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Juneau athletes in the saddle, on the mats and across the mountains
- Klas Stolpe
- 34 minutes ago
- 6 min read
Bursell’s conquer triathlon, Schooler and Messmer grapple, Wheeler runs Sitka
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
Some Juneau, and Alaska, athletes put their best foot forward in numerous events in the past week.
Juneau’s John and Jamie Bursell took on the Ironman 70.3 Oregon course on Sunday, July 19, as a training event “for life."
The 1.2-mile scenic swim flows with the Willamette River, the 56-mile bike winds through rolling wine country hills, and the 13.1-mile run is close enough to downtown Salem and Minto-Brown Island Park to make all the exertion worth the effort.
A respectable Ironman 70.3 time is considered to be under six hours. That time can fluctuate wildly with weather, amateur or professional competitors, and advanced age groups.
Competing in their respective 60-64 age group, John Bursell placed third for males and Jamie Bursell 13th among females.
“Jamie competed in this race two to three times prior and really enjoyed the experience, so I wanted to go down and do the race with her,” John Bursell said. “It is a large race with 3,150 finishers this year, and is very well run. The weather was hot with a high of 90 degrees, so we had to slow down a bit since we are not acclimated to hot weather. The swim is really fun, swimming downstream in the Willamette River, so the swim times are blazing fast. The bike course is very scenic, mostly through the Willamette Valley countryside. Two-loop run course on paved paths. Time to recover hopefully in time for the Aukeman!”
John Bursell hit a time of four hours 48 minutes and 21 seconds, falling into the advanced age group and professional level athletes. His third place age group time was 158th among all males (roughly 1,922) and 173rd among all competitors (roughly 3,150). His swim portion was 0:21:19 with a 0:06:27 first transition to a 2:32:29 bike portion, followed by a 0:03:06 second transition into a 1:45:00 run.
Jamie Bursell finished in 6:18:54, a competitive 13th-place finish in her age group, 401st among females (roughly 1,228) and 1,371st among the entire field. She kept a secure placing through all three disciplines. Her 0:22:32 swim was followed by a 0:07:41 transition to a 3:05:12 bike portion, followed by a 0:04:46 second transition into a 2:38:43 run.
“For me, an Ironman 703 is not just a race — it is a celebration of a lifestyle,” Jaimie Bursell said. “Training keeps me healthy, active and ready to enjoy life. Race day is simply another great training day with a finish line.”
Professional triathlete Soren Jensen, 26, from Tucson, Arizona was the first male finisher with a time of 3:50:12 (Swim 0:18:24 / 0:03:18 Transition / Bike 2:07:03 / 0:02:00 T. / Run 1:19:27). Tucson’s Kristen Yax, 44, the first female finisher in 4:32:57 (Swim 0:22:34 / T. 0:05:31 / Bike 2:30:20 / T. 0:03:13 / Run 1:31:19).
Note: Juneau’s 2026 Aukeman will take place on August 2. The annual event features a new look with the Triathlon, Duathlon and Aquabike races all having Sprint and Olympic distances. Volunteers are needed.
Grapplers Nixie Schooler, Camden Messmer at Nationals
Juneau Youth Wrestling Club’s Camden Messmer — a rising Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé senior — and Nixie Schooler, a JDHS rising junior, competed at the 2026 US Marine Corps Junior Nationals Tournament in Fargo, North Dakota, last week.
“Despite so many ‘national’ themed tournaments nowadays, this is THE National tournament for 16U and Juniors,” JYWC coach Jason Hass said. “It is by far the largest age level tournament in the country. Camden had 151 wrestlers in his bracket! If a wrestler has the means and wants to get noticed by post-high school wrestling programs, this is where they will be.”
In order to compete in the tournament wrestlers must meet strict criteria and be a part of their state’s team. Being a part of "Team Alaska" meant attending a weeklong intensive Fargo training camp in Fairbanks the week before the tournament and traveling down with the rest of Team Alaska.
