Emily Robinson, a 16-year-old musher from Nenana, topped a stellar field to win the Knik 200 race on Sunday, garnering her our Alaska Athlete of the Week honors.Robinson, the two-time defending Junior Iditarod champion, was only allowed to participate because the Knik 200 opened the race to junior mushers for the first time.
She took full advantage, overcoming a seven-minute deficit at the halfway point at Knik Lake to edge 2022 Iditarod champion Brent Sass by 1 minute, 5 seconds.
Robinson also defeated 2023 Iditarod winner Ryan Redington (3rd place) and previous Knik 200 champs Nic Petit and Eddie Burke, among others, to claim the $5,000 first-place prize. She also won the Spirit of Joe Redington, Sr., Award.
Also receiving votes:
- Rosie Brennan – The two-time Olympian from Anchorage finished less than one second behind the winner to capture second place in the women’s 20-kilometer World Cup pursuit race.
- David Carle – The Anchorage native guided Team USA to the gold medal at the World Junior Hockey Championship with a 6-2 victory over homestanding Sweden in Gothenburg.
- Jack Green – The Anchorage soccer player bagged three goals and assisted on another score to lift Team USA to historic heights in futsal at the Pan American Maccabi Games as the Americans defeated host Argentina 6-4 in the gold medal match.
- Gus Schumacher — The Anchorage skier placed career-best fourth in a freestyle sprint at the Tour de Ski in Davos, Switzerland, a result that vaulted him into fourth place in the overall World Cup standings but unfortunately, the next day he dropped out of the Tour due to illness.
The Alaska Athlete of the Week is selected by a panel each Monday.
Have a candidate in mind? Email us your nomination: info@alaskasportshall.org.