Alaska

Alaska sports week in review: South girls snap Dimond swimming streak and UAA men’s basketball opens season with series sweep

Published

2 years ago

November 1, 2022

Alaska sports week in review: South girls snap Dimond swimming streak and UAA men’s basketball opens season with series sweep

UAA’s Vojtech Ruzek, 24, cheers alongside his teammates throughout their season opener towards Halfway College on the Alaska Airways Heart in Anchorage on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022. (Emily Mesner / ADN)

This previous week featured a number of spectacular performances on the prep, collegiate and novice ranges throughout the Alaska sports activities panorama. On the highschool swimming entrance, the South ladies varsity staff broke Dimond’s Area IV stranglehold by claiming their first title in over a decade. The College of Alaska Anchorage males’s basketball staff opened its 2022-23 season on a excessive observe and the UAA volleyball squad accomplished a regular-season sweep of in-state rival College of Alaska Fairbanks for the primary time in half a decade.

Headlines and highlights

For the primary time in additional than a decade, a ladies varsity swimming and dive staff aside from Dimond completed first on the Area IV event. The Lynx got here into Saturday’s finals favored to complete in first place once more however the South Wolverines have been capable of pull off the beautiful upset because of sturdy showings and finishes by their feminine swimmers.

Zoe Fencil got here in second within the 200-yard IM and first within the 100 backstroke, Charlotte Griffith got here in second in each the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle, Kaia Reeg completed first within the 500 freestyle and second within the 100 breaststroke the place Stella Baldessari completed proper behind her at third, and their 400 freestyle relay of Griffith, Megan McLaughlin, Fencil and Reeg bested Dimond’s ‘core 4’ to complete first.

A swimmer competes in the 500 freestyle — South Excessive swimmer Kaia Reeg competes within the 500 freestyle throughout the Area IV Swimming and Diving Meet at Bartlett Excessive on Oct. 29, 2022. (Chris Bieri / ADN)

Whereas the 2022 highschool soccer season got here to an in depth final weekend with the Division I state championship sport, one of the best seniors from across the state in any respect three divisions got here collectively to place their expertise to the take a look at one final time for a great trigger on the All Alaska Shrine Soccer Traditional. The annual occasion permits the graduating class of gamers an opportunity to showcase their skills towards the cream of the crop whereas elevating cash for Shriners Hospitals for Kids.

“That is going to be an occasion they’ll always remember,” West Anchorage’s Tim Davis stated. “Not solely is it a final hurrah for Alaska, for lots of them, it’s going to be a bridge for the subsequent degree.”

Davis was the coach of the Maroon staff and stated nearly as good of a possibility as it’s for the gamers to place good tape on movie, they by no means misplaced focus of the primary objective of the occasion, which was giving again and elevating each funds and consciousness.

Lathrop’s Tyler Clooten was again on a discipline for the primary time since he helped his staff win its second straight Division II state title earlier this month. The Malamutes have been nicely represented on the occasion as anticipated, and he stated he was simply completely happy to have the ability to play with them towards one of the best within the state.

“It is a good alternative to have enjoyable with my buddies one final time,” Clooten stated.

He’s been in touch with a few schools, together with Valley Metropolis State (N.D.) and most notably the College of Cincinnati, a Division I powerhouse within the American Athletic Convention. In school, Clooten intends to main in sports activities drugs with the hopes of changing into a bodily therapist or chiropractor.

West Anchorage aced Dimond in precision air riflery Friday with a rating of 7-0. The Eagles’ Tristyn Cunningham shot a match-high 280-11x whereas Kolter Kalt led the Lynx together with his rating of 279-9x.

The highschool wrestling season was in its second week and noticed a number of lopsided twin meet outcomes Wednesday earlier than an action-packed weekend at South, the place the Monster Bash Duals happened. Soldotna bested reigning Division I state champion Colony and 2021 state runner-up South to complete in first place within the duals event whereas Palmer claimed the ladies title with 49 mixed factors.

In a rematch of the 2021-2022 state championship sport, the primary sport of the ladies highschool hockey season ended the identical method final yr’s title sport did as Dimond/West beat South/Bartlett 3-0. Freshman Aurora Morton began the scoring together with her first highschool objective at 3:38 of the primary interval with an help from Renee Doyle. Tana Carlson added to the lead with an unassisted objective at 1:11 of the primary interval. Lauren Grier completed the scoring with a third-period objective (13:52) with assists from Molly Sillers and Amelia Nascimento. Three goalies mixed for the 21 save shutout (Zoie Campbell, Siena Lardizabel and Abby Blevins). South/Bartlett’s Brielle Akagi made 49 saves.

