Daily Sitka Sentinel Sports editor Garland Kennedy joins Robert Woolsey to wrap up the spring high school sports season, and discuss the state champion Sitka High Girls track team. Listen here:

Klas Stolpe from the Sitka Sentinel’s sports desk joins KCAW’s Rob Woolsey to celebrate a big victory for the Sitka High Lady Wolves.

The softball team won the Division II State Softball Championship this weekend. The tournament ran from May 30-June 1 in Anchorage. The winner was all but certain until the last rounds, when the Lady Wolves beat Ketchikan 11-3.

Agatha Andrews and Sydnee Kimber set records on Saturday, Andrews the first three-time state champion in her weight class, Kimber the first four-time state champion in girls wrestling. (Photo/Charlotte Kimber)

Students from around Alaska gathered in Anchorage this weekend to compete in the state wrestling tournament, hosted by the Alaska School Activities Association. Several of those students, young men and women, are from Mt. Edgecumbe High School in Sitka which, in recent years, has built the largest girls wrestling program in Alaska. KCAW’S Katherine Rose reports.

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Mt. Edgecumbe students Agatha Andrews and Sydnee Kimber met freshman year, but it took until sophomore year for them to warm up to each other.

“When I was a freshman I was really shy. Didn’t talk to a lot of people. Agatha has made me open up as a person and made me a little more…noisy,” says Kimber.

Now seniors, the close friends have a lot in common. Both are All-American wrestlers and state champions, Kimber a national champion, Andrews a finalist. They’ll be competing in the state wrestling competition this weekend in Anchorage. Both could set records for high school women’s wrestling in the state of Alaska in their weight class. And yet, until this year, they haven’t had anything to show for it, because women’s wrestling is considered an ‘emerging sport’.

“The first year they didn’t keep score at all. The second year they kept an unofficial score,” Kimber says. “Last year they did the same thing, and we were the tournament winners. They claimed there wasn’t enough girls. So we didn’t get a trophy. But this year we met their requirement so we get a state trophy if we win.”

Kimber says a lot of athletic programs in the state don’t think women’s wrestling is important.

“A lot of people don’t believe in girls wrestling still. Nobody has a team quite as big as us. Our coach, he really promotes girls wrestling. We have probably one of the biggest high school teams in the country.”

That would be Kimber’s dad, head coach Mike Kimber, tall with a bit of a 5 o’clock shadow and a wide grin.

“Sydnee is everything that I thought I was and wanted to be,” says Coach Kimber “I did wrestle for a couple of years in college. I just didn’t have that in me, but Sydnee has dedicated her time, so she’s ready to go.”

Coach Kimber says wrestling is important for both genders, but with women, there’s a radical shift in perspective about what they can and cannot do.

“It’s the first time in their lives a lot of girls in our program have been told ‘It’s okay to rough house. It’s okay to be competitive, it’s okay to want to win.’ It’s the first time that they’ve been empowered to be in control,” he says.

Control of their futures too. Andrews and Kimber are both seniors, thinking about what comes next. They plan to wrestle at the collegiate level, and eventually, give back to their home communities. . Andrews comes from Akiak and has  an interest in studying business or nursing.  business or nursing.  And Kimber plans to go into Physical Therapy.

“I don’t want to be a doctor, like a surgeon,” Kimber says. “Not needles, and knives and stuff. But physical therapy and to give back to the sports community.”

But before they can do that, a little recognition for their accomplishments wouldn’t hurt.

“I know it’s gonna feel really amazing because we’ve been waiting for it. Now I want to grab it and show it off,” says Andrews.

“We don’t get acknowledged a lot for being girls wrestlers,” Kimber adds. “We’ve won state 3 times in  a  row and we don’t get any recognition for that. Having a trophy will prove that we deserve it.”

And even if it turns out that there isn’t a trophy, Coach Kimber has another solution. He’ll make a trophy and award to the students himself.

Agatha Andrews and Sydnee Kimber pose with Mt. Edgecumbe head wrestling coach Mike Kimber with their state championship brackets. (Photo/Charlotte Kimber)

And on Saturday night, the two young women achieved the recognition they’ve been craving. Andrews won her third state title, and Kimber pinned her opponent in 79 seconds to become Alaska’s first four time state champion in girls wrestling.

