Sports

Loss of middle school sports will affect thousands of Anchorage students

Published

8 months ago

April 10, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Loss of middle school sports will affect thousands of Anchorage students

A crowd of athletes and spectators fill the stands as sprinters compete during a Wendler, Begich and Mirror Lake middle school track meet at The Dome on April 3, 2025. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Verona Williams spotted her daughter’s bright shoes in the distance and rose to her feet in the stands.

“Let’s go Analina! Let’s go baby!” she yelled. “Let’s go, let’s go!”

Her daughter, eighth grader Analina Henderson, cruised toward the finish line. Moments later, Henderson jogged over to the stands, where she received some words of encouragement and a congratulatory hug from her mom before joining her teammates on the Begich Middle School track and field team.

That scene, which took place earlier this month at The Dome in Anchorage, will likely be playing out differently next year. In late February, the Anchorage School Board passed a budget that eliminated middle school sports, part of a $43 million cut that also included hundreds of teaching and staff positions, a gifted program and some high school sports.

While many extracurricular options still exist outside school for kids, the loss of middle school sports will leave a significant void, according to parents, coaches and educators.

The programs are undeniably popular among kids as well. According to the Anchorage School District, there were 5,345 total participants among boys and girls in 10 sports and activities in the 2023-24 school year.

Romig Middle School cross-country skiers gather for a photo at the start of a district-wide event at Kincaid Park in February. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Analina Henderson participates in multiple sports at Begich but is also involved in sports outside of school. Williams said not all families can take on the increased costs that accompany those activities.

“My daughter is in sports outside school as well, but it’s expensive,” she said. “A lot of people can’t afford to do sports outside of school.”

About 74% of the school’s 800-plus students are “economically disadvantaged” and qualify for free or reduced cost meals under federal poverty guidelines, according to the district’s enrollment data.

Those students can also get an activity fee waiver — meaning they can participate in middle school sports for free.

[Anchorage School District ‘displacements’ could shutter or shrink 5 high school choir programs]

Joey Caterinichio is a longtime Anchorage coach and the parent of a middle school student. She said giving students a place to be and something constructive to do when they get out of school is a health issue, and a potential safety one as well.

A Begich Middle School athlete competes in the 100-meter hurdles during a track meet at The Dome. (Marc Lester / ADN)

“They’re not going to go home and getting in trouble or being on video games, they’re going to be participating in something healthy,” Caterinichio said. “We have a large obesity problem especially in Alaska because of our weather, and teaching kids good life skills and healthy exercise will prevent health problems as well.”

The sports programs offer a unique opportunity for children to try out different physical activities, to learn the rules and how to play as a team in a relatively low-stakes environment, according to assistant principal Laura Carter.

“Middle school is really just this, like, open opportunity for anybody to come and play,” Carter said. “We don’t do cuts.”

Once students move on to high school, they’re a lot less likely to try something new, Carter said, adding that that’s especially true for girls.

Begich teacher and track and cross country coach Hannah Souders found running in middle school and said it “guided my future” through college, where she competed at University of Portland.

“It’s just always been a part of my life since I started it in middle school and just fell in love with it and was also able to make a lot of friends there as a pretty shy kid in middle school,” she said.

Coach Hannah Souders organizes Begich Middle School athletes during a track meet. (Marc Lester / ADN)

That has also been the case for seventh grader Jeremiah Lewis, who plays basketball and is on the track team at Wendler Middle School. He also participates in sports through YMCA, but his mom, Talisa Lewis, said playing sports at Wendler has aided Jeremiah’s development.

“It’s been great,” she said. “He’s been a quiet kid, and since being in sports with his friends, he’s happy and social. He’s finding out who he is.”

Participation in after-school sports can also be a “carrot” for teaching better behavior in the classroom or a motivator for improved success in classes.

Clark Middle School teacher and wrestling coach Rachel Arvelo recalled a particular student who seemed disinterested and was averaging less than 50% on her assignments. The student found out her lackluster performance in the classroom would prevent her from being able to step on the wrestling mat, and her focus on her studies quickly improved.

“When she realized that she wasn’t going to be able to wrestle, within three weeks, she brought all her grades up to passing,” Arvelo said. “She’s motivated to get good grades now because she wants to compete.”

That opportunity to participate in sports also instilled a sense of accountability in the student.

“Having sports there, she was able to now change as a sixth grader and understand that ‘If this is where I want to go in life, I need to work on my grades,’ and that is something that is so powerful,” Arvelo said.

