by K.J. Lincoln
This year Native Youth Olympics athletes once again took the action online for the 2021 Virtual Senior NYO Games, hosted by the Cook Inlet Tribal Council (CITC) based in Anchorage.
From April 5 – 30, student athletes in grades 7 – 12 from across the state competed for NYO at the location of their choice (indoors or outside) that is free of cost and supports a safe and physically distanced environment.
For the virtual competition athletes uploaded their individual competition video submissions within one-week time slots for each of the events. Medals were awarded for 1st – 5th place finishers.
Week One featured the Alaskan High Kick, Scissor Broad Jump, and Wrist Carry. Week Two was Two-foot High Kick, Kneel Jump, and One-hand Reach. And Week Three had the One-foot High Kick, Seal Hop, and Toe Kick.
Parents and/or Coaches registered their athletes online, individually. Students represented their schools and athletes competed by recording their individual performances on video then submitting the videos to NYO officials via web upload.
The finals for the Alaskan High Kick and the One and Two-Foot High Kicks were live-streamed with the top five placing athletes competing in their hometowns.
The competition in the boys’ Wrist Carry event was close with the top three competitors within only 6 tenths of a second apart. Elijah Gordon of the Kenai Peninsula School District won the event with a time of 35.82. In second was Chandler Ulroan of Chevak, his time was 35.53. Placing third was Micah Mitchell of Kotzebue who hung on for 35.18 seconds.
For the girls Two-foot High Kick event, the number of misses determined the places for 3rd-5th. Eden Hopson of Service HS got third, she had no misses. In fourth was Victoria Fisher of Unalakleet who had 1 miss. In fifth was Minnie Clark of Nome-Beltz HS, she had 3 misses.
The same went for the boys’ One-Hand Reach. The three top competitors all hit 62” but places were determined by the number of misses and at what height the misses occurred.
Regan Hoblet of Mount Edgecumbe landed a 52” Kneel Jump, winning 1st place. She was within striking distance from the record of 55 ½” set by Apaay Campbell of Gambell in 2013. Hoblet placed six times in her events. In addition to her gold medal in the Kneel Jump, she won silver in the Alaskan High Kick, the Scissor Broad Jump, and the Wrist Carry.
She also placed 4th in the One Hand Reach and 5th in the Seal Hop.
Seven medal winner Colton Paul of Kipnuk, representing Mount Edgecumbe HS won a gold medal in the Alaskan High Kick with a kick of 88”. He also won 5 silver medals for the Scissor Broad Jump, Two-foot High Kick, Kneel Jump, and the One-foot High Kick. He also won bronze in the One-Hand Reach.
CITC will be giving all competing athletes a 2021 Virtual NYO beanie as a “Thank you!” for their participation.
2021 NYO Virtual Submission Competition Results are to the right.
