Madeline Ko and Jesse Kurtz spent part of Friday afternoon at the Native Youth Olympics being tutored in the art of the scissor broad jump by Nick Hanson, which is about as good as it gets.
Getting advice from Hanson, the world record-holder in the event, is akin to Stephen Curry providing tips on stroking jump shots or Jordan Spieth furnishing putting pointers.
"It's a privilege,'' Ko said. "I feel really lucky.''
Ko was both lucky and good.
Ko, a 17-year-old Colony High junior representing the Tanana Chiefs Conference, shattered the girls NYO and women's world record with her scissor broad jump of 29 feet, 6.25 inches. Ko eclipsed the 2005 NYO and world record of 28-9.25 by Anjelica Whitley, and she topped runner-up Kaye Gumera of Unalaska by 18.25 inches.
When Ko took the highest spot on the podium during the awards ceremony at the Alaska Airlines Center and her record was announced, she was greeted by a standing ovation from her peers gathered on the basketball court below.
"That was amazing,'' Ko said. "I didn't expect it. That was a special moment.''
It got even better. Ko later Friday won the two-foot high kick at 77 inches to become the first athlete in these games to win two events.
Kurtz, 18, representing the Mat-Su A Team, was no slouch either. His winning scissor broad jump effort of 34-10.50 defeated runner-up Isaiah Waghiyi of Mt. Edgecumbe by nearly 9 inches.
Both Ko and Kurtz are newcomers to the scissor broad jump, an event that in these 46th annual Olympics was rotated back into the schedule. Both athletes figured the event might be in their wheelhouse -- Ko has competed at the state high school track and field meet in the triple and long jump, and Kurtz said he's always been a springy sort.
The scissor broad jump features similarities to the triple jump, in that the "four-jump'' event requires bounding off each leg. One significant difference -- the scissors broad jump starts from a standing position as opposed to the run-up approach used in the triple jump.
The scissor broad jump amounts to four movements, or bounds. The athlete starts with feet parallel and stationary, broad jumps forward and lands on one foot, with the other foot elevated off the floor and "scissored'' behind the landing foot. The second movement is bounding off the "scissor'' foot, landing on the opposite foot, then bounding off that foot for the third movement and landing with feet parallel for the fourth movement.
The athlete basically must stick the landing. Shuffling forward or back nullifies the attempt.
When performed properly in continuous movement forward, the scissor broad jump is dance-like, a display of power, balance and rhythm.
"I'm always trying to get kids to find a rhythm, like a four-four beat,'' Hanson said. "The biggest thing is they have to have a flow, a smoothness. Power, fluidity and getting that rhythm.''
Hanson, 28, of Unalakleet, helps coach the Bering Straits team, and he knows whereof he speaks. The former NYO athlete in 2014 launched himself a world-record 36-7 at the World Eskimo-Indian Olympics. And like all coaches and mentors at NYO, he helps all the athletes he can, not just his own.
Ko and Kurtz both said Hanson emphasized making all four "jumps,'' or bounds, count. Kurtz said the ideal scissor broad jump feels powerful, yet smooth.
"When I have good balance, not side-to-side, or forward or back, that's when I feel comfortable giving all my energy to the jump,'' Kurtz said. "Your legs don't feel tired when you land with good balance. It feels smooth, not awkward.''
Kurtz owned style to spare -- he competed in powder blue socks adorned with stitched pink donuts.
Kurtz collected his second medal of these games. He finished fourth in the Alaska high kick on Thursday's opening day of the three-day event that wraps Saturday.
Meanwhile, girls scissor broad jump runner-up Kaye Gumera of Unalaska continued her medal assault Friday with her third silver-medal performance. Thursday, she took silver in the kneel jump and the wrist carry.
Kim Gumera of Unalaska has pocketed gold and silver -- he won the Alaska high kick and was runner-up in the two-foot high kick.
