Welcome to The Rewind, a weekly digest that puts a spotlight on the biggest stories and best performances from Alaska’s world of sports.
In summer baseball action, the 2023 Alaska Baseball League postseason came to a close and a pair of local American Legion baseball teams competed at Northwest regional tournaments. On the college sports scene, the University of Alaska Anchorage women’s basketball team took their talents overseas. On the national and international stage, several Alaskans produced standout performances domestically and abroad over the past week, including an ascending teenage mountain running star in Europe, a young pole vaulter in the Lower 48 and a pair of seasoned endurance athletes closer to home.
Headlines and highlights
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The 2023 Alaska Baseball League season officially came to a close over the weekend and was capped off by the Anchorage Glacier Pilots claiming their third straight Top of the World Series championship. After dropping their final two games of the regular season in a doubleheader against the Mat-Su Miners last Monday night, the Pilots went a perfect 4-0 in the postseason by sweeping their intown rival Anchorage Bucs and the Miners for a second year in a row in back-to-back best-of-three series.
[Glacier Pilots capitalize on Bucs’ errors to advance to fourth straight Top of the World Series]
Even though the 2023 Alaska American Legion season officially concluded a couple of weeks ago, the top two teams in the state got to extend their respective seasons for another week. The jubilation was short-lived for the three-time defending champion Eagle River Wolves, who had their 13-game win streak snapped by back-to-back losses at the Northwest regional tournament Wednesday and Thursday which resulted in their elimination.
However, while the state champs fell short in their tournament, the two-time state runner-up Service Post 28 Cougars bounced back and are riding high at the Northwest Class A Regional Tournament. They rattled off three straight victories from Friday through Sunday to punch their ticket to Tuesday night’s title game in Havre, Montana, where they will face an opponent that has yet to be determined pending Monday night’s results.
The UAA women’s basketball team traveled to Kaohsiung City, Taiwan, last week to take part in the BLIA Cup tournament exhibition tournament. The Seawolves went 1-3. Their lone victory came against De La Salle University on Friday. The Seawolves were led in scoring during the tournament by junior center Tori Hollingshead who racked up a combined 59 points. The 6-foot-3 junior college transfer eclipsed double figures in all four contests, including 19 in her debut for the Green and Gold to go along with 14 rebounds.
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The 35th annual Matanuska Peak Challenge mountain race took place Saturday and course records were set by Scott Patterson and Meg Inokuma who bested the heat and the competition on their way to first place finishes for their divisions. Patterson finished more than 10 minutes faster than the next closest male competitor with a time of 2:48:24 while Inokuma finished nearly four minutes faster than the next closest female competitor with a time of 3:23:37.
Alaska stars shining Outside
Palmer’s Coby Marvin continued his summer of dominance in the family business of mountain running by winning a pair of medals at the Youth Skyrunning World Championships in L’Aquila, Italy, over the weekend. After winning the Grand Prix Mountain Running races at Government Peak in June and the Mount Marathon junior boys division for the second year in a row in July, Marvin was the only American to earn medals in an event that featured competitors from 31 different countries.
Marvin, about to start his junior year at Colony High, won a silver medal in the Vertical Race by covering the 3.8-kilometer course with nearly 3,400 feet of vertical climbing in 41 minutes, 56 seconds and also placed eighth in the Sky Race by completing the 13K course that featured 4,200 feet of climbing in 1:41:06. The two combined results earned him a bronze medal in the overall Youth B standings.
[Alaska trail running champion Christy Marvin hopes to inspire through faith and friendly competition]
Fairbanks’ Micah Olsen pole vaulted himself to second place late last month in the USATF National Junior Olympic Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. The rising eighth grader competed in the 13-to-14-year-old age group and his mark of 11 feet, 3.75 inches on his third attempt marked a personal best.
