School sports can be competitive. Teams in matching uniforms shoot looks at each other from across the gym. They duke it out on the court, shake hands, board the bus and go home.
But the Western Interior Ski Association’s annual meet isn’t like that at all.
“It's a giant, multi-day sleepover for the kids with some skiing on the side,” one of Nome-Beltz Middle High School’s coaches, Hailey Scofield, said.
Every spring, middle and high school students from the Interior and coast gather for the three day ski meet that includes biathlon and relay races.
This year’s event was hosted by the Unalakleet School. Overnight, the teams slept in classrooms across the campus. But between races, the kids played basketball together and hung out in the halls.
“The dynamics and friendships that come out of that are just fundamentally different from when you're someplace where you can race and hop back in the car the moment you're done,” Scofield said.
The team’s Head Coach, Rosa Wright, skied for the Nanooks when she was a student at Nome-Beltz. She successfully pushed for the district to make ski and biathlon an official school sport in 2022.
Wright said she wants her students to experience the same “magic” she felt participating in the sport all those years ago.
“You make these lifelong connections with people throughout your region and throughout the interior that you're connected with forever,” Wright said. “It's not just about the sport, it's about connecting with people and being good sports and learning how to be good people, that's the magic of the meet.”
Making the magic hapen
Making the magic happen is expensive. The teams flew an average of 180 miles – all by plane – to make it to this year’s meet.
Nenana’s coach, Chuck Hugny, said it used to be even more expensive when the only opportunity kids had to compete was in Fairbanks or Anchorage.
“A lot of people from the coast were really upset about that, because they had some good skiers that could go to town and compete very favorably with the city kids in the small school or even the big school meets. But expense, you know?” Hugny said.
A small group of passionate skiers, including Alaska High School Hall of Fame member John Miles, formed WISA in 1987. Hugny joined a year later and has played a part in all but one meet since then.
Over that time, Hugny said he’s witnessed the way the sport can change lives.
“It takes a certain kid that has that kind of moxie that can take on the elements and really push himself,” Hugny said. “I mean, a lot of times it's easy to say, you know, it's, it's kind of cold, it's kind of windy. But when they push through that, they just get so jazzed, you know, and then it's a good day. They're flying.”
This year’s 1.4 kilometer course was crafted by Unalakleet’s Coach and WISA President, Matt Roesch. He’s been involved with the school’s ski program since his daughter joined 11 years ago and took over the president role last year.
Roesch said the meet, particularly the biathlon event featuring rifle shooting, wouldn’t be possible without the support of over two dozen local volunteers.
“Just having these events where we can celebrate, you know, the fact that they're sliding on snow and doing this really kind of interesting sport with guns and things, just celebrating who they are already, I think, is the bigger goal, and feeling good about where they are and where they're from,” Roesch said.
Galena junior Hawken Scotton and Unalakleet freshman Isabella Eller each took home the Skimeister award with top two finishes in the ski race, biathlon, and relay events. Unalakleet’s Ezra Jack and Turi Busk picked up the Skimeister awards for the middle school classes.
Galena and White Mountain earned first and second respectively for the boys and girls high school categories. Unalakleet, meanwhile, dominated the middle school races with first place finishes in both boys and girls categories. Nome earned second for the middle school boys while White Mountain earned second in the girls category.
The meet ended with news that Galena will host next year’s event. Up to six students from this year’s race will represent WISA at the Arctic Winter Games in Whitehorse next March.
