Last week, hundreds of students from across Alaska gathered in Anchorage for the start of the 2017 Native Youth Olympics. This is the 47th annual games. The event is hosted by the Cook Inlet Tribal Council.
The games kicked off Thursday afternoon with the opening ceremony and a handful of events, including the Kneel Jump, Wrist Carry, and Alaskan High Kick.
Unalaska’s Kaye Gumera took first in girls’ kneel jump with 51.5 inches. Bethel’s Arianna Smith came second with 46.25 inches.
The first Kenai Peninsula resident to win in this year’s games placed in this category. Julianne Wilson of the Kenaitze Indian Tribe made a jump of 45.5 inches to take third place.
For the boys, the Lower Kuskokwim School District’s Wilton Charles took first in kneel jump at 64.25 inches.
For girls’ wrist carry, a Mat-Su team took first with Jake Smith and Russell Carlson-Zirica carrying Mia Weiss a total of 463 feet, 4.5 inches.
For boys’ wrist carry, Dillingham’s Tristan and Dillon Cheney carried Justin Dye a total of 549 feet, 2.5 inches to first place.
Results for the Alaskan High Kick were not yet in by Thursday evening.
On Friday, teams competed in Eskimo Stick Pull, Scissor Broad Jump, One-Hand Reach, and Two-Foot High Kick.
The games finished Saturday with Indian Stick Pull, One-Foot High Kick, and Seal Hop, along with the annual Pilot Bread Recipe Contest. The closing ceremony was held at 5:30 Saturday evening.
All of the events were held at the Alaska Airlines Center on the University of Alaska Anchorage campus and are open to the public.
More information about the games is available at citci.org.