Some middle school students ski in costumes during a district-wide ski event in February. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Souder said sports also teach students how to overcome obstacles and can give a very clear indicator to participants when hard work has paid off.

“Realizing that you might not be good at it at first, and that with a lot of perseverance and effort, that you might really grow at it I think is an important takeaway too,” she said. “Especially in middle school, where it’s going to get more challenging and you’ve just got to stick with it and you’ll get better and better even when it’s hard.”

The same is true for traits like leadership and working with others that students develop through sports.

Amanda Juliussen’s twin daughter Jake and son Jack are students at Mirror Lake in their first year on the track team.

“I think lots of skills come from sports, not just being physically active too, being part of the team,” she said.

Among the most popular sports at the middle school level are volleyball with 1,111 participants, track and field with 1,067 (531 girls, 536 boys), basketball with 975 (324 girls, 651 boys) and cross country running with 852 (456 girls, 396 boys).

Alaska’s per-student funding formula for public schools hasn’t significantly increased in nearly a decade and has been far outpaced by inflation.

The Anchorage School District has faced down large budget deficits over the last several years. But it largely avoided major cuts to student programs by patching the budget with pandemic relief funds and spending down its rainy-day savings account. Last year, a one-time funding increase from the Legislature helped the district avoid massive cuts.

“There’s always this sense that, like, maybe things are not for real, and that they’ll change,” Carter said of the budget cuts to sports. “I would say, I don’t know that our students fully have grasped that this might not be an opportunity, and as it’s slated right now, this won’t be an opportunity for them next year.”

Club sports would be an alternative for many students if middle school sports are eliminated. But clubs are just as expensive to form and operate, and are often heavily volunteer-based when it comes to coaching.

Wendler Middle School athletes get stretched out at the start of the meet. (Marc Lester / ADN)

For her other students at Clark who can’t afford to participate in club wrestling but show interest, Arvelo is constantly reaching out and inquiring about scholarships to cover the cost of their $200 club fee, singlets, wrestling shoes and tournament entry fees.

“Everything adds up, and this is just wrestling alone,” Arvelo said. “The kids that are in the low-income communities, we’re giving them another obstacle to figure out.”

[Anchorage’s school language immersion programs — among the nation’s most robust for a city its size — are at risk]

Earlier this month in Juneau, the Alaska Senate Education Committee advanced a school funding bill with a $1,000 increase to the per-student funding formula.

The Anchorage School Board has committed to reversing cuts to sports and other student programs if the state approves the increase.

However, with the state facing its own budget deficit, many in the Legislature see the proposed education increase as unaffordable. Even if it passes, Gov. Mike Dunleavy could exercise his veto power as he did last year over a former bipartisan education package.

Although financial hurdles are a near certainty, the kids who participate in sports across Anchorage middle schools are generally optimistic they can continue.

At Begich, Jeremiah Lewis said he’s made new friends in sports and enjoys supporting his teammates.

“I like to be active,” he said. “I like the unpredictability of sports. You don’t know what you’re going to get.”

Arvelo’s daughter Esabella Arvelo is a seventh grader at Gruening Middle School in Eagle River. While she wrestles in a club, she plays volleyball at school and said it’s been valuable to her development.

“For me, middle school sports are more than just sports; it’s an opportunity to learn and grow from one another,” Esabella said in a written statement. “I’ve learned how to work and be on a team, how to have trust in each other, to lead, to follow and to work together.”

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Sports

Volleyball Closes Season Against No. 1 Kentucky in NCAA Tournament

Published

36 minutes ago

December 5, 2025

Your Sports Nation

LEXINGTON, KY. – The Wofford volleyball team was defeated by the No. 1 seeded Kentucky Wildcats 3-0 on Thursday night inside of Historic Memorial Coliseum in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Terriers close the season 17-14 with a 10-6 record in conference action. Kentucky will take on UCLA tomorrow night.

“Our mindset was to come out and leave it out there,” said head coach Lynze Roos. “I feel like we competed in some really good points. They got some separation and that was tough, but I’m really proud of the way that these women competed in the season that we had.”

Wofford totaled 27 kills on 26 assists throughout the match. On defense, the team posted 54 digs and four blocks. The Wildcats finished the match with 45 kills on 44 assists. Kentucky also posted 56 digs and four blocks.

Leading Wofford was Bradley Brown who had 10 kills on a .259 hitting percentage. Brown also led the team with three blocks. Following behind was Chloe Smith with six kills. Maddy Frazier dished out a team-high 13 assists, while Taylor Pecht had 10. Laney Klika recorded a team-high 13 digs, along with 10 from Caroline Przystup. Annemarie Rakoski and Natalie Arnold tallied one block apiece.