Due to scheduling and means only two Juneau wrestlers attended this year.
“Hopefully we will be sending more in future years as our program participation and successes are rapidly increasing,” Hass said. “Team Alaska certainly made a name for itself this year! Placing 7th in 16U Greco with three finalists (2 champs) and Junior Champ!”
Camden Messmer Wrestled in the Junior Age Division. His results follow:
Freestyle -
Camden Messmer, AK over Jacob Ness, CO (F 4:19)
Gavin Lewis, IN over Camden Messmer, AK (TF 10-0 (1:01) )
Conner Chancellor, OK over Camden Messmer, AK (TF 18-7 (2:59) )
Greco Roman -
Camden Messmer, AK over Adarein Hawkins, MO (TF 12-4 (0:46) )
Mason Katschor, MI over Camden Messmer, AK (Dec 18-11)
Camden Messmer, AK over Zachary Pendell, NY (F 1:21)
Camden Messmer, AK over Elian Debien, OR (F 1:31)
Robert Ruscitti, IL over Camden Messmer, AK (TF 8-0 (2:18) )
Camden Messmer, AK over Trey Smith, OR (Dec 11-8)
Conner Chancellor, OK over Camden Messmer, AK (TF 18-7 (2:59) )
Nixie Schooler wrestled in the Girls 16U age division. Her results follow:
Girls Freestyle -
Nixie Schooler, AK over Sophia Hennigh, NM (TF 10-0 (1:39) )
Kirra Mitchell, GA over Nixie Schooler, AK (Dec 4-1)
Nixie Schooler, AK over Allie Procter, GA (TF 10-0 (0:22) )
Chloe Medlock, OK over Nixie Schooler, AK (F 1:58)
Nixie Schooler, AK over Zariah Chisom, IN (TF 10-0 (1:02) )
Also grappling for Alaska, Mountain City rising sophomore Trestin Houck went 7-0 at 126 pounds for a Greco Roman title; South Anchorage rising sophomore Shane Ostermiller went 7-0 at 144 pounds for a Greco Roman title; And rising South Anchorage senior Jacob Morris, a two-time state champion, went 6-2 in freestyle and 7-0 in Greco Roman for a title.
Alpine Adventure Race
Juneau’s Ferguson Wheeler stormed ‘the Rock,’ running from Sitka central up and around Harbor Mountain to a seventh-place finish in the 2026 Alpine Adventure Run on Saturday, July 18. The 2025 JDHS graduate, and rising Claremont-Mudd-Scripps College sophomore, hit a time of one hour 18 minutes and 10 seconds.
"I ran the race last year because I got convinced by a friend and decided to sign up again because I had so much fun," Wheeler said. "This year I was much more exhausted and did not perform quite as well, but it was still a fun weekend in Sitka. It is cool to be part of such a small and distinct race and it makes you feel part of a community."
Christopher Brenk of Laramie, Wyoming, won the men’s title in 1:05:14, and first-time competitor Joana Clere, from Ketchikan won the women’s title in 1:32:55, placing 22nd overall among the 122 competitors. The race director is Christine Horan.
The seven-mile course, made slippery from a previous night’s rain, left downtown Sitka from Saint Gregory Catholic Church, climbed up Gavan Hill and after roughly 3,400 vertical feet over a few miles runners found themselves into a traverse around foggy Harbor Mountain that involved a rock slide and a series of hills and valleys. The race traditionally features competitive runners and hardcore fast hikers.
Other capital city finishers included Ian Novak 14th in 1:23:48, Abe Kanter 15th in 1:28:07, Matt Catterson 20th in 1:32:18, Sarah Matula 46th in 1:42:55, Haleigh Damron 55th in 1:46:04, Maggie Lenhart 56th in 1:48:23, Hannah Bailey 86th in 2:05:06, Michelle Eng 92nd in 2:07:15, and Mallory LeBlanc 104th in 2:14:03.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at sports@juneauindependent.com
