It’s a rarity for an active athlete to be inducted into a Hall of Fame, but for Allie Ostrander, Dallas Seavey and Bobby Hill there was no need to wait.
Their legacy had already been solidified.
Thirteen-time NCAA All-American runner Allie Ostrander, five-time Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion Dallas Seavey and ten-time Special Olympics World Games medalist Bobby Hill were selected to the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame as the Class of 2024.
“We are inducting three contemporary athletes who are still building their resumes, but our selection panel decided it was the right time,” said Alaska Sports Hall of Fame executive director Harlow Robinson.
“Each of them has achieved greatness within their respective sports at this point in their careers and each of them have brought so much pride to Alaskans over the years.”
Ostrander, Seavey and Hill will be honored at an induction ceremony and banquet in April at the Anchorage Museum.
They are joined in the Class of 2024 by the moment when Scott Gomez was named NHL Rookie of the Year in 2000.
The Class of 2024 will be the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame’s 16th inducted class.
April’s induction ceremony will also honor the Directors’ Awards winners for Alaska’s athletes of the year.
Allie Ostrander
Ostrander, a running marvel from the Kenai Peninsula, captured three NCAA Division I steeplechase championships and has a storied career at Mount Marathon.
At Boise State, she was a 13-time All-American in track and cross country — she was the national runnerup at the 2015 cross country championships— before turning pro after her junior year.
At Mount Marathon, she won the 2017 women’s race with the second-fastest time in history and was a six-time junior girls champion, making her sixth victory an overall victory by beating all of the boys.
Dallas Seavey
No one has a better record of success in the Iditarod than Seavey, whose record-tying fifth victory came in his 13th race.
His 2021 triumph tied the long-held record held by Rick Swenson, who posted his fifth win in his 16th race.
Seavey, part of a three-generation Iditarod family from Seward, became the race’s youngest musher at age 18 in 2005.
In 2012, he became the youngest musher to win the Iditarod at age 25. He won the race again in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2021.
Bobby Hill
A Special Olympics competitor for more than 30 years, Hill has captured 10 powerlifting medals in three appearances in the World Summer Games.
He won one gold and three silvers at the 2023 Berlin Games, grabbed four silver medals at the 2007 Shanghai Games and won two golds at the 2003 Dublin Games.
Hill, who was born with Down syndrome, has collected more than 200 medals at the statewide games in powerlifting, floor hockey, golf and bocce.
In 2018, he was honored by the Alaska Legislature for 20 years of dedication as the Bartlett High football team manager.
Moment: Scott Gomez Named NHL Rookie of the Year in 2000
For Gomez, this will be his third induction into the Hall of Fame after previously being selected as an individual and the moment he brought the Stanley Cup back to Anchorage.
In 2000, a 20-year-old Gomez set the NHL on fire with the New Jersey Devils in 2000, winning the Stanley Cup, making the All-Star team and winning the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league’s rookie of the year.
The Anchorage center led all rookies in scoring with 19 goals and 51 assists for 70 points in 82 regular-season games and during the playoffs he registered 10 points, tying for top honors among rookies.
The board of directors decided to take a pause on inducting the event category.
The section panel is comprised of Beth Bragg (panel chair), former sports editor, Anchorage Daily News; Bruce Cech, Fairbanks sports broadcaster and journalist; Lew Freedman, former Anchorage Daily News sports editor and author of numerous books about Alaska sports; Mike Janecek, longtime Mat-Su Valley high school coach and athletics administrator; Danny Martin, sports editor, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner; Kathleen Navarre, Kodiak and Dimond High School coach and administrator; Keith Perkins, Sitka-based high school sports official and broadcaster; Klas Stolpe, former Juneau Empire sports editor; and Doyle Woody, former sports writer and editor at the Anchorage Daily News.
The tenth ballot was submitted by the cumulative vote of the public. All four of the candidates selected for induction ranked very high in the public vote.
Upon enshrinement, inductee portraits are displayed at the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame Gallery at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. Each inductee is recognized on the ASHOF website featuring a written biography, video profile and photo gallery.
For full list of Alaska Sports Hall of Fame Inductees, click here.