“We talk a lot about playing relentless defense and going for every single ball. We knew that tonight was going to be a tough task, but you never really know unless you go for it,” said Laney Klika.

“We talked a lot before the game about playing how we play and not letting their offense or defense change the way that we like to play,” added Annemarie Rakoski.

“It was amazing just to be able to have some family and friends that I don’t get to see very much anymore come watch me play. It was super cool to just have that support,” said Chloe Smith.

Kentucky grabbed the first two points of set one, but Wofford responded with a solo block by Annemarie Rakoski. Another solo block from Bradley Brown kept the Kentucky lead within one point. With the Wildcats leading 13-8, Kentucky would add four unanswered points to bring the Wofford deficit to nine points. The Terriers could not overcome the Kentucky lead, losing set one 25-11.

The teams were back-and-forth to start set two, as the Terriers would take an early 5-4 lead. Wofford took its biggest advantage – a 15-13 lead – after a pair of Kentucky attacking errors. The Wildcats fought back to take a 20-19 lead, and the team scored the final five points of the stanza to take set two 25-19. Bradley Brown totaled eight kills and one block in the second set alone.

Wofford jumped out to a 2-0 lead to start the third set of the match by way of a Bradley Brown kill. Kentucky responded with a 7-1 run, however, to regain the lead. The Wildcats would eventually take a 13-4 advantage. Wofford cut the deficit to six points a few rallies later, but the team would lose set three and ultimately the match.

Wofford concludes the season 17-14 with a 10-6 mark in Southern Conference play. The team entered the conference tournament as the No. 3 seed and defeated both No. 6 Samford and No. 2 Furman to reach the championship match. The Terriers took down No. 1 ETSU to win their third-straight conference championship and earn another bid to the NCAA Tournament.

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Sports

Demon Deacons Open Season at Liberty Kickoff

Published

1 hour ago

December 5, 2025

Your Sports Nation

LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Wake Forest track and field team opened their 2024-25 indoor track schedule on Thursday afternoon as a pair of Demon Deacons competed in the Liberty Kickoff at the Liberty Indoor Track Complex.

Junior Seren Rodgers secured a third place finish in the pentathlon, totaling 3,771 points. With the result, the Taunton, England, native now sits sixth all-time in program history in the women’s indoor pentathlon.

Overall, Rodgers recorded three podium finishes during the competition, including a pair of runner up results in the long jump, where she recorded a jump of 10.32 meters, and the 800m, crossing the line in 2:19.62. Rodgers also claimed third place in the 60m hurdles after clocking a time of 8.86 seconds.

Meanwhile, freshman Julia Aere also competed in the pentathlon, securing eighth place with 3,462 points in her collegiate debut. The Delray Beach, Fla., native placed inside the top-10 in all five events, highlighted by a third place finish in the shot put after recording a distance of 11.13 meters, as well as a fifth place result in the 800m after recording a time of 2:27.34.

Notable Finishes

Pentathlon

2025-26 Indoor Track and Field Top-10 Marks in School History

From the Staff
“I’m really pleased with how the competition progressed today. Julia and Seren competed well and this meet was a great measure of how hard we have worked throughout the fall semester. It gave us a chance to get out, perform at a high level and still recognize that we left some points on the table, which is exciting. We are in a great place heading into the holiday break and this will keep us motivated and hungry. These two ladies set the tone early for the team and we are eager for the rest of the team to compete this weekend.” – Assistant Coach Ryan Grinnell

Up Next

The Demon Deacons return to action on Saturday with a pair of meets. One group of Wake Forest athletes will travel to Boston to compete in the 5K race at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener. Meanwhile, several Deacs will compete at the Visit Winston-Salem College Kick-off at the JDL Fast Track.

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Lopes unveil 2025-26 indoor slate

Published

2 hours ago

December 5, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Grand Canyon unveiled its 2025-26 indoor track and field schedule, which starts this week with the first of eight regular-season meets and concludes with the Mountain West Indoor Championships in late February.

After the Lopes dominant WAC indoor run of 14 conference titles between the men’s and women’s teams, GCU will compete in its first season as a Mountain West member.

Coach Flood celebrates with sprinter after final

Coach Flood celebrates with sprinter after final

“This schedule and competition should prepare both our men’s and women’s teams to make a lot of noise at our inaugural Mountain West Conference Indoor Championships, as well as send a lot of our athletes to the NCAA Indoor Championships,” GCU head coach Tom Flood said.

