The Lower Kuskokwim School District team placed first overall at the statewide Native Youth Olympic Games in Anchorage (April 25-27). The games honor traditional contests that helped ancestors hone skills crucial to everyday life.
LKSD competitors swept the indian stick pull – Johnelle Smith won for the girls and Brandon Lee won for the boys.
Bethel’s Jordan Klejka won two girls’ events – the toe kick (54 inches) and the two-foot high kick (74 inches). Klejka also placed fifth in the one-foot high kick, at 82 inches.
Shawna Paul, with the LKSD team, placed second in the girls’ toe kick, at 50 inches.
Billy Nicholai, also of Bethel, placed second in the boys’ toe kick, at 78 inches.
In the boys’ two-foot high kick, LKSD’s Evon Phillip tied for fifth place with an Anchorage competitor, with a kick of 83 inches.
In the wrist carry, Aidan Crow of Bethel, along with carriers Nicholas Twito and Keith Wassilie, netted 376 feet, two inches, to take fourth place in that event. LKSD’s Robert Jimmy II, with carriers Ashton White and Cardon John, placed fifth with 356 feet and four and three-quarters inches.
In the Alaskan high kick, LKSD’s Daylon Brown took second with a kick of 88 inches. And LKSD’s Katya Carl took third for the girls, with a kick of 70 inches.
In the scissor broad jump, Ashton White placed fourth out of the boys with a jump of 34 feet, four inches.
In the one-hand reach, LKSD team members Chloe Wassilie and Andrew Paul both placed second in the girls’ and boys’ competitions, with reaches of 60 inches and 65 inches respectively.
LKSD competitors both took fourth place in the kneel jump – Nikki Erik netted 42 inches in the girls’ competition, and James Brink jumped 58 inches against the boys.
In the seal hop, Devon Mann won the boys’ competition with a hop of 145 feet and half an inch. Riley Boyscout tied for third place with a competitor from Valdez with a hop of 96 feet, nine inches.
While lower-Kuskokwim competitors had a super-strong showing at the Native Youth Olympics, other Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta competitors also made it on the podium.
Nazliel Bunyan of the Lower Yukon School District tied for third place in the boys’ seal hop with a hop of 94 feet. Ava Howard of Yupiit School District placed fourth in the one-hand reach, with a reach of 56 inches, and McGrath’s Kierra Egrass placed fifth in the one-hand reach, with a reach of 56 inches.
