Jacob Strausbaugh and Elijah Larsen share our Alaska Athlete of the Week honors after the Alaska wrestlers each won national collegiate championships.
Strausbaugh of Soldotna won the NCAA Division II title at 133.
Larsen, a Colony High graduate from Wasilla, won a NAIA title for Grand View at 149.
Strausbaugh became the first freshman wrestler in University of Saint Mary program history to win an NCAA title.
Larsen, a sophomore, became a two-time national champion after winning the 149 title last season.
Also receiving votes:
- Brady Burrough – The Anchorage runner placed runner-up in the mile at the NCAA Division II Track & Field Championships, clocking 4 minutes, 12 seconds. Burrough now owns the highest finish at a track and field national meet in program history.
- Rosie Fordham – The UAF skier swept the women’s cross-country titles at the NCAA Championships at Utah’s Soldier Hollow. She won the 20-kilometer freestyle race by nearly 30 seconds, two days after winning the 7.5-kilometer classic race by more than a minute.
- Maxime Germain – The 24-year-old biathlete from Anchorage, skied the opening leg for a U.S. mixed relay team that made history Sunday with a bronze-medal performance in Otepaa, Estonia. It’s the first mixed-relay medal in U.S. Biathlon history.
- Kolby Jensen – The Masters University pitcher from Anchorage picked up his second winning decision and first save of the season within two days of each other as the Mustangs swept Embry-Riddle in NAIA baseball.
- Kade McCorison – The Ninilchik High boys basketball player pumped in a game-high 18 points to lead the Wolverines over Haines 53-38 in the Class 2A state tournament title game. McCorison finished his career with 2,434 points to rank No. 4 on Alaska’s all-time scoring list.
The Alaska Athlete of the Week is selected by a panel each Monday. If you have an athlete of the week recommendation you can email it to info@alaskasportshall.org.