Dillingham's Sydney Dray also owns three top-five finishes. She took third in Thursday's kneel jump, fourth in Friday's two-foot high kick and fifth in Friday's scissor broad jump.
Also, Teeana Nikolai of Mat-Su Team A added a fourth place in the girls one-hand reach Friday to her fifth place in the kneel jump Thursday.
Other athletes with multiple top-five finishes include Tara Agwiak of Lower Yukon, who owns gold in the Alaska high kick and Friday took fifth in the two-foot high kick. Checking it with a third-place finish in the girls two-foot high kick and fifth-place finish in the Alaska high kick is Terry Johnson of the Anchorage A Team.
Andrew Kashaveroff of the Anchorage A Team won the boys two-foot high kick at 96 inches.
Mat-Su A swept the Eskimo stick pull Friday. Ashley Hoglund, third last year in the event, won the girls title by defeating defending champion Sarah Schroeder of Dillingham. Frank Kelly, runner-up last year, seized the boys title.
In the one-hand reach, Alexie Julius of the Lower Kuskokwim School District won the boys title at 66 inches and Sophie Swope of Bethel won the girls title at 56 inches.
Reach Doyle Woody at dwoody@alaskadispatch.com and follow him on Twitter at @JaromirBlagr
2016 Native Youth Olympics
Friday's results
Eskimo stick pull
Girls – 1) Ashley Hoglund, Mat-Su A; 2) Sara Schroeder, Dillingham; 3) Autumn Randazzo, Anchorage A; 4) Michelle Delerosa, Nenana; 5) Miya Page, Northwest Arctic.
Boys – 1) Frank Kelly, Mat-Su A; 2) Matt Grothe, Mat-Su B; 3) Tyler Smith-Turpin, Knik Tribal; 4) Matthew Faoasau, Unalaska; 5) Weston Reeves, Barrow.
Scissor broad jump
Girls – 1) Madeline Ko, Tanana Chiefs, 29 feet, 6.25 inches (NYO and world record; previous NYO and world record, Anjelica Whitley, 28-9.25, 2005); 2) Kaye Gumera, Unalaska, 28-0; 3) Rochelle Lincoln Forbes, Lower Kuskokwim, 27-5.50; 4) Julianne Wilson, Kenaitze Indian Tribe, 27-2.25; 5) Sydney Dray, Dillingham, 26-8.
Boys – 1) Jesse Kurtz, Mat Su A, 34-10.50; 2) Isaiah Waghiyi, Mt. Edgecumbe, 34-1.75; 3) Walter Snyder, Lower Kuskokwim, 34-0; 4) Kaiden Jimenez, Mat Su B, 33-9.50; 5) Arctic Ivanoff, Bering Straits, 33-9.
One-hand reach
Girls – 1) Sophie Swope. Bethel, 56 inches; 2) June Tuluk, Chevak, 56 (one miss); 3) Katarina Mowrer, Dillingham, 55; 4) Teeana Nikolai, Mat-Su Team A, 55; 5) Chantal Snyder, Lower Kuskokwim, 54.
Boys – 1) Alexie Julius, Lower Kuskokwim, 66; 2) Brian Conwell, Unalaska, 64; 3) Branden Dallman, Aniak, 64 (two misses); 4) Pius Phillip, Lower Yukon, 63; 5) Brandon VanLandingham, West Valley, 62.
Two-foot high kick
Girls -- 1) Madeline Ko, Tanana Chiefs, 77 inches; 2) Julianne Wilson, Kenaitze, 74; 3) Terry Johnson, Anchorage A Team, 72 (two misses); 4) Sydney Dray, Dillingham, 72; 5) Tara Agwiak, Lower Yukon, 70.
Boys -- 1) Andrew Kashaveroff, Anchorage A Team, 96 inches; 2) Kim Gumera, Unalaska, 92; 3) KC Gage, Mat-Su A, 90; 4) Isiah Charles, Lower Kuskokwim, 86 (one miss); 5) Noah Brown, Mat-Su B Team, 86.