Homer Alaska - Sports

Homer's high school and middle school athletes have returned home laden with coveted gold and bronze ulus after testing themselves against competition from around the world at the Arctic Winter Games in Grand Prairie, Alberta, Canada.

* Mitch Wyatt took gold at 82 kg in both classic and Inuit style wrestling.

* Zenon Martushev took gold at 75 kg in both classic and Inuit style wrestling.

* Team Alaska took gold in the co-ed team wrestling competition.

* Team Alaska took bronze in girls' hockey with Homer player Hannah LaRue.

* Team Alaska took bronze in girls' basketball with help from Homer players Miranda Beach, Aminta Cole, Ione Fischer, Kayla Hutt, Maggie Koplin, Makenzie Moor, Liz Needham, Alecia Stafford, Heidi Westerman and Taylor Winchester.

* Team Alaska came close but did not medal in boys' juvenile indoor soccer. Homer's Quinn Daugharty was part of the team.

As important as the competition was the chance for student athletes to participate in a totally different arena and interact with athletes from different cultures, said Basketball Coach Tim Daugharty.

"It's really a cool thing because you just don't realize that these people came from all around the world so they brought all their gifts to the competition," said Daugharty.

Alecia Stafford said that the Arctic Winter Games provided a chance for her and her teammates to end their regular basketball season on a positive note.

"It was one of the best experiences of my life. It was fun playing with a new team and new people. It was just a totally new place, I've never been there before and it was cool to see the sights and meet new people. It was really fun because we came home with the medal and we won," said Stafford.

The experience presented all new challenges for Stafford and her teammates, particularly in adapting to play at the international level.

"Our team was really close and we didn't really have any drama and played hard. There were some international rules that we had to get used to, and we had to adjust to one another so we had a couple of tough games in the beginning," she said.

Students were able to spend much of the week of the games checking out other sports, experiencing other cultures and seeing the sights when not competing.

"When we got there we were assigned to a high school area. We had a couple of roommates that were snowshoers so it was cool talking to them and seeing how they were doing with their events. There was always something going on to watch," said Stafford.

The lessons learned at the Arctic Winter Games could prove valuable for Homer's athletes as well as the teams on which they play.

"It was a good way to end my basketball season for my junior year. It made me realize how good it feels to win and it gave me more of a feeling on how to win and that's something I can really bring back for next season," said Stafford.