The Alaska Sports Hall of Fame, with a mission to teach, honor, inspire and foster and instill the positive attributes of sport in Alaska, has selected the Class of 2017 for induction into the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame.
Three individuals, one event, and one moment have been selected for induction and the first response to the Class of 2017 selections is…They aren’t already in?
The 11th class into the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame features icons in the history of Alaska sport.
Inductee descriptions as provided by Alaska Sports Hall of Fame
Martin Buser
Buser is a four-time winner of the 1,000-mile Iditarod and currently holds the race record for most consecutive finishes with 31. He has registered 19 top-10 finishes, including 14 straight from 1987-2000. In 2002, his team ran a record time of 8 days and 22 hours – a mark that stood for nine years.
The Big Lake musher was been awarded the coveted Leonhard Seppala Award for humanitarian dog care an unprecedented five times in 1988, 1993, 1995 and 1997 and 2014.
Jeff King
King is another four-time winner of the Last Great Race, but his winning pedigree extends beyond the Iditarod. The Denali Park musher has possibly collected more race titles than any other distance and mid-distance musher in the world. In addition to his success in marathons like the Iditarod, Yukon Quest and the International Rocky Mountain Stage Stop,
King has lived up to his name by winning the Kuskokwim 300 nine times, the Tustumena 200 three times and Copper Bain 300 twice.
Nicole Johnson
Johnston collected more than 100 career medals in major Native Games competition like WEIO, the Native Youth Olympics and Arctic Winter Games.
She learned the games in Nome and emerged as her generation’s greatest champion. Later she became an ambassador of the sport, traveling the state to teach skills to the next generation. Her versatility is as renowned as her durability.
She won technical events like the kneel jump, strength events like the arm pull and athletic events like the high kick. Johnston’s two-foot high kick record of 6 feet, 6 inches set in 1989 stood for 25 years.
Fur Rendezvous World Championship Sled Dog Race
The three-day Fur Rondy sprint race dates back to 1946 and has been voted “Best Event” by the International Sled Dog Racing Association.
The event attracts many of the world’s best sprint mushers, who guide their teams past cheering crowds that line city streets and trails.
Vern Tejas: First solo climber to complete a winter ascent of the 20,310-foot Denali
Vern Tejas became a household name in Alaska in 1988 when he became the first climber to complete a solo winter ascent of Denali, formerly known as Mount McKinley – the tallest peak in North America.