Bowe joins Ice Hawks to play for national title
Mariner junior Tommy Bowe may not know exactly what his future in sports will look like after high school, but he’s pretty clear on his feelings about hockey.
“My favorite part of hockey is all of it,” Bowe said. “When you love something so much, you don’t love one certain thing about it. You feel blessed just to be allowed to play it each day.”
That’s why he always says a short prayer during the national anthem before each game; just to be thankful.
Bowe fell in love with the ice when he was two years old and his dad would take him out on Beluga Lake and whip him around the ice on a sled. He strapped on his first pair of skates at age four.
“My dad and Kevin Bell were the ones who really got me into hockey,” Bowe said. “The second game I played, I scored five goals. I thought it was pretty easy.”
Bowe said he never really thought of himself as “good.” He figured he just got more chances to score than everyone else.
Popeyes pick up 14 medals at Tri-Valley Tournament
Popeye wrestler Wayne Newman went undefeated over the weekend, hauling in seven wins and two championship titles at the Tri-Valley Wrestling Club’s Freestyle and Greco competitions. Newman placed first in both tournaments in the Novice 84-80-pound weight class. Six of his seven wins were by fall.
Popeye sent a total of 18 young wrestlers to Palmer to compete in the Tri-Valley tournaments. The Popeye brought home 14 medals from the two tournaments.
HoWL has athletes climbing the walls at Bay Club
When Fireweed students Galen Lyon and Avram Salzmann arrived too late to compete in their category at Saturday’s 2013 Climbing Competition at the Bay Club, they opted for the next best thing. Strapped into harnesses and hanging from colorful ropes, the two boys entered the “Fun” category for kids, and easily swept the field of younger climbers to tie for first place.
But, instead of accepting their wins and claiming their trophies, Lyon and Salzmann passed their awards on to their younger competitors.
“I was so impressed with their sportsmanship,” said Homer Wilderness Leaders Executive Director and Lead Instructor Libby Bushell Veasey. “They recognized that they should have been in a more advanced category, so they gave their awards to the younger kids. We decided to give them their own special awards for their display of generosity and sportsmanship.”
The overall positive energy and excitement at the Bay Club were palpable on Saturday, as some 36 climbers scaled the wall in Homer’s 2013 Climbing Competition. Sponsored by HoWL, this year’s event also welcomed members of the Anchorage Rock Gym’s Climbing Team.
Sports briefs – April 17
Mitch makes the grade Former Homer High School Wrestler Mitch Wyatt, who won an Alaska state championship in 2011, was named to the National Wrestling Coaches’ Association All-Academic second team. Wyatt was a part-time starter this year for the University of Colorado Mesa Mavericks at 174 pounds. The redshirt freshman earned a 10 win and 12 [...]
Mariner tracksters open season; hold their own in the Dome
After years of tripping over dislodged chunks of asphalt and dodging flying pieces of gravel, members of Homer’s track and field program are more than ready to try out their new rubber track.
Mother Nature is the only one not cooperating.
“We had 27 kids sign up for track this year, so it should be an exciting season” said Head Coach Bill Steyer. “We have the largest team we’ve ever had since I started coaching at Homer — and a new track we’re all dying to get on.”
Steyer said the delay in using the new track is the continued cold weather, which isn’t helping the 2-3 inches of condensed snow and ice on the track.
And, apparently, hard metal shovels and flaming blow torches just aren’t welcome on the new rubber track.
Divas finish first, second and third in ‘Fools on Ice’ Tourney
The Homer Women’s Hockey League took three teams to Anchorage last weekend to compete in the 13th-Annual Fools-On-Ice Tournament. Coached by Buck Laukitis, Dean Kildaw, Steve Nevak and Chris Owen, the Divas won the Intermediate Division, took second in the Advance Beginner Division and third in the Novice Division. All three Homer goalies picked up shutouts, with goalie Michelle Hatton playing the entire tournament without letting a single puck in.
The Beluga Lake Lodge Divas defended their 2012 title in the Intermediate Division with a merciless 5-0 thrashing of the Anchorage Black Ops in game one.
The game got off to a slow start, with neither team scoring in the first period. Andrea Stineff changed that in the second, punching one in early in the period. E.B. Brown and Anna Dickerson followed her lead with a goal apiece, while Karen Weston scored twice. Goalie Michelle Hatton had her first shutout.
Sports Briefs – April 10
Popeyes pop out wins Homer’s Popeye Wrestling program sent a small group of grapplers north over the weekend to take part in the Matsu Matmen Tournament in Palmer. William Roth won both of his matches to earn first place in the Junior 125-pound category. “Roth has not competed in a few years, but he was [...]
Plenty of snow, mud flung at Sea to Ski Triathlon
What started as a relatively warm and sunny Sunday at Mariner Park took quite an uphill turn into ice and snow as some 53 Sea to Ski triathletes made their way from the base of the Homer Spit (elevation about 24 feet) to the top of Baycrest Hill (elevation about 1,000 feet.)
As if the 900-plus-foot bicycle climb isn’t enough of a challenge already, Mother Nature threw in a few interesting obstacles of her own via snow, hail and copious amounts of mud.
The route started at sea level with a 5k run through some of Homer’s busiest streets. (That makes for some unsafe crossing at the Lake Street and Homer Bypass stoplight; hence the kilted crossing guard, Robert Archibald, keeping traffic under control.)
Pint-sized Popeyes pick up 36 wins in Nikiski
Popeye wrestlers continue to improve over the season, most recently winning 36 of 57 matches on Friday against Kodiak, and then placing fourth out of 18 teams in a Saturday tournament in Nikiski.
“This was a big improvement over last year,” said Popeye spokesman Chris Perk. “When the team traveled to Kodiak last season, we barely won 50 percent of our matches. And we placed 11th overall last year at Nikiski, so moving up seven spots is quite impressive.”
Perk said Popeye’s middle-school-aged athletes fared well, winning most of their matches. Malachi Raymond, Allison Wells and Martin Welty earned “Wrestler of the Week” honors after winning their matches on Friday night.
Whitehorse edges Beluga Lake Bombers for broomball title
Having not watched an actual broomball competition for several years, I was more than a little skeptical about just how much action I would really see at this weekend’s Broomball Tournament at Kevin Bell Arena.
The last time I watched a broomball game for any significant amount of time was January, 2007. It was the first year Homer ice enthusiasts were introduced to the sport, and competition was usually between a rather rag-tag crew of fledgling, first-time players sliding around the ice and trying to not fall. Hockey goals were used in place of regulation broomball goals, nobody wore fancy broomball shoes, and no one felt confident enough to try out any organized offense or tricky pass plays.
Times have changed.
