Sports briefs: Homer ski, basketball give top performances; hockey returns to rink this weekend

Published 9:30 pm Wednesday, January 14, 2026

Homer varsity ski tops Palmer Division II meet

The Homer High School varsity boys and girls ski teams traveled to Palmer last weekend to race at Government Peak. Both teams earned first place in Division II and took third overall, including Division I teams.

“I was just so impressed with the kids,” head coach Jessie Goodrich said Tuesday, adding that Homer competed minus one varsity athlete each on the girls and boys teams.

Skiers competed in both a classic race and a relay over the weekend — the latter of which, according to Goodrich, is important practice for the upcoming state relay.

“(Relays) won’t change your team times all that much for winning state, but it is definitely the one that’s fun to watch because … they’re very fast sprints and it’s spectator friendly,” she said.

Last year’s GPRA Invite was cancelled, which Goodrich called a “shame” since the meet serves as an “early season warm-up for your relay.”

“We went (this year) no matter what the weather forecast was calling for, because the kids need to be at this meet, and the coaches need to be at this meet to watch our kids react to being on the relay. Not every kid enjoys that pressure, and it’s nice to see that before state,” she said.

Goodrich also noted that the varsity girls team — largely made up of sophomores, some freshmen and one senior — is lately performing really well in classic races.

“I was very impressed with them — they’ve just come a long ways in tough classic courses races,” she said.

The Mariners will next compete in Valdez Jan. 23-24.

Both the regional and state meets will be held at Government Peak, on Feb. 6 and Feb. 19-21, respectively.

Junior varsity basketball hosts inaugural home tourney

Homer varsity basketball was idle last weekend while the junior varsity teams hosted the first annual 8-team bracketed JV tournament at Homer High School. The boys finished as champions, and the girls team took third with a win over Soldotna High School.

Homer girls’ head coach Kailee Veldstra said via text Monday that the Mariners worked hard for their third place win again SoHi.

“We executed well to pull out ahead and kept our composure. It was a great way to see where we’re progressing with things this season and looking forward to keep working hard,” she wrote.

Veldstra called out a few players for “breakout” games.

“Faith Overson had a very sound offensive and defensive weekend. Emily Stafford hit some clutch 3’s and free throws in that SoHi game to keep us in,” she wrote. “Alana Crane and Kim Donyes played some all around good defense this whole weekend.”

Jose Musa, head coach for the Homer boys, said via text Monday that the inaugural JV tournament was a “great” event and that Homer “played strong teams that showed competition will be present for years to come.”

“Super happy with the turnout to support the future of the sport for both boys and girls in our peninsula,” he wrote. “Thrilled that the boys were able to play on their home court in front of our amazing family and friends. It was wonderful to see the community come together.”

Musa noted that he was “very impressed” by leadership shown on the court by sophomores Hunter Gauthier and Thomas Martin. He also called freshman Jack Engebretsen “stellar” and said he “has all the tools he needs to be successful.”

Although they didn’t compete on the court, the varsity boys were present during the tourney to help out and support the Homer JV players.

“(I’m) excited to see the continued growth and improvement of these young men,” Musa wrote.

The Homer varsity teams will compete again this weekend in Nikiski at the Rus Hitchcock Tourney, Jan. 15-17.

Hockey to compete in the Valley this weekend

Homer hockey was idle this past weekend, as the originally scheduled face-off against Juneau-Douglas was cancelled due to the ongoing adverse weather conditions in Juneau.

The varsity team will travel to the Valley this week, competing against Palmer on Thursday, Eagle River on Friday and Chugiak on Saturday.

The Homer-vs-Juneau games have been rescheduled for Jan. 23-24.