Nov. 22, 2010
« Complete Release: Washington & Kent State With the Huskies in Anchorage for the Great Alaska Shootout, we wanted our student-athletes to chronicle the experience for you. So we turned to Kristi Kingma, a communications major at Washington, to detail the past couple of days and the highlights of the Huskies' trip, everything from hanging Iditarod Huskies to some behind-the-scene moments with Coach Tia Jackson and Co. Anchorage, Alaska - Nov. 22, 2010 While our guys team is in sunny Hawaii wearing shorts and puka shells, my team is walking around the hotel in wool hats, parkas, and multiple layers of sweats. It is all worth it though because no matter where we are we always have the time of our lives! After two sessions of practice, our coaches surprised us with something I will never forget. We got to visit and play with dogs who race in the Iditarod and take pictures on the sled! It was an AMAZING experience, the dogs were adorable and it was surreal to be on a flat sheet of ice with these husky dogs! I think Sami, our video coordinator, had the most fun with the dogs. She let every dog lick her face clean. SICK! And Jenn Ratcliff, our trainer, is a secret dog-whisperer. All the dogs were freaking out and barking like crazy but as soon as Jenn bent down to pet them, they all turned to her and immediately shut up. Coach J tried her hand at riding the sled and none of us could take our eyes off her because she looked like the abominable snowman mixed with an Eskimo. How is that for a description? Before I forget, let me tell you that as we were walking out of the practice court, Coach Dupe and Sami were trying to nail us with snowballs but karma came around and both of them ended up falling flat on their butts on a sheet of ice. Smooth? I think not. On the bus ride home the back seats turned into a karaoke session/ dance party. I believe Paramore, Katy Perry, and Justin Bieber all made an appearance at some point. Sarah Morton gave us an exclusive solo of "Only Exception" by Paramore and man was it beautiful. I think she may have a future career in music. It is these times when I look around and see not only myself having fun, but my teammates and my coaches as well, that I feel so blessed to be a part of this team. Although we are having so much fun in Alaska, we know we are here for business with our first job being to BEAT KENT STATE! Tonight we go to an all-team banquet and then have another film session before it is lights out (I mean lights out as in bed time and lights out as in WE WILL SHOOT THE LIGHTS OUT). Thank you for all your support and check back soon for more about our trip to the land of no sunlight! Go Dawgs! Anchorage, Alaska Everyone was so excited to get to Alaska! Not only was there snow everywhere but the scenery was beautiful. My hotel room is on the corner and it overlooks the whole city of Anchorage, a frozen lake and the sunset right behind it. Did I mention that we all get our own rooms?! We truly are blessed beyond belief to be able to have experiences like this. As we loaded the bus for dinner, Coach (Greg) Nared pulled me aside and said, "Did you ever think you would be in Alaska?" This goes to show how many great opportunities we have as student-athletes at the University of Washington. After an amazing dinner at The Sourdough Mining Company, we came back to the hotel for two sessions of film. Our team is focused and so anxious to get on the court! We have a sour taste in our mouths after the BYU game and no one is more ready than us to get back out on the hardwood! Tomorrow we hit the gym for practice, some more film and an all-team banquet. Thank you so much for all of your support and stay tuned for more updates from the land of many igloos! Go Dawgs! Seattle - Nov. 21, 2010 We (well mostly just me) took the opportunity to distract Coach J from all of her work and play our favorite plane game "Fun Facts" with her. Basically, each person has to tell a "fun fact" about themselves that is weird or random or quirky. I wish I had permission to tell you all Coach J's fun facts but that is not the case . However, I will share that Coach J puts ice in her cereal. Who does that!? No one wants water-y cereal! Also, Coach Dupe (Kari Duperron) wanted to join our game so she explained her fun fact was that "she always double knots her shoes." After Coach J looked at her shoes too see, we saw in fact they were not double knotted and therefore now we know Coach Dupe is not good at this game. Anyways, the plane ride was a solid four hours and while I had every intention of completing my six page essay during the flight, I never pulled out my laptop. Oops. Team bonding and creating memories are more important than essays anyways (note: I later completed my essay at the hotel, how about a round of applause for me!) Provo, Utah - Nov. 20, 2010 And when I say sunny Alaska I actually mean the exact opposite, Alaska is cold! After talking to some Husky fans at the Salt Lake City Airport (Dawg fans are EVERYWHERE!), many of them were confused why we were not flying straight to Alaska from Utah. We aren't so sure either but the amount of traveling that we do really allows us to bond as a team! |
