Even so, that performance didn’t match Olemaun’s best on her home court.

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More proof that skill and mindset matter every much as strength was shown by Florence Olemaun, 11, part of the middle school team from Utqiagvik, who was the best female of any age at the Seal Hop, crossing 71 feet and 5 inches of the gym floor while in a “push up” position where she inched along forward with each upward push. High School Division winner Aries Bioff of Mt. Edgecumbe High School crossed 69 feet and six inches of the floor, while Open Division winner Tiffany Profitt of Ulguniq/Wainwright covered 63 feet and 10½ inches.


“In my hometown I’m at 80 feet,” she said.

The Traditional Games in Juneau are larger in terms of participation than NYO events at home and some other small Alaska communities, which Olemaun said made her nervous at the beginning country wise email marketing list“because there’s some very good people here.”

Olemaun said she started participating in NYO events about six years ago because her dad hosts the Christmas Games that occur to the north.

“We’re always competing there, so that’s how I’ve been getting better over the years,” she said.

She also participates in seven other sports at her school including wrestling, skiing and cross-country.

Which one does NYO training help the most with?

“Maybe wrestling, because it gets you stronger and in shape,” Olemaun said.

Arias Hoyle (a.k.a. Air Jazz), a Tlingit hip-hop artist from Juneau, performs during a break in the Traditional Games on Sunday at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Arias Hoyle (a.k.a. Air Jazz), a Tlingit hip-hop artist from Juneau, performs during a break in the Traditional Games on Sunday at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Among the other events at the Traditional Games were archery, Alaskan high kick (leaning on one hand while kicking the suspended ball with one foot), wrist carry to see how long a person can bear their own weight with one arm, and two types of broad jumps.