For a person or group of people who have, over a period of years, made a significant and lasting contribution to sports in Alaska. This contribution could be for a particular sport, for multiple sports, for a particular town or area and for participants or spectators. For achievement over multiple years with priority given to more recent years.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Award Recipients” _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” header_4_font=”|700||on|||||” header_4_text_align=”center” header_4_text_color=”#9E8D2E” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
Award Recipients<\/h4>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#f4f4f4″ _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text admin_label=”2023 Kathleen Navarre” _builder_version=”4.23.1″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
2023
Kathleen Navarre
<\/b><\/h3>\n
Navarre coached basketball, volleyball, flag football and track over the past 20 years at Kodiak High School and Dimond High School and has guided multiple teams to state championships. The former athletic director and event director for numerous local and statewide high school sporting events, Navarre now helps organize events like the Alaska March Madness basketball tournament for the Alaska School Activities Association. \u201cKathleen\u2019s impact on the Alaska sports community is far reaching. From Kodiak to Anchorage and all points in between, prep sports happen because she is who she is. A tireless advocate for everything good about scholastic sports, Kathleen has done it all. She\u2019s been a teacher, coach, tournament director, director of operations and more,\u201d her nomination reads.[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#f4f4f4″ _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text admin_label=”2022 Beth Bragg” _builder_version=”4.23.1″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
2022
Beth Bragg<\/b><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/alaskasportshall.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Beth-Bragg.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Bragg retired in 2021 after 35 years at the Anchorage Daily News mostly as a sports writer. She produced 6,735 articles that carried her byline, and thousands more that didn\u2019t. She attended four Olympics, supported her colleagues as a fine editor, and brought to life Alaskan athletes of all levels with insightful and skillful reporting and story-telling. As a \u00a0female journalist she worked hard to ensure female athletes and teams were given the coverage they deserved. \u00a0they deserved.<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#f4f4f4″ _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text admin_label=”2021 Richard Knowles” _builder_version=”4.23.1″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#f4f4f4″ _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text admin_label=”2020 Cristy Hickel” _builder_version=”4.23.1″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Hickel\u2019s life’s goal is to help our youth succeed. She founded SPYDER Soccer 30 years ago and has provided opportunities in sports leagues to thousands of Alaska youth. She also coaches the Alaska All-Stars nationals-bound Under-16 and Under-19 girls hockey teams and has helped more than 200 young women reach the college hockey level.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#f4f4f4″ _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text admin_label=”2019 Brush Christiansen” _builder_version=”4.23.1″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Christiansen helped start the UAA hockey program and coached the team to a 287-229-30 record from 1979-96. His biggest success was leading the Seawolves to the quarterfinals of the\u00a0 1991 NCAA Tournament in just their sixth season of Division I play. His 287 career wins is more than the other five UAA coaches combined and his .533 career winning percentage is 214 points better than next highest. Christiansen has remained active in Anchorage\u2019s hockey community for decades, coaching at youth levels, and helping put on camps and clinics.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#f4f4f4″ _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text admin_label=”2018 Jim Mahaffey” _builder_version=”4.23.1″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#f4f4f4″ _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text admin_label=”2017 Ma’o Tosi” _builder_version=”4.23.1″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#f4f4f4″ _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text admin_label=”2016 Dennis Sorenson” _builder_version=”4.23.1″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#f4f4f4″ _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text admin_label=”2015 Michael Friess” _builder_version=”4.23.1″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#f4f4f4″ _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text admin_label=”2014 Dick Mize” _builder_version=”4.23.1″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n2021
Richard Knowles<\/b><\/h3>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/alaskasportshall.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Richard-Knowles-150x150-1.jpg\")
Knowles initially sponsored youth teams in Kodiak, then moved up to coaching them. His passion became girls softball in Anchorage, and he\u2019s won state titles at East Anchorage High School and coached numerous teams to Little League World Series appearances. Many of his athletes have earned college scholarships. Said one nominator: \u201cRichard has the uncanny ability to take a group of young ladies with different skill sets and get them to play together as a team. He teaches them that no matter their situation, they can accomplish great things when they work hard, play together, and above all else have fun. It is a gift and both of my girls are better off by having Richard Knowles as their coach and mentor.\u201d<\/p>\n2020
Cristy Hickel
<\/b><\/h3>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/alaskasportshall.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/coach1218494607548-e1603317351470.jpg\")
<\/p>\n2019
Brush Christiansen
<\/b><\/h3>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/alaskasportshall.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/BrushChristiansen-bench-e1559316996213.jpg\")
<\/p>\n2018
Jim Mahaffey
<\/b><\/h3>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/alaskasportshall.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Jim-Mahaffey-e1537294426614.jpg\")
Mahaffey came to Alaska in 1963 to coach skiing at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. His legacy includes helping found the Equinox Marathon, coaching Olympians at Alaska Methodist University, developing the Alaska Pacific University trail system and starting the still-popular Tuesday Night Runs. He\u2019s still skiing and active in the community at age 87.<\/p>\n2017
Ma’o Tosi
<\/b><\/h3>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/alaskasportshall.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Mao-e1496790107876.jpg\")
<\/a>After excelling in basketball and football at Anchorage’s East High School and then the University of Idaho, Ma’o Tosi played three seasons for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League before an injury forced him to retire . He then returned to Anchorage and created a non-profit organization for at-risk youth, AK Pride (Alaskan People Representing Integrity and Diverse Experiences). The program has received national recognition and has helped thousands of youth foster skills and develop self-esteem in sports and the arts. A \u00a0previous recipient of the Alaska\u2019s Top 40 Under 40 Award\u00a0continues to be a tireless advocate for youth in Anchorage.<\/p>\n2016
Dennis Sorenson
<\/b><\/h3>\n<\/a>After a prolific career at UAA in the early 1980s, the two-time, first-team All-American began coaching youth hockey in Anchorage.\u00a0His Bantam team was the first Alaska squad to win a USA Hockey Tier I national championship. He has coached at Dimond High\u00a0School since 1991 and accumulated more than 500 wins \u2014 nearly twice the number of the second-place coach. He has led his\u00a0team to four state championships and many of his players have gone on to college and professional hockey careers.<\/p>\n2015
Michael Friess<\/b><\/h3>\n<\/a>For the past quarter century as head\u00a0coach at the University of Alaska\u00a0Anchorage, Michael Friess has built the men\u2019s\u00a0and women\u2019s track and field and\u00a0cross country programs into national\u00a0collegiate powerhouses and has\u00a0raised the popularity and visibility\u00a0of the university. The numbers are\u00a0staggering under his tutelage \u2013 17\u00a0Coach of the Year honors, 12 league\u00a0titles, 5 NCAA champions, 62 All-\u00a0Americans. In the classroom, his\u00a0athletes have earned nearly 200\u00a0academic All-Conference awards. If\u00a0that wasn\u2019t enough, he also directs\u00a0the Mayor\u2019s Marathon and Crow Pass\u00a0Crossing.<\/p>\n2014
Dick Mize<\/b><\/h3>\n