Homer’s Kristen Faulkner and Jackson Snaric were among the seven to win Alaska Sports Hall of Fame Directors’ Awards in voting announced Wednesday, April 16.
The awards are given in addition to the Class of 2025, which is made up of two individuals and moments.
The individuals are Anchorage hockey player Brandon Dubinsky and Eagle River rugby player Alev Kelter. The moments are the selection of Anchorage for the U.S. Olympic Committee’s bid city for the 1992 and 1994 Winter Olympics, and Mario Chalmers’ buzzer-beater in the title game of the 2008 NCAA Tournament.
All the award winners and inductees will be honored June 5 in the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame’s induction ceremony at Anchorage Museum.
Faulkner, 32, of Homer won one of the four Pride of Alaska Awards, given to the year’s top athletes.
Faulkner won a pair of gold medals at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics. She is the only Alaskan with two gold medals.
The men’s Pride of Alaska winner also has a peninsula connection. David Norris, who grew up in Fairbanks and now lives in Colorado, won for breaking his own men’s record in the Mount Marathon Race in Seward on July 4.
Norris trimmed his 2016 record of 41 minutes, 26 seconds, to 40:37.
The boys Pride of Alaska winner is Anchorage Nordic skier Jack Leveque, while the girls Pride of Alaska winner is Wasilla basketball and volleyball player Layla Hays.
Snaric was one of two to win the Trajan Langdon Award for leadership, sportsmanship and inspiration.
The Homer junior plays without use of his left arm and hand due to a birth defect. The cornerback was the Division III Defensive Player of the Year in 2024. He also had a key interception in Homer’s victory over Kenai Central in the 2024 Division III state final.
The adult winner of the Trajan Langdon Award is Anchorage triathlete Rebecca McKee.
The final Directors’ Award winner is Dane Ferguson, a 2009 X Games gold medal winner. He went on to promote safe riding for Alaska snowmachiners. Ferguson won the Joe Floyd Award for a lasting and significant contribution to Alaska through sports.
The winners of the Directors’ Awards are determined by a vote of the Hall of Fame’s nine-member board of directors, as well as Hall of Fame executive director Harlow Robinson.