The prep volleyball common season got here to an in depth this previous week with the vast majority of the ultimate matches happening Wednesday. The lone match that happened on Thursday was between top-ranked Dimond and surging South Anchorage. The Lynx prolonged their present win streak to 16 straight whereas snapping the Wolverines’ streak at 5 by profitable in three straight units.

On the faculty volleyball scene, No. 6 UAA returned to its house court docket and achieved a feat that had not been achieved since 2017 when it accomplished the regular-season sweep of in-state rival and sister college program UAF. After dropping the primary set, the Seawolves received three straight and have been led to victory by their dynamic senior duo of Eve Stephens, who led the staff in kills with 19, and Ellen Floyd who led the staff in assists with 35 and recorded a career-high 9 kills.

[UAA volleyball pulls off season sweep of UAF for the first time in 5 years]

The UAA males’s basketball staff took the court docket for the primary time final week in a two-game sequence with Halfway College. The brand new-look Seawolves scored precisely 87 factors and claimed victory in each contests. Junior Jaedon Bradley is the staff’s main scorer via two video games with a mixed 31 adopted by native prep hoops star Da’Zhon Wyche with 26.

[New-look UAA men’s basketball team takes season opener]

The Anchorage Wolverines performed in entrance of their house followers at Ben Boeke Ice Enviornment for the second straight weekend once they hosted the Wisconsin Windigo for a three-game sequence. The Wolverines took an early 2-0 lead and acquired outscored 7-1 after the primary interval on Friday evening, bounced again with a 5-3 win on Saturday, and misplaced 7-2 on Sunday. Anchorage native Aiden Westin led the staff in scoring throughout the sequence by recording a pair of objectives in every of the primary two video games.

[After building an early lead, Anchorage Wolverines fall to Windigo on Friday]

Final week’s outcomes

Prep Soccer

Saturday

All Alaska Shrine Soccer Traditional

Silver 21, Maroon 3

Prep Wrestling

Wednesday

West 55, Dimond 18

South 65, Eagle River 6

Chugiak 66, Bartlett 6

Service 48, East 24

Hutchinson 36, Delta 18

Saturday

Monster Bash Duals Event

1. Soldotna

2. South Anchorage Excessive College

3. Colony Excessive College

4. Palmer Excessive College

5. Wasilla Excessive College

6. Chugiak Excessive College

7. West Anchorage

Monster Bash Girls`s Event

1. Palmer 49

2. Bethel 44

3. Soldotna 41

4. Colony 38

5. South Anchorage 35

6. Nome Excessive 21.5

7. West Anchorage 13.5

8. Chugiak 13

9. Dillingham 13

10. Dimond 9

Swimming

Area IV Swimming and Diving Meet

Staff Scores

Mixed

1. Dimond Excessive College 805.5 2. South Anchorage Excessive College 682.5 3. Robert Service Excessive College 584 4. Chugiak Excessive College 557 5. Eagle River Excessive College 531 6. West Excessive Swimming & Diving 474 7. East Excessive College 183 8. Bartlett Excessive College 78

Women

1. South Anchorage Excessive College 441 2. Dimond Excessive College 422 3. Chugiak Excessive College 299 4. Eagle River Excessive College 243 5. West Excessive Swimming & Diving 229 6. Robert Service Excessive College 169 7. East Excessive College 96 8. Bartlett Excessive College 44

Boys

1. Robert Service Excessive College 415 2. Dimond Excessive College 383.5 3. Eagle River Excessive College 288 4. Chugiak Excessive College 258 5. West Excessive Swimming & Diving 245 6. South Anchorage Excessive College 241.5 7. East Excessive College 87 8. Bartlett Excessive College 34

Prep Volleyball

Tuesday

West 3, Eagle River 0 (25-22, 25-17,25-12)

Dimond 3, Chugiak 0 (25-21, 25-6,25-18)

South 3, Bartlett 1 (25-16, 25-22, 28-30, 25-13)

Bettye Davis East 3, Service 2 (20-25, 18-25, 25-23, 28-26, 15-12)

Thursday

Dimond 3, South 0 (25-18, 25-22, 30-28)

Riflery

West 7, Dimond 0

Prep Hockey

Women

Friday

Dimond/West 3, South/Bartlett 0

Service/East 2, Chugiak/Eagle River 0

Faculty

Volleyball

Saturday

UAA 3, UAF 1 (18-25, 25-19, 25-20, 25-15)

Males’s Basketball

UAA 87, Halfway 63

Friday

UAA 87, Halfway 65

NAHL

Friday

Wisconsin Wendigo 7, Anchorage Wolverines 3

Saturday

Anchorage Wolverines 5, Wisconsin Wendigo 3

Sunday

Wisconsin Wendigo 7, Anchorage Wolverines 2

Three issues to look at for this week

Prep Swimming and Diving

State Championships, Friday and Saturday at Bartlett Excessive

The postseason for the highschool swimming and diving season will come to an in depth this week with the state championship meet. Similar to the Area IV championship, the state event will happen on the Bartlett pool and begins with prelims Friday and finals Saturday.

