By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
Athletes from Mt. Edgecumbe High School took first place in the recent Native Youth Olympics in Anchorage, sweeping a number of first place spots in events across the board, and breaking a world record in the process.
When Colton Paul stepped up to the line in the scissor broad jump, he already had the world record in his sights. But he not only set a new record, he shattered the old one by a full 14 inches. Paul soared a distance of 38 feet and 7 inches in his four-step jump.
MEHS senior Colton Paul competes in the Alaskan one-foot high kick at the Native Youth Olympics in Anchorage earlier this month. (Photo Provided)
“It feels fulfilling. I trained all year for this. I trusted my training,” Paul said in an interview this week. “Last year, I was like, I’ve got to train hard to get this world record, I’ve got to get a couple of inches past it. But I ended up getting a foot and two inches past it, which was pretty awesome,” Paul said, speaking to the Sentinel after school on Wednesday.
For more than 50 years Native Youth Olympics has been an annual statewide competition in a category of physically challenging games rooted in the traditions of Alaska’s Indigenous people. Events include the seal hop, the Eskimo stick pull and the Alaskan high kick, which have no counterparts in NCAA-style gymnastics or track and field sports. From a standing start, a competitor in the scissor broad jump takes three criss-crossing steps in a leap for distance.
Paul said that his average last year was about 34 feet, but he was closer to 36 feet at the 2022 games.
“I was like, hey, if I train on this I can actually get a couple more feet in,” he said.
He achieved just that this year, winning by a 7.5 inch margin over Deshawn Campbell from the Mat-Su Borough, whose jump was also longer than the previous world record.
Video footage of Paul’s record breaking jump – and the crowd’s electric reaction – can be seen on the Cook Inlet Tribal Council’s YouTube channel htpps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vReMfSYjivI&ab_channel=CITCAlaska.
The CITC hosts the games.
Paul, an MEHS senior from Kupnik, also swept the first place spots in the Alaskan high kick, one-hand reach, two-foot high kick and one-foot high kick. He said the supportive atmosphere at the games is what spurs him to keep coming back.
“I just like the atmosphere that you’re in at Native Youth Olympics,” he said. “Everybody’s just there for you; you’re there for them. Nothing but support, love, humor.”
He plans to continue his training even after graduation and possibly break a few more records.
After more than a decade coaching Edgecumbe’s squad, Archie Young said that in NYO competition Colton Paul is in a class by himself.
“What Colton Paul did, I probably won’t see again in my lifetime,” Young said. “For him to win five events, smash a world record, tie a world record (in the two-foot high kick) and score 32 points… I don’t think I’ll ever see that again in my life.”
He joined co-coach Margo Livermore in praise for whole 11-member team.
“Words can’t express how proud I am of this group for their hard work, dedication, and sportsmanship,” Livermore said. “I enjoy watching athletes push themselves to achieve their personal best, and celebrating with them when they reach them. Quyana to everyone who has supported us along the way.”
The Braves took the championship with 53 points, a full 14 points ahead of the second place Mat-Su A team. Mt. Edgecumbe last won the games in 2019. The pandemic canceled NYO in 2020 and pushed events online in 2021. When in-person events returned in ‘22, MEHS took second place overall.
Tessa Anderson of Sitka, another top performer on the Edgecumbe team, said she likes the event because of what it brings out in herself and others.
“It not only brings people together, but brings out the best and most enthusiastic side of myself,” Anderson said.
She took first place in the two-foot high kick, second in the scissor broad jump, and third in both the one-foot high kick and seal hop.
She earned the Autumn Ridley Award as the highest scoring female athlete in the games.
She surprised herself with the height she reached in the two-foot high kick.
“I kicked way higher than I expected to and I think (it) was because of a mix of adrenaline and support. My coaches, teammates, and my mom were by my side the whole time. My team did amazing at state,” she said. “There were some things that didn’t go as planned, but that comes with every competition. We all got through it anyway, and I am so proud of us.”
Neveah George, a sophomore from Newtok, competed in the wrist carry and the kneel jump. The wrist carry is not one of her favorite events, but the kneel jump is. From a kneeling position, the athlete leaps to their feet in a single motion.
“I was getting pretty far (in the kneel jump) during our intra-squad before state. And then at state, I slipped all three (times). My foot just slipped a little for all three of my jumps so they couldn’t count them,” she recalled.
Regardless of the results, however, George agreed with her teammates in their appreciation for the friendly atmosphere of the olympics.
“I love talking to different students who do different events,” George said. “You get to talk to someone who does a different event or get to talk to other coaches or elders about the events,” she said.
With two more years left in high school, she’s looking forward to the games in her future.
“Hopefully, I’m going to improve a little more. And I definitely want to go for events that I’m a little bit stronger in, because wrist carry isn’t one of my strong events, and hopefully stick on my landings next year,” she said.
In the wrist carry, an athlete suspends their body by one wrist extended over a narrow stick that is carried by two team members, one on each side. The winning team is the one with the longest carry before the one being carried has to stop because of the pain in their wrist. Braves senior Tyson Olsen, of Koliganek, took third place in that event.
“It’s a test of perseverance and strength… I closed my eyes just to block out seeing, trying not to see where I am on the court,” Olsen said. “I just focused on hearing; I listened to the crowd.”
The general atmosphere of the NYO helped him push past his limits, he said.
“It’s the support. Like, no matter what event you’re doing, everybody encourages you to push further and past your limits… Everybody was supportive – everybody. A lot of people passed their limits, and it was so fun watching everybody.”
Edgecumbe’s Donovan Stephan-Standifer placed third in the Indian stick pull.
Senior Peter Griggs went to NYO in the past as a competitor, but went this year to make a film about it.
“I’m currently in the process of editing and creating a story of how NYO ties back to cultural values,” Griggs told the Sentinel. “But I also was just there to support the team as much as I can. During the summertime I coach.”
He said he got the idea for the film after his sophomore class on Alaska history, which he found lacking in its recognition of Indigenous peoples.
“There was barely any recognition of the traditional peoples of Alaska,” he said. “(For) myself as an Indigenous person… there’s no real word to say to describe it – not necessarily disappointed and not hurt. There’s nothing you can really say.”
Griggs’ family now lives in Anchorage, but originated in the Kodiak Island community of Port Lyons and in Kwethluk, near Bethel. He is Yupik and Sugpiaq.
Griggs started with NYO as a competitor in 2019, and has found an affinity with the special feeling and culture the sport embodies.
“It’s something I love, the passion I have for it,” he said. “And it’s not necessarily just the feeling of a kick, the feeling of the jump, but kind of the camaraderie between people, the friendship, the sharing, and the love that you can really feel in the air.”
He plans to finish his film in the coming days before he graduates next month.
Coach Young summarized the overall spirit of Native Youth Olympics.
“It epitomizes the values of Alaska Native culture. That’s what it is about: helping each other and helping each other achieve their best,” he said.
