FAIRBANKS – Following a successful inaugural season, the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) hosted the second annual Nanook Olympics, on Saturday night, which pitted each of the programs and a team of staff against each other in seven events.
The department broke itself up into ten teams: Men's Basketball, Women's Basketball, Cross Country, Nordic Ski, American Hockey, Canadian Hockey, Rifle, Staff, Swimming and Volleyball.
The cross country team earned a year's worth of bragging rights, as they shocked the rest of the field and edged "bitter rivals", the ski team, by just a single point, to claim the top spot on the podium. Last season's champion, the American hockey team, took third place overall.
"The Nanook Olympics is an amazing event," said Canadian hockey team and SAAC member Justin Tateson. "It brings all the Nanook student-athletes together for a whole day where all the athletes can get to know each other and their respective sports even better."
The teams, which had three to four competitors per event, aside from a dance competition which concluded the Olympics (comprised of all team members) competed in volleyball (single elimination), rifle (four shots per shooter), running (one-lap relay), basketball (single elimination), swimming (timed, two heats) and hockey (single elimination).
Teams were required to use a handicap for their own events, so as to even the playing field.
The cross country team played with energy and desire throughout, utilizing both their speed and stamina to win the swimming competition and place second in both the running and basketball events. Skiing, which placed second overall, crossed the finish line just ahead of the cross country team in the running portion, before the two teams met in an epic basketball game, which was touted as the "game of the Olympics" by many. The cross country team just edged out the ski team, and would advance all the way to the final before losing out to men's basketball.
Men's basketball very nearly won two events, as they took home the top spot in their own event after being knocked off by the women's basketball team in the championship volleyball game.
Canada hockey and hockey also won their own events, as they each edged the staff team, who shockingly advanced to the finals in hockey and fell just short of the top-spot in rifle.
Volleyball earned the most points in the dance competition to close out the event, as a panel of four judges gave them top-marks for their efforts.
FINAL STANDINGS
1st: Cross Country
2nd: Nordic Ski
3rd: American Hockey
4th: Men's Basketball
5th: Women's Basketball
t-6th: Volleyball / Hockey Canada
8th: Staff
9th: Rifle
10th: Swim
RESULTS BY EVENT:
Hockey: Canada over Staff
Running: Ski over the field
Swim: Cross Country over the field
Rifle: Rifle over the field
Volleyball: Women's Basketball over Men's Basketball
Basketball: Men's Basketball over Cross Country
Dance: Volleyball over the field
In addition to advancing the spirit of competition and promoting inter-department comradery, the Nanook Olympics raised over $600 for local charities including the Make a Wish Foundation, With All Your Heart and Youth with a Mission.
"As a committee our goal was to raise money for Make-A-Wish, Youth with a Mission and With All Your Heart and to create a great atmosphere for the student-athletes and the community. SAAC has been working hard to plan this event since December, and I'd say all our hard work paid off," said SAAC President, Kryston McPhetres. "It was great to see the athletes and community together in one place laughing and smiling. This was a successful event and I'd say we achieved our goals."