The eleven members of the Mt. Edgecumbe Girls’ Varsity Volleyball team pose with their 3A state championship trophy. The players hail from all over the state, from Sitka to Hoonah to Nome. (Photo courtesy of Mike Mahoney)

Mt. Edgecumbe Girls’ Varsity Volleyball team has bumped, set, and spiked their way to victory again this year. The Lady Braves won the 3-A State Title on Saturday (11-12-16) for the second year in a row.

Head coach Michael Mahoney says the secret sauce is consistency, playing like a family, and being prepared. The Braves woke-up at 5:30 AM for an 8 AM match Saturday morning against Grace Christian, which would pull the winner out of the loser’s bracket and into the title game. The Lady Braves pulled it off, 3 -1. Mahoney says the momentum of that win carried the team against Nikiski, 3-0. This victory forced a playoff — sometimes called an “if game” — which would give the first team to 30 points the state title.

“In that match, our blockers – our middle blockers Hannah Alowa and Haylee Steffes – were fantastic at shutting down the offense for Nikiski. And then our back row, our well-trained back row, did a wonderful job of just digging up every hit that Nikiski sent over and getting it back to Zhane White, our all state setter. A lot of things went well on Saturday,” said Mahoney. 

From L to R: Rachelle Persson (All State Team; Best Defensive Specialist Award), Haylee Steffes (All State Team), and Zhane White (2nd time selection to All State Team; Best Setter Award). (Photo courtesy of Mike Mahoney)

Saturday’s victory is the fourth state championship for the Lady Braves in six years. Even though the players change, Mahoney says some things stay the same. That includes leadership from senior players. “They’re nervous about playing but they’re not so nervous that they freeze up. A lot of our teammates have been to the state championship before, have been in the state tournament before, and they know what to expect. They’ve played in the UAA Alaska Airlines Center. They know the lines, they know the sound, they know the crowd,” he said. 

While Mt. Edgecumbe doesn’t recruit specifically for volleyball players, Mahoney says girls try out knowing the team’s reputation and wanting to give the game a shot. “We call it ‘Volleyball Christmas’ every year in August, when we have our tryouts. This year, we had 85 girls tryout for volleyball. 66 of those girls stayed in program and finished the whole season,” Mahoney said. “We have great coaches here: C team, JV, all the way up. And we have a lot of fun. Win or lose, you gotta have a good time.”

Mt. Edgecumbe High School will hold a celebration for the team tonight at 7 p.m. in the B.J. McGillis Field House.

The Sitka boys and girls Cross Country teams pause for a photo a the beginning of their championship season. (KCAW photo/Charles Bingham)

The Sitka High boys have won the state Cross Country title. The Wolves toppled defending champion Grace Christian on Saturday (10-3-15) to take the small-schools trophy.

Sitka runners Colin Baccioco and David Wilcox finished 4th and 6th respectively to anchor the Sitka win. The Wolves duo finished the 5-kilometer course at Bartlett High School in Anchorage within three seconds of each other, at 16:48 and 16:51.

Two other Sitka boys finished in the top 20: Joseph Pate was 12th, and Jordan Zellhuber 15th. Tristan Rosas was not far behind at 23rd.

Sitka’s team score of 60 was enough to edge out powerhouse Grace Christian for the 1A-2A-3A trophy. Grace Christian had won the last nine state meets. Sitka’s win is the first for a public school in Cross Country in the last 11 years.

And it’s the first state championship — ever — for a Sitka Cross Country team.

Thanks to Sitka High’s Mike Vieira for contributing to this report.

The team went into the state championship undefeated and secured their victory in a tie breaking match. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo).

On Saturday afternoon (11-15-14), the Mt. Edgecumbe Girls’ Varsity Volleyball team won their State Championship. The school held a celebration in their honor after school today (Wednesday 11-19-4), that a presentation of the championship trophy.

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The Braves won the 3-A State Title after a nail biting tie-breaker against the Monroe Catholic Rams.

Both teams were undefeated coming in to the three-day, eight-team tournament at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage. In the championship game, the Braves actually lost to Monroe Catholic, 3-2.

