Induction ceremony tonight (Hall of Fame)
The Alaska Sports Hall of Fame will honor four people, one event and two moments that make up the Class of 2010 in an induction ceremony tonight starting at 6 p.m. at the ConocoPhillips Atrium.
The event is free but the doors will be closed upon the venue reaching seating capacity.
Inductees Rosey Fletcher, Reggie Joule and Lance Mackey will be on hand to accept their induction trophies. Dick Mackey and Rick Swenson will also be in attendance to celebrate the historic 1978 Iditarod finish, which will be inducted as a moment. The families of Bradford Washburn and Elliott Sampson as well the organizers of the Midnight Sun Baseball Classic will also be present.
Here is a recap of the Class of 2010 inductees:
Lance Mackey is the only person to win the 1,100-mile Iditarod and 1,000-mile Yukon Quest races in the same year—and he’s done it twice. Overall, he’s won the Quest four times and the Iditarod three times. In 2001, Mackey was diagnosed with throat cancer. Yet he continued to do what he loves most. Today he is considered cancer free and one of the all-time mushing greats.
Joule is one the most celebrated figures in the history of the World Eskimo-Indian Olympics and Native Youth Olympics. Today he is a member of the Alaska House of Representatives. Joule, of Kotzebue, won more than 40 medals in his career, including Alaska’s first gold ulu at the Arctic Winter Games in 1972. He also set records in graceful and grueling events such as the one-foot and two-foot high kick and won 10 gold medals in the blanket toss.
Fletcher is the only Alaskan to earn an Olympic medal in snowboarding when she won bronze in parallel giant slalom at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. A three-time Olympian, Fletcher was born in Anchorage but grew up in Girdwood, falling in love with the slopes at Alyeska Resort. In addition to her Olympic bronze, she won two silver medals at the world championships. She also has eight World Cup wins and 20 World Cup podiums.
Washburn, who died at age 96 in 2007, was an accomplished mountaineer, photographer and mapmaker. As a climber, he was the first person to ascend many Alaska peaks, including Mount Crillon, Mount Sanford, Mount Hayes, Mount Dickey and the West Buttress route on Mount McKinley. He was probably best known for his work with making maps, most notably of Mount McKinley and Mount Everest.
The two moments to be inducted are Noorvik’s Sampson’s upset victory in the 1981 Alaska high school cross-country running meet and the 1978 Iditarod one-second finish between Dick Mackey and Swenson.
The Midnight Sun Baseball Classic in Fairbanks—which is more than 102 years old—will be the Hall’s honored event.