Grand Canyon’s indoor schedule will feature meets in trips to Flagstaff, Arizona; Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Reno, Nevada.

“Again, we are really excited about our indoor schedule,” Flood said. “We will again be competing at some of the finest indoor facilities in the country and against some of the best track and field programs in the country.”

The 2025-26 season begins Thursday as the Lopes travel to Reno, Nevada, before taking a break until the new year. From there, they will travel to Flagstaff and Albuquerque before heading back to Reno for the Mountain West Indoor Championships.

GCU aims to represent at the NCAA Indoor Championships, which will be held March 13-14 in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

For the full indoor schedule, click here.

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Sports

Men’s and Women’s Track and Field 2026 Season Preview

Published

2 hours ago

December 5, 2025

Your Sports Nation

A new era in Hope College track and field begins today with the first indoor meet of the 2026 season.

Beginning at noon, the Flying Dutch and Flying Dutchmen are competing at the Grand Valley State University Holiday Open under the leadership of first-year head coach Jordan Bartolazzi, the 11th women’s head coach in program history and the 13th men’s coach.

Bartolazzi, who built his alma mater, Elmhurst University (Illinois), into a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin power before coming to Hope, is thrilled with the progress both teams made during preseason workouts.

“There was a lot of good stuff going on here to build on,” Bartolazzi said. “Our focus, with every practice, has been preparing to compete, whether we’re an All-American or trying to crack the conference lineup. We have a lot of student-athletes working really hard. We’ve been having a ball. There has been really good energy. I think it’s been a good start for us.”

The Flying Dutch, who finished third in the MIAA Women’s Indoor Track and Field Preseason Coaches Poll, feature a roster of 73, with 17 seniors, 17 juniors, 14 sophomores and 25 freshmen.

The Flying Dutchmen, who also tookl thjird in the MIAA Men’s Indoor Track and Field Preseason Coaches Poll, have a roster of 64, with 18 seniors, nine juniors, 17 sophomores and 20 freshmen.

Coaching Staff

Head coach: Jordan Bartolazzi, first season

Distance coach: Mark Northuis

Distance assistant coaches: Dan Campbell, Mike Northuis

Throws coach: Paul Markel

Jumps coach: Addy Gerig

Pole vault coaches: Jon Lunderberg, Ben Turner

Women’s Roster

Senior Sara Schermerhorn (Traverse City, Michigan / Traverse City West) is Hope’s top returner after claiming All-America honors in four events for the second consecutive season in 2025: indoor and outdoor 200 meters and indoor and outdoor 400 meters.

The exercise science major swept MIAA Most Valuable Indoor and Outdoor Track Athlete honors as a junior and earned MIAA Most Valuable Indoor Track Athlete accolades in back-to-back seasons. She became the first sprinter in league history to win titles in the 60, 200 and 400 at the same meet.

Schermerhorn set MIAA records in the indoor 200 and 400 meters last season. She also ran on the MIAA champion 4×400 relay, which returns two other sprinters: senior Frances Cozzens (Lyman, New Hampshire / Saint Johnsbury Academy) and sophomore Sofia Fisher (Lombard, Illinois / Montini Catholic).

Hope returns three runners from the MIAA champion distance medley relay: senior Molly Durow (Glenview, Illinois / Glenbrook South), junior Amanda Markham (Hoffman Estates, Illinois / William Fremd) and sophomore Lily Sackrider (St. Johns, Michigan / St. Johns).

Durow is coming off an All-America cross country campaign this fall. The special education major finished 32nd at the Division III national championships and was runner-up at the Great Lakes Regional and MIAA Championships.

“We have great leadership,” Bartolazzi said. “Not only do we have some great upperclassmen, but we have some really wonderful seniors who have made an effort to welcome our freshmen and newcomers to the program. It’s a gift to have great senior leadership in year one.”

Men’s Roster

Hope returns senior sprinter Liam Danitz, the 2025 First Team All-MIAA honoree and MIAA Most Valuable Men’s Indoor Track Athlete.

Danitz (West Branch, Michigan / Ogemaw Heights) set an MIAA record in the 200-meter dash (21.59), earned First Team All-America honors with a fifth-place national finish in the 200 (21.93), and took second in the 60-meter dash (6.83) for All-MIAA Second Team honors.

The exercise science major also contributed to an All-MIAA Second Team 4×400 relay alongside returning junior Dylan Terpstra (Hudsonville, Michigan / Hudsonville).

Senior Erickson Kunzler (Marne, Michigan / Grand Rapids Catholic Central) returns as the MIAA 800-meter champion after posting a winning time of 1:56.09.

