Augustana College senior guard Jon Verhelst, a graduate of Soldotna High School, has been selected to play in the 2007 Aztec Bowl on Dec. 8 in Chihuahua, Mexico. He is the first player from Alaska in the game. Verhelst will be on the American Football Coaches Association's Division III all-star team that will play the Mexican National Team in the game.

The senior started for three years at offensive guard at Augustana. This season, the Vikings were fifth in NCAA Division III in rushing, averaging 299.7 yards.

Verhelst was a first-team all-conference selection in the College Conference of Wisconsin and Illinois as a junior and also was a third-team NCAA Division III All-America selection. In 2007, he was a preseason All-America pick.

The last 10 Aztec Bowls have featured the United States vs. Mexico. The United States is 9-1 in the series after notching a 28-7 victory last season. The U.S. team will have 50 NCAA Division III seniors and will be coached by former Widener, Delaware Valley and LaSalle head coach Bill Manlove.

Hill wins Salazar award

Nikiski High School graduate Sam Hill has been awarded the Alberto Salazar Award for being the top American finisher in the New York City Marathon.

Hill finished 29th in the race with a time of 2 hours, 29 minutes and 27 seconds. The men's field was without some of the strongest American runners because of the U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon the previous day.

Hakkinen takes 22nd in sprint

Kasilof biathlete Jay Hakkinen took 22nd in a 10-kilometer sprint in a World Cup race in Kontiolahti, Finland, on Saturday.

In the sprint race, competitors shoot five prone shots, then after skiing some more, shoot five standing shots. Each miss results in a 150-meter penalty loop.

Hakkinen shot clean in prone and was clean in the standing stage until the final shot, on which he hesitated and missed.

"I just missed," he said in a released statement by U.S. Biathlon. "It is early in the season and I do not have that speed on the range yet."

On his Web site, jayhakkinen.com, Hakkinen wrote, "It was a day at the office today, nothing spectacular, but I got the job done."

Hakkinen finished 1 minute, 10.9 seconds, behind Ole Einar Bjorndalen. Hakkinen is positioned well for today's pursuit. He will start 47 seconds behind the third-place finisher.

Tim Burke of Paul Smiths, N.Y., led the U.S. team by finishing 12th.

Skyview grapplers place 7th in Anchorage

Senior Eddie Buffington claimed the 189-pound championship in leading the Panthers to a seventh-place finish at the Glenn Vandergaw Wrestling Tournament at Dimond High School on Saturday.

Colony won with 252 points, ahead of Chugiak (137), Bethel (136.5), North Pole (134), Service (100), ACS (87.5) and Skyview (79).

Buffington fought his way to a 4-0 record, capping his tournament with a 5-2 decision over Colony's Angleo Bellotte in the title match.