{"id":27224,"date":"2023-04-28T09:24:48","date_gmt":"2023-04-28T17:24:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alaskasportshall.org\/?p=26618"},"modified":"2023-10-30T12:22:20","modified_gmt":"2023-10-30T20:22:20","slug":"26618-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alaskasportshall.org\/26618-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Alaska Sports Hall of Fame: Class of 2023 ceremony honors Reggie Tongue, Jessica Moore, Joe Floyd, Kikkan Randall and others"},"content":{"rendered":"
\nHall of Famer Kikkan Randall surrounded by Trajan Langdon Award winners Geremu Daggett (left) and Colton Merriner. Photo by Jim Kohl<\/p>\n
Alaska celebrated some of its finest and most inspiring athletes Thursday night at the annual Alaska Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony \u2014 among them, a football player who spent a decade playing in the NFL, a cross country skier who won an Olympic gold medal and a high school coach who, sport by sport, built the athletic department at Kodiak High School.<\/p>\n
But Alaska is a basketball state, and time after time people connected to the sport were honored at the ceremony at the Anchorage Museum:<\/p>\n
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Jessica Moore, the Colony High graduate who won three NCAA titles with UConn and played nine seasons in the WNBA, became the second women\u2019s basketball player inducted into the 15-year-old Hall of Fame.<\/li>\n
Alissa Pili, this season\u2019s Pac-12 Player of the Year who last month led Utah to the Sweet 16, received the Pride of Alaska award given annually to the top women\u2019s athlete of the year;<\/li>\n
Sayvia Sellers, the point guard who recently carried Anchorage Christian to a third straight state championship, picked up the Pride of Alaska award as the best high school girls athlete of the year;<\/li>\n
March Madness Alaska, the annual state basketball event that crowns eight state champions and stages more than 100 games over a two-week span each year in Anchorage, became the 15th event inducted into the Hall of Fame.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Toss in a cameo via video by Trajan Langdon, the basketball great who played for Duke and carved out a long pro career in Europe before becoming general manager of the NBA New Orleans Pelican, and the night was filled with hoop dreams.<\/p>\n
Moore, 40, helped pave the way for other Alaska girls and women in the game.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Photo by Jim Kohl<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so excited and so proud every time I see another player coming up and rising and not only going to college and playing, but really thriving,\u201d she said in a video presentation about her career. \u201cAlaska\u2019s definitely on the map, and to be that catalyst for the next generation, it is everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pili and Sellers represent that next generation. Pili, the Dimond High grad who will be a fifth-year senior at Utah next season, has already made her mark in the Pac-12 Conference; Sellers, who just wrapped up a high school career during which her Anchorage Christian School team never lost to an Alaska opponent, hopes to do the same next season when she joins the Washington Huskies.<\/p>\n
All three won high school championships at the March Madness Alaska tournament, a monster event that brings 80 teams, hundreds of players and thousands of fans to the Alaska Airlines Center every year.<\/p>\n
The tournament is like a family reunion, said Gary Matthews, the retired director of the Alaska School Activities Association, which hosts the event.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the biggest state tournament in the nation, he said, and it \u201ccelebrates Alaska\u2019s fascination with basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moore and March Madness were among five people, moments and events inducted into the Hall of Fame. Also enshrined:<\/p>\n
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Reggie Tongue, a Lathrop High grad who starred at Oregon State and spent 10 years in the NFL;<\/li>\n
Joe Floyd, the beloved coach and athletic director who turned Kodiak into a sport town by introducing a multitude of high school and city-wide programs;<\/li>\n
Kikkan Randall\u2019s 2018 Olympic gold medal victory, which was honored in the \u201cmoments\u201d category. Randall was previously inducted as an individual in 2011.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Randall, 40, earned a big round of applause when she held up the gold medal she captured in the women\u2019s team sprint race five years ago in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Moments become eligible for induction after five years, and Randall\u2019s historic victory was added to the Hall of Fame as soon as it became eligible.<\/p>\n
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Photo by Jim Kohl<\/p>\n
\u201cTo bring this gold medal back to Alaska and celebrate \u2014 it was just the most amazing thing,\u201d she said. She recalled how her son Breck, now 7, would drag the precious medal \u201cdown the hallway like (it was) a little puppy following him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tongue, a defensive back who finished his playing career with the most tackles (676), interceptions (17) and touchdowns (5) by an Alaskan in the NFL, won the night with a funny, heartfelt speech.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wrote it all down. Getting hit in the head a lot, (I) can\u2019t remember everything,\u201d he said as he unfolded a piece of paper before taking the microphone.<\/p>\n