Senior Carston Cole (Holland, Michigan / West Ottawa) and junior Carter Dean (Traverse City, Michigan / Traverse City West) also return from last year’s All-MIAA First Team distance medley relay.

Cole recorded Hope’s top cross country finish at nationals this fall. The Flying Dutchmen placed 23rd in the nation as a team and made history with their first Great Lakes Regional title since 1980 and first MIAA crown since 1986.

Sophomore Logan Begeman (Portage, Michigan / Portage Central) ran away with the Great Lakes Regional and MIAA individual championships.

“They’re hungry,” Bartolazzi said of the Flying Dutchmen. “Having that breakthrough season in cross country is such a gift. They felt like they were close and believed they could compete at the conference and national levels. They showed they could. That carries over to the track season.”

Schedule

The Flying Dutch and Flying Dutchmen are scheduled to compete in 10 indoor meets and eight outdoor meets.

The MIAA Indoor Championships are Saturday, Feb. 28, at Trine University.

The NCAA Indoor Championships are Friday-Saturday, March 13-14, in Birmingham, Alabama.

Hope will host the MIAA Outdoor Championships on Friday-Saturday, April 30-May 1, at Brewer Track.

The NCAA Outdoor Championships are Thursday-Saturday, May 21-23, in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

“One thing I wanted to do this year was get our student-athletes on banked tracks a little more,” Bartolazzi said. “Nationals will be on a banked track, so I want them to know what that feels like. It’s a great thing in West Michigan — you don’t have to go far to race against really good people.”

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Sports

Mustangs Open Track and Field Season This Weekend

Published

2 hours ago

December 5, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Blue-Gold Invite

Loftus Sports Center – South Bend, Indiana

Friday, December 5, 2025

Live Results

McFerrin-12 Degree Invite

Fasken Indoor Track – College Station, Texas

Saturday, December 6, 2025

Live Results | Watch

Sharon Colyear Danville Season Opener

BU Track & Tennis Center – Boston, Massachusetts

Saturday, December 6, 2025

Live Results | Watch

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DALLAS, Texas (SMU) — The Mustangs will open up their 2025-2026 track and field season across three different meets this weekend. The distance ponies will split between Notre Dame’s Blue-Gold Invite and Boston University’s Sharon Colyear Danville Season Opener. The rest of the team will travel to Texas A&M’s McFerrin-12 Degree Invite.

This meet will serve as a soft opener for the Mustangs with the remainder of the season beginning in mid-January. The distance athletes are coming off a successful cross country season, which concluded with an appearance at the national championship for Rose Mburu, but this will be the first competition for the sprints, jumps, and multis after fall training.

The action will begin on Friday at Notre Dame and continue at the other two meets on Saturday.

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Sooners Set to Host OU Winter Field Fest Season Opener

Published

2 hours ago

December 5, 2025

Your Sports Nation

NORMAN — The University of Oklahoma track and field team is set to host the OU Winter Field Fest on Friday, Dec. 5 at the Mosier Indoor Facility in Norman, Okla.

The meet is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. and will include a combination of field and sprint events.

Admission is free to fans. Live results from the OU Winter Field Fest can be found via TimingInc.

The Sooners are coming off their first season in the SEC, where they claimed seven individual conference titles.

OU Winter Field Fest Schedule of Events
Triple Jump (M) – 1:30 p.m.
Weight Throw (M) – 1:30 p.m.
High Jump (W) – 2:30 p.m.
Triple Jump (W) – 3 p.m.
Pole Vault (W) – 3 p.m.
Weight Throw (W) – 3 p.m.
60M Hurdles Prelims (W) – 3 p.m.
60M Hurdles Prelims (M) – 3:15 p.m.
60M Dash Prelims (W) – 3:30 p.m.
60M Dash Prelims (M) – 3:45 p.m.
Long Jump (M) – 4:30 p.m.
Shot Put (M) – 4:30 p.m.
60M Hurdles Finals (W) – 4:30 p.m.
60M Hurdles Finals (M) – 4:40 p.m.
60M Dash Finals (W) – 4:50 p.m.
60M Dash Finals (M) – 5 p.m.
Pole Vault (M) – 5:30 p.m.
Long Jump (W) – 6 p.m.
High Jump (M) – 6 p.m.
Shot Put (W) – 6 p.m.

For more information on Oklahoma Track & Field, follow the Sooners on Twitter and Instagram (@OU_Track) and like Oklahoma Sooners Track & Field and Cross Country on Facebook.

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