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Thunder Mountain High School’s Miley Andrews (16) clears a ball past JDHS Crimson Bears’ Parker Boman (8) during the Falcons final home game Monday at Falcons Field. (Klas Stolpe / For the Juneau Empire)

Sports

Thunder Mountain High School girls battle for soccer seniors in final game

Falcons fall 5-0 on pitch, but spirits rise in emotional derby against Crimson Bears.

A porcupine nurses its young one, providing milk. (Photo by Bob Armstong)

Sports

On the Trails: Feeding the kids

A parental duty of feeding the offspring can be very expensive in terms of energy expenditure and sometimes…

Finley Sullivan (right), a senior forward who broke her finger in practice a month ago, performs a kickoff to Ruby Rivas (#9), a senior midfielder who tore an anterior cruciate ligament in January, during the final home game of the season for the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé girls’ soccer team Saturday at Adair-Kennedy Field. Both players came out of the game moments later during an intentional stoppage in play. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Sports

Undefeated JDHS girls soccer team gives seniors a healthy sendoff in home finale

Crimson Bears sweep Ketchikan, face TMHS in Falcons’ final home soccer game ever Monday night.

Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé senior Mila Hargrave, being hugged by the JDHS coaching staff, signed a national letter of intent on Monday at the George Houston Gymnasium to attend Pacific Lutheran University and play softball for the Lutes. (Klas Stolpe / For the Juneau Empire)

Sports

JDHS softball star Mila Hargrave signs to the circle at Pacific Lutheran University

Multi-sport athlete will pitch for the Lutes.

A photo finish in the 100-meter dash sees Sitka High School’s Adalyna Moore (right) finish ahead of Thunder Mountain High School’s Kerra Baxter — although both were officially clocked at 13.54 seconds — during the Capital Invitational Track and Field Meet on Saturday at TMHS. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Sports

Triumphs come in all forms at annual Capital Invitational Track and Field Meet

Photo finishes, new records, overcoming personal challenges all cause to celebrate at two-day event.

An adult male mountain goat scans the horizon near the Juneau Icefield. (Photo by Kevin White)

Sports

Alaska Science Forum: Mountain goats live and die on the edge

Kevin White has placed his hands on the long, white fur of more than 400 Alaska mountain goats…

It’s always a good idea to overpack for an off-island beach day. (Photo by Jeff Lund)

Sports

I Went to the Woods: To burn or not to burn

The go-carts and caramel apples from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory also come to mind, but I can’t…

A white-crowned sparrow inspects the ground for seeds. (Photo by Bob Armstrong)

Sports

On the Trails: Yellow-rumped warblers, white-fronted geese, and white-crowned sparrows

These are some natural history tidbits about three of the several species I’ve enjoyed seeing this spring.

Peyton Wheeler takes a shot for Juneau Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé during Friday’s game against Thunder Mountain High School at Adair-Kennedy Field. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Sports

JDHS boys, girls soccer teams get shutout wins against TMHS

Crimson Bears boys’ 7-0 win on Thursday followed by girls’ 6-0 victory over Falcons on Friday.

Thunder Mountain High School boys’ basketball coach John Blasco and Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé coach Robert Casperson talk following the final local game between the two schools on Feb. 24, due to a consolidation plan taking effect during the coming school year. Blasco said Monday he is stepping down with the intent of letting Casperson coach the consolidated team. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

Sports

Juneau School District coaches and advisors being released due to consolidation, will have to reapply for jobs

Preference will be given to “successful incumbents” and certified staff, according to district letter.

Thunder Mountain High School seniors James Polasky, left, and Samuel Lockhart, right, signed letters of intent on Thursday in the TMHS commons to play college basketball. Polasky will attend St. Olaf in Minnesota and Lockhart will attend Edmonds College in Washington state. (Klas Stolpe / For the Juneau Empire)

Sports

Thunder Mountain’s Sam Lockhart and James Polasky sign letters of intent to play college basketball

All-state selection Lockhart to hoop at Edmonds, Polasky at St. Olaf.

Denali stands at 20,310 feet as seen from a commercial flight between Anchorage and Fairbanks. (Photo by Ned Rozell)

Sports

Alaska Science Forum: Searching for microplastics on Denali

Two college students will soon be stuffing snow from the slopes of Alaska’s highest mountain into Nalgene bottles.…

Mt. Edgecumbe High School coach Archie Young talks to an official during the Braves 63-61 loss to Nome in the 2024 ASAA March Madness Alaska 3A Boys Basketball State Championship game at Anchorage’s Alaska Airlines Center. (Photo by Klas Stolpe)

Sports

Archie Young: A final road trip as Mt. Edgecumbe basketball coach and teacher retires after 25 years

Long-ago star high school player became an extended family member to a generation of students.

A Pacific wren sings in the understory. (Photo by Helen Uhruh)

Sports

On the Trails: April jaunts

A walk at Fish Creek was productive, as it usually is. The marine side of the point was…

The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé boys soccer team takes on Palmer High School on Friday in Anchorage. (Photo by Tory Bennetsen)

Sports

All four Juneau high school soccer teams notch winning records during road trip north

JDHS girls remain undefeated; both TMHS teams get first victories of season.

Eulalia Roman, 12, with team Mat-Su competes in the wrist carry on the first day of the Native Youth Olympics Senior Games at the Alaska Airlines Center on Thursday in Anchorage. (Bill Roth/Anchorage Daily News via AP)

Sports

Alaska’s Indigenous teens emulate ancestors’ Arctic survival skills at the Native Youth Olympics

The athletes filling a huge gym in Anchorage were ready to compete, cheering and stomping and high-fiving each…

The beginnings of a budding garden in Southeast Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Lund)

Sports

I Went to the Woods: Growth mindset

By Jeff Lund

Kayak paddles and a spear tipped with a sharpened rock lie in a volcanic cave on the Seward Peninsula in 2010. (Photo by Ben Jones)

Sports

Alaska Science Forum: Treasures found within a volcanic cave

Ben Jones suspected he had found something special when he squeezed into a volcanic cave and saw pale…

One of about 80 participants in the annual Slush Cup tries to cross a 100-foot-long pond during the final day of the season at Eaglecrest Ski Area on April 7. (Eaglecrest Ski Area photo)

Sports

Season full of ups and downs ends about average for Eaglecrest Ski Area

Fewer season passes sold, but more out-of-state visitors and foreign workers help weather storms.

Juneau-Douglas base runner Tristan Oliva is safe at second base as Sitka senior Nai’a Nelson defends, Saturday at Moller Field. Juneau won the softball game, part of a three-day home tourney in Sitka. (Sitka Sentinel photo)

Sports

JDHS, TMHS turn in strong showings at three-day softball tournament in Sitka

Competing in their first home games of the season, Sitka High’s Lady Wolves softball players won against a…