On March 20th the first skiers arrived into the village of White Mountain, although a day early excitement was seen on their faces. The following morning saw countless trips back and forth to the airport to pick up the arriving skiers. Everyone was arriving to participate in the 35th annual Bering Strait School District Cross Country Ski and Biathlon Championships.

All in all 73 skiers were present representing the schools and communities of Brevig Mission, Teller, Little Diomede, Savoonga, Nome, Elim, Unalakleet, Shishmaref, Koyuk, St Michaels, and White Mountain.

The competition opened with a crtoss country ski race on Thursday afternoon. Friday morning found the skiers at the shooting range for themarksmanship competition braving wind chill temperatures of -25. On Friday afternoon the biathlon race was held although the distance wqas shortened due to the wind chills of -30.

Individual awards for each race are done each evening and the final night is the awarding of the team trophies. In the Junior High division first place for the boys went to the team from White Mountain and first place for the girls went to the team from Nome. In the Senior High division first place for the girls went to team from Unalakleet and first place for the boys went to the team from White Mountain. The Sportsmanship trophy was awarded to the team from Unalakleet.

The Skiemeister award goes to the top skier in each division which is earned by their finishing place value in race. A tie is broken by adding their actual times together. The High School Skimeisters were Aly Daniels from Unalakleet and Asa Bergamaschi from White Mountain. The Junior High skimeister was Siku Johnson from Unalakleet. For the junior high girls there was a FOUR way tie between Mallory Conger and Bianca Trowbridge of Nome, Summer Sagoonick of Unalakleet, and Felicia Ione of White Mountain. All four girls ended up with the exact same time when added together. The Most Improved Skier awards went to Charlie Soolook of Little Diomede and Anjoli Agloinga of White Mountain.

The top skiers from the western regions of Alaska will gather in White Mountain on March 28-30 for the Western Interior Ski Association ski meet.