Sports

Victor Martinez is awarded the Alaska Fighting Championship bantamweight title on Feb. 26 at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage, Alaska. (Photo courtesy of Maria Bundy)

Hitting the big time: Soldotna man signs 4-fight deal with UFC

He will take his 7-2 professional record into a UFC Fight Night 181 matchup.

 

Members of the Juneau Ski Club take ski during a Sunday recreation day. (Courtesy photo / Frankie Pillifant)

Nordic Ski Club and teams prepare to ski into season

It’s easy to distance skiing on the trails.

 

Eaglecrest Ski Area is preparing for a winter sports season in the time of the coronavirus with a planned opening date of Dec. 5, 2020. (Courtesy photo / Charlie Herrington)

Eaglecrest readies for winter sports season

Equipment rentals require prefitting with the supplier.

 

Courtesy Photos / Eric HansonThunder Mountain High School junior Kiah Dihle runs her way to an eighth-place finish Saturday at the state cross country meet.

Juneau cross country teams end strange season with strong finish

The race was the first and last in-person race of the season.

Courtesy Photos / Eric HansonThunder Mountain High School junior Kiah Dihle runs her way to an eighth-place finish Saturday at the state cross country meet.
Courtesy photos / Debbie LowenthalAbove, Juneau-Douglas Yadaa.at Kalé High School students Rayna Tuckwood (right) and Skylar Tuckwood (left) race at the Thunder Mountain High School cross country race course during a regionals meet Oct. 3. Below, Juneau-Douglas Yadaa.at Kalé High School students Tim Degener (right) and Finn Morely (left) compete in the boys division.

Juneau runners raring to rout rival racers in state meet

This will be one of the first all-up state competitions since the pandemic began.

Courtesy photos / Debbie LowenthalAbove, Juneau-Douglas Yadaa.at Kalé High School students Rayna Tuckwood (right) and Skylar Tuckwood (left) race at the Thunder Mountain High School cross country race course during a regionals meet Oct. 3. Below, Juneau-Douglas Yadaa.at Kalé High School students Tim Degener (right) and Finn Morely (left) compete in the boys division.
Associated Press In this March 2017 photo, volunteer handlers guide teams out of the dog yard and down the chute to the starting line of the 45th Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Fairbanks, Alaska. The world’s most famous sled dog race will go forward in 2021, and officials are preparing for every potential contingency now for what the coronavirus and the world might look like in March when the Iditarod starts.

Iditarod preps for any scenario as 2021 race plans proceed

The world’s most famous sled dog race will go forward in 2021.

  • Sep 26, 2020
Associated Press In this March 2017 photo, volunteer handlers guide teams out of the dog yard and down the chute to the starting line of the 45th Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Fairbanks, Alaska. The world’s most famous sled dog race will go forward in 2021, and officials are preparing for every potential contingency now for what the coronavirus and the world might look like in March when the Iditarod starts.
The Juneau Mountain Bike Alliance and City and Borough of Juneau are collaborating to finish a new pump track for bicycle riders in Cope Park, due to be finished within weeks, Sept. 16, 2020. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

Outdoors pump track work is ramping up

Cope Park is about to have a new way to keep entertained.

The Juneau Mountain Bike Alliance and City and Borough of Juneau are collaborating to finish a new pump track for bicycle riders in Cope Park, due to be finished within weeks, Sept. 16, 2020. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)
Coach Merry Ellefson compliments runners on a job well done after a race. (Courtesy Photo / Debbie Lowenthall)

Long-distance running meets socially distanced competition

Team spirit carries Juneau-Douglas Yadaa.at Kalé High School’s runners on where others falter.

Coach Merry Ellefson compliments runners on a job well done after a race. (Courtesy Photo / Debbie Lowenthall)
Matt Boline demonstrates a drill during a recent workout with players in the 12-and-under group workout at Treadwell Ice Arena. (Courtesy Photo / Steve Quinn)

Photos: It’s heating up on the ice

Juneau Douglas Ice Association’s youth hockey season is underway at Treadwell Ice Arena.

Matt Boline demonstrates a drill during a recent workout with players in the 12-and-under group workout at Treadwell Ice Arena. (Courtesy Photo / Steve Quinn)
Alan Stuart/Pair of Thieves This photo shows Doug Peterson posed recently in Pacific City, Ore., next to the camper van that will accompany him on a nearly 1,500-mile bike ride to raise awareness for National Suicide Prevention Month. Peterson is riding his bike from the Canadian border to the Mexican border during the month of September, raising money with the support of apparel company Pair of Thieves and awareness for National Suicide Prevention Month.

Oregon man rides from Canada to Mexico for suicide awareness

He will ride across the country during National Suicide Prevention Month.

Alan Stuart/Pair of Thieves This photo shows Doug Peterson posed recently in Pacific City, Ore., next to the camper van that will accompany him on a nearly 1,500-mile bike ride to raise awareness for National Suicide Prevention Month. Peterson is riding his bike from the Canadian border to the Mexican border during the month of September, raising money with the support of apparel company Pair of Thieves and awareness for National Suicide Prevention Month.
Capital Kennel Club of Juneau stays dogged, holds first post-pandemic trials

Capital Kennel Club of Juneau stays dogged, holds first post-pandemic trials

Past events had been scratched — and not behind the ears.