Faculty

Volleyball

Northwest Nazarene at UAA, 7 p.m. Thursday, Central Washington 7 p.m. Saturday

The Seawolves will play the ultimate two house matches of their regular-season schedule towards a pair of GNAC opponents on the Alaska Airways Heart this week 72 hours aside. They’ll be seeking to full regular-season sweeps of each the Nighthawks and Wildcats with the second being the “Pack the Home” evening the place their sensational senior class will likely be honored amongst different festivities.

NAHL

Fairbanks Ice Canine at Anchorage Wolverines, 7 p.m. Friday, 7 p.m. Saturday

Coming off a three-game sequence towards the Windigo, the Wolverines will likely be seeking to get again on monitor and stack a pair of wins when their in-state rivals come to city for a two-game sequence. This will likely be Anchorage’s final slate of video games on the town till it hosts the Kenai River Brown Bears for a two-game sequence Dec. 9-10.

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Alaska

As Alaska sees a spike in Flu cases — another virus is on the rise in the U.S.

Published

3 hours ago

January 15, 2025

Press Room

As Alaska sees a spike in Flu cases — another virus is on the rise in the U.S.

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTUU) – Alaska has recently seen a rise in both influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, better known as RSV. Amidst the spike in both illnesses, norovirus has also been on the rise in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says it’s highly contagious and hand sanitizers don’t work well against it.

Current data for Alaska shows 449 influenza cases and 262 RSV cases for the week of Jan. 4. Influenza predominantly impacts the Kenai area, the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, and the Northwest regions of the state. RSV is also seeing significant activity in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta and Anchorage.

Both are respiratory viruses that are treatable, but norovirus — which behaves like the stomach flu according to the CDC — is seeing a surge at the national level. It “causes acute gastroenteritis, an inflammation of the stomach or intestines,” as stated on the CDC webpage.

This virus is spread through close contact with infected people and surfaces, particularly food.

“Basically any place that people aggregate in close quarters, they’re going to be especially at risk,” said Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent.

Preventing infection is possible but does require diligence. Just using hand sanitizer “does not work well against norovirus,” according to the CDC. Instead, the CDC advises washing your hands with soap and hot water for at least 20 seconds. When preparing food or cleaning fabrics — the virus “can survive temperatures as high as 145°F,” as stated by the CDC.

According to Dr. Gupta, its proteins make it difficult to kill, leaving many cleaning methods ineffective. To ensure a given product can kill the virus, he advises checking the label to see if it claims it can kill norovirus. Gupta said you can also make your own “by mixing bleach with water, 3/4 of a cup of bleach per gallon of water.”

For fabrics, it’s best to clean with water temperatures set to hot or steam cleaning at 175°F for five minutes.

As for foods, it’s best to throw out any items that might have norovirus. As a protective measure, it’s best to cook oysters and shellfish to a temperature greater than 145°F.

Based on Alaska Department of Health data, reported COVID-19 cases are significantly lower than this time last year.

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Alaska

Sky Watch Alaska: planets align plus the aurora forecast

Published

12 hours ago

January 14, 2025

Press Room

Sky Watch Alaska: planets align plus the aurora forecast

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – This is a great time of year to do some star gazing. If you have clear skies in your part of Alaska, take the time to check out the night — and morning — sky.

After sunset, look toward the southwest. Saturn and Venus are snuggled up together (of course, they are more than 800 million miles apart) in the evening sky. They set at about 9:40 p.m. in Southcentral.

Before 9:40 p.m., you can see four planets with the naked eye — Saturn, Venus, Jupiter and Mars. Jupiter and Mars stick around through the morning. Mars is very close to the moon right now.

The Aurora forecast is fairly weak for the next few weeks. That’s not to say there won’t be the occasional burst but overall, solar activity is expected to be fairly low until the beginning of February.

If you get great pictures of the planets, the sky, or the aurora, don’t forget to send them to Alaska’s News Source.

