Alaska sports notebook: Gus Schumacher notches top-10 finish in Tour de Ski race; UAA and UAF hockey have mixed results on the road

In the first race of the 19th edition of the Tour de Ski, Anchorage’s Gus Schumacher led all U.S. men, placing seventh in the 15K race in Toblach, Italy, on Saturday. He was the only one to crack the top 10 with a mark of 38:27.8 which was 44 seconds off of the top spot — Johannes Høsflot Klæbo of Norway 39:53 — and nine seconds faster than the next closest American who was Alaska Pacific University teammate, Zanden McMullen, with a time of 38:36.9.

On the women’s side, the only other U.S. woman to join Jessie Diggins in the top 15 was APU’s Rosie Brennan who came in 14th after clocking 43:43.6.

In the penultimate week of the NFL regular season, a pair of Alaskans were part of winning efforts. Anchorage’s Tyree Wilson recorded three total tackles, including a solo, half a sack, eight pressures, a pressure rate of 27.6% and two quarterback hits in the Las Vegas Raiders’ 25-10 win over the New Orleans Saints. Meanwhile, Anchorage’s Edefuan Ulofoshio was active for back-to-back gams for the first time of his rookie season, and in the Buffalo Bills’ 40-14 blowout win over the New York Jets, he matched his career high in snaps as he played 15 on special teams and recorded his first career tackle on a solo takedown on the team’s lone punt of the third quarter.

[Anchorage’s Edefuan Ulofoshio lands with the Buffalo Bills in 5th round of the 2024 NFL Draft]

Anchorage’s Jeremy Swayman helped lead the Boston Bruins to victories on both of the games he appeared in as the starting goalie this past week. In last Monday’s 4-1 win over the Washington Capitals, he made 10 saves on 11 attempts and the former South Anchorage High standout notched the 14th shutout of his budding career in Saturday’s 4-0 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets in which he prevented all 18 attempts from finding the back of the net in a dominant performance. In his last five games as the go-to goaltender, Swayman has a record of 4-0-1, a save percentage of .918 and a goals against average of 1.57.

This past week in the NBA G-League saw Anchorage’s JT Thor help the Cleveland Charge to back-to-back home wins over Bronny James and the South Bay Lakers. In Friday’s 125-113 win, Thor finished third on the team in scoring with 18 points and came up just one rebound shy of a double-double with nine. The following night in a 93-90 triumph, he tied for the third-most points on the team with 14 and recorded a double-double by leading the team with 13 rebounds to go along with a game-high four blocked shots.

[South Sudan’s Olympic debut marks historic moment for basketball player JT Thor, and Anchorage family and friends]

On the college scene, both the University of Alaska Anchorage and University of Fairbanks hockey programs were on the road taking part in two tournaments this past weekend. Despite drawing first blood in both of their games, the Seawolves fell to Dartmouth 5-4 on Saturday and to Northeastern University 4-3 on Sunday. All seven of their goals were recorded by different players including freshman forward Ryan Johnson, who increased his team-leading total for the season to nine in the first game.

After falling to the University of Connecticut Huskies 4-1 on Saturday, the Nanooks bounced back with a 4-1 victory over Ferris State University on Sunday. Their leading goal-scorer during the Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off was junior forward Chase Dafoe, who scored the team’s lone goal in the first game and found the back of the net again in their victory.

North Pole’s Matthew Van Horn was selected by the Colorado Rapids in the MLS SuperDraft on Dec. 20. The midfielder for the Georgetown University men’s soccer team was taken in the third round with the 75th overall pick after he started 13 of 21 games for the Hoyas last season as a sophomore and led the team in scoring with six goals to go along with three assists for 15 points. His efforts earned Van Horn an All-Big East first-team selection and NCAA All-East Region second-team honor. Since he has two seasons of college eligibility remaining, he can choose to return to school in the fall but doing so would make him ineligible to be drafted again.

Last week’s results

High School

Basketball

Girls

Friday

Chugiak 43, Kenai Central 34

Woodinville 58, Colony 43

Monroe Catholic 60, Homer 11

Soldotna 51, Point Loma 23

Boys

Monday

Maryknoll 64, West 29

Thursday

Somerset Academy Losee 53, South 49

Friday

Federal Way 63, Soldotna 40

Monroe Catholic 83, Homer 29

Philomath 62, Houston 44

South 62, Cheyenne 48

College

Hockey

Saturday

UCONN 4, UAF 1

Dartmouth 5, UAA 4

Sunday

UAF 4, Ferris State University 1

Northeastern University 4, UAA 3