September 26, Another Trip, Another Title

This week went by super fast, before I even knew it, it was Friday, and I was on my way to Kotzebue to catch a plane to Unalakleet for cross country regional meet (Not before trying some Whale Blubber and Seal Meet on the school's Inupiaq day [blubber with salt was amazing, the seal not so good]). In Kotzebue, I was excited because I was able to call people on my cell phone in the small window that I had, but then it was on the "Big" plane (19 Seater!!!!) to Unalakleet. After we got there on Friday, we went to the supermarket, or the closest thing to one in bush Alaska. After that, there was a bonfire on the beach right by the school, and then a movie in the cafeteria, and then lights out.

The next day was race day, and shortly after the boys took off, it began to snow, hard. Runners needed to finish in the top 15 if they were to qualify for the state meet next weekend in Palmer. This seems easy enough, but when nome puts 7 runners in the top 9, its not so easy to get one of those 8 spots. But the good news is my top runner took one of those spots, finishing in 8th place, and qualifying for states. This means I could be going to Palmer, which is just 50 miles outside of Anchorage, next weekend, however, the district will choose which coaches' trips they fund, so I can't worry about that now. My other boys came in 23rd, 25th, and 28th.

Next, the girls ran, and their entire race was run in a near white out condition. The girls ran thier hearts out, finishing near the back of the pack, 32nd, 42nd, and 43rd.


After the race, our 8th place finisher collected his medal, and just as we were about to leave, they began to announce the team winners. After they had announced White Mountain was runner-up for Boy's small school team, I lost my hope, (their top runner was 6th overall, which I thought would do us in). But then came the big announcement, "And the winner of the Boy's Region 1 North Small School title are the Buckland Sissauŋi." I had to rush to get my boy's together to collect the trophy, and I didn't get a team picture with the trophy until we were on the plane home, because of the rush to catch our plane. But it is never an inconvinience comming home with some hardware for the school's trophy case.