Published Jan 17, 2024 by Tyler Purdom

In 2020, the University of Alaska-Anchorage gymnastics team was faced with a bleak realization.Not only would the pandemic result in a lost season for the program, but a string of budget cuts for Alaska’s university system meant that the team was facing the possibility of elimination. But two seasons and nearly $900,000 later, it’s back to business as usual.

“I’m really excited to showcase some of our talent,” said UAA head coach Marie-Sophie Boggasch, who was quick to praise the community that kept the program from being wiped away.

“We achieved the historical permanent reinstatement just last year,” Boggasch said. “It’s always really special to do things that include the fans, to include our former, current, future donors. And without them, again, we just wouldn’t be here.”

The Seawolves’ new dynamic will be put on display in just a few days. The first and only home meet of the season arrives Friday as UC Davis comes to town.

“I think we’re probably looking forward to that home meet the most, because we only get that one weekend,” Boggasch said. “So we hope a ton of fans are showing up. It’s gonna be in the main arena [inside the Alaska Airlines Center], hype, fire, smoke, hopefully, the whole shebang!”

Published Jan 17, 2024 by Josh Reed

The UAA men’s basketball team continued to roll this past week with a pair of hard-fought wins over Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene. In their first time playing at home since late November, the Seawolves bested the Wildcats 75-61 on Thursday and turn around a couple days later and edged out the Nighthawks 71-68 on Saturday. The highlight of their first win was senior guard Tyson Gilbert reaching 1,000 career points with a team-leading 16.

“As a freshman, I’d always see people I know and my peers reach 1,000 points, and it’s definitely something I aspired to do, but it’s not what really motivates me,” he said. “It’s still a cool accomplishment for sure.”

The UAA women’s basketball team played just one game this past week and had to wait until Saturday night to take the court but made the most of it by blowing out rival UAF by nearly 30 points 84-55. The Seawolves smothered the Nanooks with their defense for most of the night and got a big night from junior point guard Senya Rabouin who scored a game-high 20 points.

The UAA hockey team also squared off with in-state rival UAF and while they fell short of victory, the Seawolves didn’t taste defeat either after the two teams skated to a 2-2 tie on Saturday night. After a scoreless opening period, the Nanooks took the first lead with the lone goal of the second and the Seawolves would respond by outscoring UAF 2-1 in the third with their goals coming from Wasilla forward Porter Schachle and defensemen Brett Bamber.

UAA senior Astrid Stav finished sixth in the 10-kilometer classic pursuit to lead the Seawolves ski team at the Utah Invite this past Saturday. The Norwegian Nordic skier posted a 10-kilometer time of 30:13 and a combined time with the previous day’s 7.5-kilometer freestyle of 53:09.

Published Jan 16, 2024

The Alaska Forum on the Environment has worked to get contaminants out of Alaska’s land, water and air for more than 30 years. Once a year, they bring representatives from the military, state, federal and tribal governments together with industry leaders to discuss new methods for removing marine debris, responding to oil spills, tackling legacy pollution, and addressing climate change. We talk with presenters about the latest ways to protect the health of Alaska’s ecosystem on this Talk of Alaska.

• Kurt Eilo, Executive Director, Alaska Forum
• Rick Thoman, Alaska Climate Specialist, International Arctic Research Center at UAF
• Patricia Cochran, Executive Director, Alaska Native Science Commission