Capital Kennel Club of Juneau stays dogged, holds first post-pandemic trials
Runners jog through a haze of colored powder as they begin a 5k run through downtown Juneau on Sunday, April 29, 2018. (Richard McGrail / Juneau Empire File)

Some local color: Downtown run is coming up

DBA partnered with the J-D Cross Country team will host the 2020 DBA Color Run.

Runners jog through a haze of colored powder as they begin a 5k run through downtown Juneau on Sunday, April 29, 2018. (Richard McGrail / Juneau Empire File)
Tech helps cyclists social distance in annual race

Tech helps cyclists social distance in annual race

Tour de Social Distance.

Tech helps cyclists social distance in annual race
Israeli Olympic racewalker Shaul Ladany holds his 1972’s Olympic race shoes for a portrait in Omer, Israel, Sunday, July 12, 2020. In an instant, the world record holder in the 50-mile walk was thrust into one of sports’ greatest tragedies and a seminal moment in modern history _ the kidnapping and massacre of his fellow Israeli team members at the 1972 Munich Olympics. The killing shocked the world, gave the Palestinian cause an audience and ushered in a new era of global terrorism. Ladany, a Holocaust survivor, the lessons still linger. He says it taught him to “never be afraid” but become “more careful.”(AP Photo / Ariel Schalit)

Israeli racewalker recalls surviving 1972 Munich massacre

In an instant, he was thrust into one of sports’ greatest tragedies.

Israeli Olympic racewalker Shaul Ladany holds his 1972’s Olympic race shoes for a portrait in Omer, Israel, Sunday, July 12, 2020. In an instant, the world record holder in the 50-mile walk was thrust into one of sports’ greatest tragedies and a seminal moment in modern history _ the kidnapping and massacre of his fellow Israeli team members at the 1972 Munich Olympics. The killing shocked the world, gave the Palestinian cause an audience and ushered in a new era of global terrorism. Ladany, a Holocaust survivor, the lessons still linger. He says it taught him to “never be afraid” but become “more careful.”(AP Photo / Ariel Schalit)
The site of Juneau Youth Wrestling Club’s future practice facility has been cleared, and Josh Houston, club board president said it’s hoped the building will be in place by October. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

Juneau Youth Wrestling Club’s new home nears completion

Tornados are ready to touch down.

The site of Juneau Youth Wrestling Club’s future practice facility has been cleared, and Josh Houston, club board president said it’s hoped the building will be in place by October. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)
Linda Kruger approaches Father Brown’s Cross and the finish of the Juneau Trail and Road Runners Mount Roberts Tram Run on Mount Roberts Trail. The event sponsored annually by the Goldbelt Mount Roberts Tramway. (Courtesy Photo | Jeff Gnass)

Dozens participate in distanced Mount Roberts Trail run

Fastest time was just over 24 minutes.

  • Jul 14, 2020
Linda Kruger approaches Father Brown’s Cross and the finish of the Juneau Trail and Road Runners Mount Roberts Tram Run on Mount Roberts Trail. The event sponsored annually by the Goldbelt Mount Roberts Tramway. (Courtesy Photo | Jeff Gnass)
Courtesy photo | Alexandra Razor Former members of the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaat.at Kalé softball team will play an alumni game on Sunday to raise money for travel and equipment for the team.

JDHS softball team to hold alumni game

It might be the first alumni game held by the JDHS softball team.

Courtesy photo | Alexandra Razor Former members of the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaat.at Kalé softball team will play an alumni game on Sunday to raise money for travel and equipment for the team.
Crimson Bears hold virtual awards ceremony
Video

Crimson Bears hold virtual awards ceremony

Coaches acknowledge hard work and dedication.

Crimson Bears hold virtual awards ceremony
Video
Micah Grigg, a Thunder Mountain High School graduate, will be swimming for Lenoir Rhyne University in North Carolina in the fall, signing with the school’s team this spring. (Courtesy photo | Micah Grigg)

Two members of Juneau’s swim club are college-bound

North Carolina and Fairbanks are a little further than a 1650-yard race away.

Micah Grigg, a Thunder Mountain High School graduate, will be swimming for Lenoir Rhyne University in North Carolina in the fall, signing with the school’s team this spring. (Courtesy photo | Micah Grigg)
Thomas Waerner, of Norway, celebrates in Nome his win in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Waerner is still waiting to return to his home in Norway. Waerner and his 16 dogs have been stranded in Alaska by travel restrictions and flight cancellations caused by the coronavirus pandemic. (Marc Lester | Anchorage Daily News via AP, File)

Virus strands Norway racer in Alaska after Iditarod win

Man and 16 dogs been stranded in Alaska by travel restrictions and flight cancellations.

  • May 25, 2020
Thomas Waerner, of Norway, celebrates in Nome his win in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Waerner is still waiting to return to his home in Norway. Waerner and his 16 dogs have been stranded in Alaska by travel restrictions and flight cancellations caused by the coronavirus pandemic. (Marc Lester | Anchorage Daily News via AP, File)