But since it was their first loss, and Monroe Catholic had lost a previous game, both teams were given one last chance.

“We had to play what’s call the if-game, or if necessary game,” said Coach Michael Mahoney. “And it’s one set to 30 points, win by two.”

The finale was something out of a movie. The Braves trailed for the first half of the match, but made a strong comeback that tied the score, 28 to 28.

This is the third time in four years the MEHS Girls’ Varsity Volleyball team has won the 3-A State Title. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

On the brink of victory, senior Renatta Olson, the team captain, delivered a key serve.

“All season long, Coach (when you’re serving) puts us in this situation: ‘You’re serving game point,’” said Olson. “In practice, he would say that. And what I thought was, ‘This is actually it. I’m serving game point and if I get this in we win.’

Mt. Edgecumbe High School declared today Cardinal and Gold day, asking everyone to wear school colors to honor the victorious team. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

Olson got it in. And with a few more plays, the Braves secured the championship.

The Girls’ Varsity Volleyball team also won the state championship in 2011 and in 2012. For Senior Eden Cronk, who has been on the team since freshman year, this victory is the perfect way to close out her high school volleyball career. 

“Every year doing same thing. The same warm up, the same stretch,” said Cronk. “Warm-up. Prayer and cheers before every single game. And it was amazing how we ended it.”

Mt. Edgecumbe High School declared today Cardinal and Gold day, asking everyone to wear school colors to honor the victorious team.

The varsity team of Mt. Edgecumbe High School. (Photo courtesy of Michael Mahoney).

The proposal, from the Port and Harbors commission, would allow two float houses in ANB Harbor, in space formerly taken up by unoccupied skiff slips.

City administrator Mark Gorman said one of the city’s motivations in authorizing float homes is the need for less expensive housing in Sitka.

“Our estimate on the part of staff is to get into one of these float houses would be probably, entry-level would be probably about $150,000,” he said.

The float home ordinance requires a second reading to become law.

In another effort to jump-start affordable housing, the assembly voted to grant a piece of city land to the Sitka Community Development Corporation. The SCDC plans to build a single home on the site, the first in what it hopes will become a community land trust. Land trusts aim to keep housing affordable by having a nonprofit retain ownership of the land. Homeowners buy only the house, and in return for the cheaper up-front cost, they agree to limits on the resale price.

Mt. Edgecumbe High School teacher Steven Courtright spoke in favor of the proposal, saying that without more affordable housing, families like his won’t last long in Sitka.

“I am a husband and a father, I have a family of four, and we’re trying to make it on a single income, primarily. And it’s really tough,” Courtright said. “Sitka is not the kind of place that we’ll be able to stick around much longer, unless things change.”

“We want to be able to stay here, and I know that’s true of a lot of other young families,” he said. “This is a step in the right direction. It’s not nearly a large enough step. But it’s a good first step.”

The assembly voted in favor of the proposal 4 to 1, with members Ben Miyasato, Aaron Swanson, Matt Hunter, and Phyllis Hackett voting yes. Assembly member Pete Esquiro voted no; he has said he is uncomfortable giving away city land. Mayor Mim McConnell is the Executive Director of the SCDC. She recused herself from the vote.

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Also on the agenda Tuesday night: baseball. Mayor Mim McConnell welcomed Sitka High School’s state championship baseball team to the front of the assembly chamber.The team beat South Anchorage on Saturday, during the first-ever state baseball tournament held in Sitka — in fact, the first championship tournament held in Southeast Alaska.

Coach Ed Conway stepped up to the mic to thank the city for it’s support over the years. Then, he spoke to the community at large.

Conway: You know, I knew it was going to happen, coming into this, I’ve always said we’ve got the best baseball fans in the state. I knew it going in, and a whole lot of other people around the state realize it right now. That was just a phenomenal turn-out by our community, and it doesn’t happen like this in other towns. You go to Anchorage and that tournament would have just a few people from each team, it wouldn’t be a big deal. In Sitka here, our baseball community really turns out, and people just love the kids and love to support them, and we just want to thank everybody for turning out  like that, and thank the city for all the support we get.

This was Conway’s last season coaching baseball. He’s retiring this year.

You can find more coverage of the Sitka Assembly here.