Last week’s results
American Legion
Wednesday
Rocky Mountain Lobos 6, Eagle River 0
Thursday
Bellevue (WA) 13, Eagle River 3
Friday
Service 4, Couer d’Alene (ID) 0
Saturday
Service 2, Belgrade (MT) 1
Sunday
Service 8, Powell (WY) 4
Alaska Baseball League
Monday
Miners 4, Glacier Pilots 0
Miners 6, Glacier Pilots 0
Tuesday
Miners 5, Oilers 1
Glacier Pilots 6, Bucs 2
Wednesday
Oilers 5, Miners 4
Glacier Pilots 8, Bucs 4
Thursday
Miners 6, Oilers 2
Friday
Glacier Pilots 4, Miners 1
Saturday
Glacier Pilots 4, Miners 2
College
Women’s Basketball (BLIA Cup)
Wednesday
University of Taipei 77, UAA 70 (OT)
Thursday
Shih Hsin University 96, UAA 79
Friday
UAA 75, De La Salle University 47
Saturday
Fo Guang University 67, UAA 60
2023 Alaska Distance Classic
Women’s Double-Up
1. Michelle Isaev, Anchorage, 1:05:36, 2. Adriane Horn, Anchorage, 1:08:25, 3. Lindy Henrick, Anchorage, 1:08:54, 4. Susan Bick, Anchorage, 1:10:02, 5. Afton Milliman, Anchorage, 1:12:42, 6. Jackie Harmon, Anchorage, 1:12:48, 7. Lori Hunter, Eagle River, 1:13:07, 8. Brook Evingson, Anchorage, 1:14:54, 9. Ingrid Adamich, Anchorage, 1:16:19, 10. Ivy Eski, Anchorage, 1:16:24
Men’s Double-Up
1. Seamus McDonough, Homer, 50:25, 2. Zachary Christensen, Anchorage, 52:26, 3. Owen Marcotte, Anchorage, 53:23, 4. Billy Mueller, Anchorage, 55:08, 5. Theo McDonough, Homer, 56:05, 6. Tristan Meadows, Fairbanks, 58:43, 7. Alexander Woody, Anchorage, 59:48, 8. John Cosgrave, Anchorage, 1:00:05, 9. Ruben Rhodes, Anchorage, 1:00:11, 10. John Robinson, Queensbury, NY 1:00:58
Women’s 5K
1. Morgan Lash, Anchorage, 19:31, 2. Penny Atwood, Redmond, WA 20:46, 3. Michelle Isaev, Anchorage, 21:16, 4. Adriane Horn, Anchorage, 21:21, 5. Susan Bick, Anchorage, 21:55, 6. Jackie Harmon, Anchorage, 22:08, 7. Lindy Henrick, Anchorage, 22:12, 8. Morgan Ekemo, Eagle River, 22:50, 9. Brook Evingson, Anchorage, 23:13, 10. Afton Milliman, Anchorage, 23:26
Men’s 5K
1. Seamus McDonough, Homer, 16:14, 2. Caden Foster, Anchorage, 16:29, 3. Zachary Christensen, Anchorage, 16:42, 4. Owen Marcotte, Anchorage, 16:59, 5. Billy Mueller, Anchorage, 17:20, 6. Katahdin Staples, Anchorage, 17:36, 7. Parker Larson, Chugiak, 17:37, 8. Dash Dicang, Anchorage, 17:39, 9. Theo McDonough, Homer, 17:42, 10. Merrich Schwingendorf, Anchorage, 17:44
Women’s 10K
1. Campbell Peterson, Eagle River, 42:55, 2. Michelle Isaev, Anchorage, 44:20, 3. Emily Jones, Boulder, CO 45:56, 4. Lindy Henrick, Anchorage, 46:42, 5. Adriane Horn, Anchorage, 47:04, 6. Emily Schmieg, Anchorage, 47:35, 7. Susan Bick, Anchorage, 48:08, 8. Allison Macy, Chugiak, 48:29, 9. Afton Milliman, Anchorage, 49:17, 10. Lori Hunter, Eagle River, 49:23
Men’s 10K
1. Seamus McDonough, Homer, 34:12, 2. Zachary Christensen, Anchorage, 35:44, 3. Ethan Hodgin, Anchorage, 35:57, 4. Owen Marcotte, Anchorage, 36:25, 5. Billy Mueller, Anchorage, 37:48, 6. Theo McDonough, Homer, 38:23, 7. Donald Reynolds, Atlanta, GA 38:59, 8. Tristan Meadows, Fairbanks, 40:06, 9. Alexander Woody, Anchorage, 40:38, 10. John Cosgrave, Anchorage, 40:47
2023 Matanuska Peak Challenge
Women’s Overall
1. Meg Inokuma 3:23:37; 2. Klaire Rhodes 3:27:31; 3. Shauna Severson 3:40:28; 4. Viviana Mina 3:48:16; 5. Denali Strabel 3:54:28; 6. Gail Taylor 3:55:00; 7. Laura Tuttle 4:06:50; 8. Anna Poreen 4:14:14; 9. Amy de Schweinitz 4:23:47; 10. Kristin Wetzel 4:26:02
Men’s Overall
1. Scott Patterson 2:48:24; 2. Garrett Corcoran 2:59:09; 3. Erik Johnson 3:22:18; 4. Taylor Turney 3:23:31; 5. Tom Ritchie 3:32:40; 6. Owen Hatcher 3:33:43; 7. Eric Flanders 3:33:53; 8. Greg Fallon 3:45:06; 9. Corbin Wilson 3:46:50; 10. Dane Ketner 3:48:23
Fast Forward
Prep
Football
Colony at West, Friday at 7 p.m.
The 2023 season will kick off with a great matchup between two of the top contenders in the state when the Eagles host the defending Division I state champion Colony Knights for an early season clash between projected heavyweights. Leading the charge for the champs will be reigning Alaska Gatorade Player of the Year Jack Nash who is among several returners from last year’s title-winning squad.
There will be two other games going down in town this weekend and for those looking to stream the Cook Inlet Conference bouts between Dimond and South on Friday night and/or Service and Bartlett on Saturday night, both games will be broadcast on the NHFS network at nfhsnetwork.com.
Cross Country
Quad @ Service, Friday at 5 p.m. 3K v. Dimond, South, Service, East
The 2023 season will officially get underway this weekend with a pair of quad meets on Friday with the reigning girls champion Chugiak Mustangs and their boys team hosting West, Eagle River, and Bartlett for a 3K while in town, the Cougars will be doing the same against the Lynx, Wolverines and Thunderbirds.