This past week featured several notable individual and team performances across the Alaska sports landscape at the high school, collegiate and professional levels. The 2024 prep soccer regular season saw two teams from the same school remain unbeaten while the baseball season got underway in parts of the state. On the college scene, the University of Alaska Anchorage track and field team had one of its top performers honored after a pair of record-breaking performances. Outside the state, several Alaskans had impressive performances at the youth, collegiate and pro levels domestically.
Headlines and highlights
The 2024 high school baseball season got underway for almost all Division I teams this past weekend with three-time defending Division I state champion South Anchorage starting off another title defense campaign on a strong note. The Wolverines went down to Kodiak this past week where they took on three teams from the Mat-Su Valley and the interior and came back home boasting an unblemished 4-0 record.
This past week in prep soccer action saw the South boys and girls teams remain undefeated. Both teams recorded a pair of shutout victories with the defending Division I champion girls beating Bettye Davis East and Colony by a combined score of 21-0. On the boys side, the Wolverines beat the Thunderbirds 4-0 and avenged their loss in last year’s Division I state championship game by handing the title-defending Knights their first loss of the season by a 2-0 score.
The annual Alaska Association of Basketball Coaches senior all-star games took place on Saturday and pitted the best of the graduating class of 2024 against each other one last time. In the 1A/2A games, both Gold teams emerged victorious with the girls coming from behind to beat the Blue 73-64 while the boys won comfortably 111-98. In the 3A/4A games, the Blue teams flipped the script with the girls winning by nearly 30 points 85-58 and the boys did the same, prevailing 98-70.
On the college scene, UAA freshman phenom Joshua Caleb received his second career weekly Great Northwest Athletic Conference honor on Monday after his record-breaking performances this past week. On Saturday, he recorded the third-fastest 100-meters time in GNAC outdoor history at the Beach Invitational with a time of 10.34 seconds, which was also the 12th-fastest time to date in Division II this season. Earlier in the week, he helped the UAA men set a school record in the 4x100 at the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate Invite on Thursday. The Seawolves’ mark of 41.42 seconds was the 10th-fastest 4x100 meter relay time in GNAC history. Caleb also produced a time of 47.90 seconds in the 400 meters.
The Anchorage Wolverines didn’t manage to pull off a win over their in-state rivals, the Fairbanks Ice Dogs, in the final series of the regular season over the weekend. However, they were still able to come away with the first Midwest Division title in franchise history after losing in a shootout on Saturday night. Anchorage came into the week tied atop the division standings with the Wisconsin Windigo and needed just a single point to claim the crown. After falling 3-2 on Friday, the Wolverines held on through overtime and ensured they’d get the point they needed by forcing a shootout situation. Anchorage’s leading scorer over the weekend was forward Tyler Hennen, who scored a goal in each game.
Alaska stars shining Outside
Anchorage’s David Carle guided the Denver University men’s hockey team to an NCAA Division I championship for the second time in the last three seasons Saturday with a 2-0 win over Boston College in St. Paul, Minnesota. Led by the 34-year old coach, the Pioneers (32-9-3) ended the season on a nine-game winning streak and not only became the first team to shut out the Eagles (34-6-1) but they snapped their 15-game winning streak in the process.
Words from David Carle after winning his 2️⃣nd National Championship as Head Coach
— NCAA Ice Hockey (@NCAAIceHockey) April 14, 2024
📺 ESPN2#MFrozenFour x @DU_Hockey pic.twitter.com/cBJC1iuPGs
“I’m just really proud of our group,” Carle said in a postgame on-ice interview. “It was a hell of a battle, I’m so proud of our team, the growth we had this year. What a great atmosphere... It was an unbelievable battle (and) I thought our guys did a great job taking away time and space.”
Anchorage’s JT Thor had quite the impressive breakout performance in the final game of his third season in the NBA. The former West Anchorage standout made the most of his extended playing time by recording 20 points, nine rebounds and four assists for the Charlotte Hornets in a 120-110 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday night.
Palmer’s Andrew Kurka wrapped up his resurgent season on a high note this week by claiming the giant slalom title at the North American para-alpine championships in Winter Park, Colorado. The 32-year-old elite sit-skier won both giant slalom runs Wednesday as he cruised to gold medal finishes. With a two-run total time of 2 minutes, 2.63 seconds, he was more than three seconds faster than the runner-up.
Fast Forward
Prep
Baseball
South vs. Service, Friday at 2 p.m. at Bartlett
The 2024 season will officially be in full swing this week with games running from Monday through Saturday, but perhaps the top matchup to watch will be when the Wolverines and Cougars face off for the first time since the South bested Service in the 2023 Division I state championship game.
Boys Soccer
South vs. West, Friday at 8:20 p.m. at The Dome
Two of the top contenders at the Division I level will face off for the first time this season in a weekend Cook Inlet Conference clash. The Wolverines will be looking to remain undefeated while the Eagles will be trying to extend their own winning streak.
NAHL
Anchorage Wolverines vs. Minnesota Wilderness, Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 4 p.m. at Ben Boeke Ice Arena
This weekend the hometown junior hockey team will be back in action on home ice for a playoff game for the first time in two years after missing out on the postseason last year. The Midwest Division champions will take on the Wilderness for the fifth time this season in a three-game series starting Friday night and running through Sunday evening. The two teams split their last series that took place in Anchorage in mid-March but Minnesota led the regular season series 4-2.
Last week’s results
Prep
Boys Soccer
Tuesday
Colony 2, Chugiak 1
Palmer 3, Wasilla 1
Thursday
West 5, Bartlett 2
Colony 1, Wasilla 0
Friday
Kodiak 3, Houston 3
Wasilla 3, Eagle River 2
Kenai Central 9, Nikiski 0
South 4, East 0
Saturday
Dimond 3, Chugiak 2
West 1, Service 0
South 2, Colony 0
Kodiak 5, Houston 0
Girls Soccer
Tuesday
Chugiak 4, Colony 2
Service 8, Eagle River 0
Thursday
West 5, Bartlett 0
Colony 1, Wasilla 0
Friday
Kenai Central 6, Nikiski 0
Wasilla 2, Eagle River 0
South 13, East 0
Saturday
Dimond 8, Chugiak 0
South 8, Colony 0
Kodiak 1, Houston 0
Baseball
Wednesday
Wasilla 5, North Pole 3
Colony 20, Kodiak 3
Thursday
South 10, Colony 7
Friday
South 10, North Pole 9
Wasilla 17, Kodiak 1
Saturday
Colony 13, North Pole 0
South 8, Colony 4
South 11, Wasilla 0
NAHL
Friday
Fairbanks Ice Dogs 3, Anchorage Wolverines 2
Saturday
Fairbanks Ice Dogs 5, Anchorage Wolverines 4 (SO)