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Alaska

Short-lived cold snap, with another warming trend this weekend

Published

19 hours ago

January 14, 2025

Press Room

Short-lived cold snap, with another warming trend this weekend

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Temperatures across the state are cooling off, as our strong low from the weekend moves into the Chukchi Sea. This will set up for colder air to spread across the state this week, as another short-lived cold snap is expected. While some light snow is possible for the Interior, areas of the Slope and Western Alaska, Southcentral will stay on the drier side until the night. Meanwhile, Southeast will continue to hold onto moderate rain with gusty conditions.

SOUTHCENTRAL:

Temperatures this morning are 10 to 20 degrees colder than yesterday, as colder air has settled back into Southcentral. Clear skies and calm winds are evident this morning for parts of the region, with light snow falling through the Copper River Basin. We’ll see fairly quiet conditions today, outside of Kodiak which will see increasing snow and rain into the afternoon and evening hours. This comes as our next area of low pressure moves up the Alaska Peninsula.

We’ll see light snow spreading north across the Kenai overnight into Wednesday, with light snow expected through Prince William Sound. Several inches are likely through the Kenai and Chugach Mountains, with the pass expected to see a couple of inches of accumulation. Western parts of the Kenai will see the potential for a few inches, while inland areas of Southcentral largely stay dry. If Anchorage and surrounding locations see any accumulation, it’ll amount to less than half an inch.

As snow tapers off Wednesday, we’ll see the return to colder and drier conditions into Thursday. Thursday may be the coldest day this week across the region, before another warming trend carries us into next week. Right now holding with snow through early next week, but areas of wintry mix are possible as highs warm above freezing.

SOUTHEAST:

The winter storm warning for Skagway and higher elevations expired at 6am this morning. While some light snow showers are still possible, little accumulation will occur the rest of the day. Scattered to periodic showers are occurring elsewhere across Southeast today, with less than half an inch of rainfall through the day. Any moisture available into the evening will see a transition to some wintry mix or snow into Wednesday morning. However, the better chance will come from another low lifting north into the panhandle. Any snow and wintry mix we see for Wednesday will primarily stay confined to the central and southern panhandle. We’ll see much cooler weather taking hold this week for Southeast.

INTERIOR:

Some areas of light snow are possible this morning, with less than half an inch to be expected. While temperatures are still warm for much of the Interior, highs will steadily fall throughout the day. Many areas will see lows bottom out near or below zero by tomorrow morning. We’ll see high pressure keep things dry and sunny through the next couple of days, with the coldest stretch of weather from Wednesday morning into Thursday morning. Much like the rest of the state will experience, a warming trend arrives this weekend. We’ll see the return to highs in the 20s, with some snow in the forecast. Be prepared for some gusty conditions through the Alaska Range by the close of this week.

SLOPE/WESTERN ALASKA:

Areas of light snow and blowing winds will continue to impact the Slope, with a winter weather advisory remaining in place for the Central Brooks Range and the Beaufort Sea Coast. Both locations will see up to 1 inch of snow and gusty winds up to 35 mph. While the winter weather advisory will expire for the Central Brooks Range this afternoon, the Beaufort Sea Coast will see the alert continue into Tuesday evening. Snow and blowing snow will be the primary impact today, with a return to colder weather through the rest of this week, this comes as high pressure settles into the area.

The storm responsible for the damaging winds for Southcentral over the weekend, has pushed north into the Chukchi Sea. We’ll still see some light snow accumulations for Western Alaska, with 1 to 3 inches expected. Some fo the heaviest snow will fall across the Seward Peninsula and the Western Brooks Range.

An area of low pressure in the Bering Sea will keep gusty winds and snow in the forecast for Gambell/St. Lawrence. Be prepared for heavy snow at times and areas of reduced visibility. Overall, colder weather will settle into Western Alaska, with the possibility of morning fog in the valleys over the next few mornings.

ALEUTIANS:

Some light areas of snow will occur for the Pribilof Islands and into parts of the Alaska Peninsula today, as a weak low moves up the Peninsula. This will be the main focus for snow into Wednesday for Southcentral. This low will bring heavy precipitation and gusty winds for the Eastern Aleutians and the Alaska Peninsula. Looking ahead through the rest of the week, we can expect to see more a ridge beginning to build into the region. This ridge will slowly shift east, keeping several upper level disturbances traversing the Aleutians. Temperatures will remain fairly warm in the 30s and 40s.

OUTLOOK AHEAD:

Model consensus continues to agree on another warming trend heading our way into next week. This stretch of warmth will likely lead to many spots cementing themselves within the top warmest January’s on record. While we’ll spend the rest of this week on the colder side, highs steadily climb this weekend into next week. We’ll see highs in Southcentral climbing back above freezing, with areas of the Interior climbing back into the 20s.

Have a safe and wonderful Tuesday!

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