\u201cMe and my mom had this conversation the other day. She was giving me some shade about not coming up to Alaska because I live in Texas now and she was talking about me not being an Alaskan any more,\u201d he said. \u201cI said, Mom, do you realize I\u2019m in the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame? I\u2019ll always be an Alaskan \u2014 my nickname\u2019s Igloo.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe also said, \u201cYou can call your brother and get some jokes for your speech,\u2019 and I said, \u2018Mom, do you realize I have a degree in speech communication?\u2019 But you were right. I\u2019m nervous as hell right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tongue, who turned 50 earlier this month, was a second-round pick who started in 116 games and played for four teams \u2014 the Chiefs, Seahawks, Jets and Raiders.<\/p>\n
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Photo by Jim Kohl<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not sure how I was able to play as long as I did,\u201d he said. \u201cI just had a little voice in my head: \u2018Why not you?\u2019 I came to learn words are powerful, especially the ones you say to yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Also delivering a stirring speech was Max Floyd, who represented the Floyd family.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was at his best when he had a life in front of him to teach,\u201d he said. \u201cDad was an influencer before there were influencers. Dad was a life coach before there were life coaches. He was a dad to anyone who wanted to play.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joe Floyd\u2019s desire was \u201cto get everyone into the game,\u201d his son said, and that meant everyone. The philosophy was simple: \u201cPlay it. Coach it. Ref it. Sponsor it. Organize it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Floyd was inducted posthumously \u2014 he died in 2022 \u2014 but he has been a part of the Hall of Fame since its inception. He was a member of the first selection panel and is the namesake for one of the Director\u2019s Awards, who are presented in conjunction with the Hall of Fame inaugurations. The Joe Floyd Award goes to a person or group for significant and lasting contributions to Alaska through sports.<\/p>\n
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Photo by Jim Kohl<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s winner was one of the many people influenced by Floyd \u2014 Kathleen Navarre, who spent a couple of decades working as a coach and sports administer at Kodiak High and Dimond High. Floyd was a mentor, said a sometimes-emotional Navarre.<\/p>\n
Other Director\u2019s Awards included four Pride of Alaska awards and two Trajan Langdon Awards.<\/p>\n
Joining Pili and Sellers as Pride of Alaska winners were goaltender Jeremy Swayman, who is currently chasing the Stanley Cup with the Boston Bruins, and Finnigan Donley, who emerged as the country\u2019s top young alpine skier this winter.<\/p>\n
Donley, 18, was a constant presence on the slopes at Alyeska Resort as a kid. \u201cGrowing up in Alaska led to all my success,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Swayman, 24, gave a nod to the athletes who inspired him growing up. \u201cI\u2019ve been looking up to all the amazing athletes that have paved the way for us,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s an incredible feeling to be in the same conversation as them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Runners collected both of the Trajan Langdon Awards that honor leadership, sportsmanship and inspiration.<\/p>\n
The youth division winners \u2014 Grace Christian runners Geremu Daggett and Colton Merriner \u2014 were honored for an inspirational moment at the end of the Class 3A boys race at the 2022 state cross country championships, when Merriner pushed himself to exhaustion.<\/p>\n
Both boys were headed to top-15 finishes until Merriner collapsed a few meters from the finish line. Daggett was nearly at the finish line when he decided to go back to help his teammate and was passed by two runners as he dragged Merriner across the finish line. Even though Merriner was disqualified for not finishing under his own power, Grace Christian won the team championship.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Geremu Daggett helps teammate Colton Merriner across the finish line. Photos by Bryan Boyett\/Alaska Sports Report<\/p>\n
The winner in the adult division was Vanessa Aniteye, an Eagle River runner who was a six-time Division II All-America at UAA before putting her career on pause to get married, move to Seattle and have a baby. Aniteye and her baby spent four weeks in a newborn intensive care unit before leaving the hospital, and Aniteye didn\u2019t train for about 20 weeks.<\/p>\n
But she wasn\u2019t done with track, and after two years without racing she joined the Seattle Pacific track team. There were plenty of naysayers, said husband Brandon Nicholson, who accepted the award because his wife is currently competing in Germany.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a rough go, for both of us,\u201d he said of the health concerns for their baby. \u201cBut she pushed through it. She\u2019s very persistent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aniteye was rewarded for her persistence last month, when she won the 800-meter title at the NCAA Division II indoor track championships. – By Beth Bragg\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hall of Famer Kikkan Randall surrounded by Trajan Langdon Award winners Geremu Daggett (left) and Colton Merriner. Photo by Jim Kohl Alaska celebrated some of its finest and most inspiring athletes Thursday night at the annual Alaska Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony \u2014 among them, a football player who spent a decade playing in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":27504,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Alaska Sports Hall of Fame: Class of 2023 ceremony honors Reggie Tongue, Jessica Moore, Joe Floyd, Kikkan Randall and others - Alaska Sports Hall of Fame<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n