alaska Sports Hall of Fame’s Directors’ Awards

A man whose name is synonymous with UAA hockey, a Fairbanks skier who has shined on the world stage and a runner whose muscle helped a fellow East High graduate reach an improbable goal are among those who will be honored with Directors’ Awards next month at the annual Alaska Sports Hall of Fame ceremony.

Dating back to 2012, the Directors’ Awards honor Alaskans who have provided leadership and inspiration through sports, as well as the top four athletes from the previous year.

The awards are separate distinctions from induction into the Hall of Fame, which has been honoring Alaska’s greatest sports figures since 2007. The Class of 2019 plus the Directors Award winners will be honored at the April 25 ceremony at the Anchorage Museum.

The Class of 2019, chosen by the Hall of Fame selection panel and announced late last year, includes two-time Olympic trapshoot medalist Corey Cogdell, former Major League pitcher Chad Bentz, the Alaska Run for Women and Kodiak’s 2001 state basketball championship victory over the East T-birds.

The Directors’ Award winners, selected by the Hall of Fame board of directors and announced Thursday, include:

Brush Christiansen, winner of the Joe Floyd Award for a significant and lasting contribution to Alaska through sports. Hailed as the father of UAA hockey, Christiansen was the team’s first coach and led the program from Division II to Division I status. He coached the team from 1979-96, compiling a 287-229-30 record and leading the Seawolves to the quarterfinals of the 1991 NCAA Tournament. His 287 career wins are more than the combined total posted by the five coaches who have followed him, and his .533 career winning percentage is more than 200 points better than any other UAA coach.

Andy Beardsley, winner of the Trajan Langdon Award for leadership, sportsmanship and inspiration. Beardsley, a veteran marathon runner, reunited with fellow 1982 East High graduate Larsen Klingel at last year’s Boston Marathon, where Beadsley pushed his friend in a wheelchair for 26.2 miles through rain, wind and low temperatures. Beardsley, who lives in Virgnia now, and Klingel, who lives in Homer and has long contended with cerebral palsy, finished in 3 hours, 40 minutes to rank in the top half of the field of more than 25,000 participants.

South High boys basketball team, winner of the Trajan Langdon Youth Award for leadership, sportsmanship and inspiration. Dallin Lewis, who has a learning disability, was the team manager for two seasons. On Senior Night this year, he went from the sideline to the spotlight — he was inserted into the lineup for the final seconds of a game against East, and he scored a layup just before the final buzzer.

In addition to those awards, four athletes — a man, a woman, a high school boy and a high school girl — earned Pride of Alaska awards for their achievements in the last year:

Keegan Messing, men’s winner. The Girdwood figure skater followed up a strong Olympic debut in 2018 by capturing his first Grand Prix medal. Messing won the silver medal at the 2018 Skate Canada International and went on to place fifth at the Grand Prix Finals, where he landed a quad lutz in competition for the first time. Messing also claimed the gold medal at the 2018 Nebelhorn Trophy, part of the ISU Challenger Series.

Caroline Kurgat, women’s winner. A UAA runner from Kenya, Kurgat broke NCAA Division II national records in the 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters in January, and followed up by winning NCAA indoor national championships in those events in March. Those victories give her five national championships in indoor track, outdoor track and cross country.

Kendall Kramer, high school girls winner. A junior at West Valley, Kramer is a runner and cross-country skier who has packed a career’s worth of highlights into a single 365-day span. She claimed two state track championships in the spring of 2018, won the Midnight Sun Run and Mount Marathon junior race during the summer, won the state cross-country running championship in the fall, and then outdid herself on the ski trails this winter. She grabbed her second straight Skimeister award as the state’s top high school skier, notched two fourth-place finishes at the World Junior Championships (one in an individual race, the other in the relay) and swept the gold medals in her age group at the recent Junior National Championships at Kincaid Park.

Jersey Truesdell, high school boys winner. A multi-sport star at Soldotna, Truesdell was the Division II offensive player of the year in football and a two-time all-state selection at quarterback and defensive back for the state champion Stars. In basketball, he was a third-team all-state selection whose 31 points on the first day of the Class 4A state tournament carried Soldotna into the semifinal round.

Daily News sports editor Beth Bragg is a member of the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame selection panel.