Articles written by Aiden Luhr


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  • Young Vikings gain experience, Kaden Duke places second in Southeast Showdown

    Aiden Luhr|Oct 31, 2024

    The PHS Wrestling team grappled through their second meet in Juneau-Douglas over the weekend. While the young squad didn't have the best results, Head Coach James Valentine is focused on the experience his young team is getting early in the season. The majority of the Vikings who traveled to this meet were freshmen, except for sophomore Fyscher Humphrey and senior Kaden Duke. "It was still their very first tournament ... the first tournament in Hoonah. It was a majority learning curve...

  • SE Alaska Honors Music Festival returns to Petersburg for 50th Anniversary

    Aiden Luhr|Oct 24, 2024

    Nearly 100 high school musicians from Southeast Alaska were in Petersburg to celebrate the 50th annual Southeast Honors Music Festival. It's also the first time Petersburg has hosted the event since 1974. "I think it's really cool that we're bringing it back [honors music festival] for its 50th and I think it's a testament to the music directors and administrators throughout Southeast Alaska that have kept it going," Petersburg High School Music Director Chelsea Corrao said. The festival began...

  • PHS Wrestling start the season strong in first meet at Hoonah

    Aiden Luhr|Oct 24, 2024

    The PHS Wrestling team got off to a strong start during their first meet at Hoonah over the past weekend. Only four kids took the trip to Hoonah due to the 10 practice criteria, but the Vikings left feeling good about how they performed to start the season. "Overall the experience was really good," Head Coach James Valentine said. "The first tournament of the year – we like to call it getting the bats out of the cage. This is your first match, we're going to make some mistakes and it's going t...

  • PHS Swim rounding into form heading into regions

    Aiden Luhr|Oct 24, 2024

    The PHS Swim team is rounding into form with strong performances from several swimmers in Sitka, with the playoffs on the horizon. “Our racing was pretty good and the splits on their [swimmers] races were pretty good,” Head Coach Andy Carlisle said. “I feel like their fitness level is really good – we just need to work on some speed and once they rest, that will come pretty good.” The Vikings are peaking at the right time heading into regions and potentially state. “Everybody was getting closer to best times – we’re going in the right direc...

  • Three Petersburg High School students selected to the Alaska All-State Music team

    Aiden Luhr|Oct 17, 2024

    Three Petersburg High School students were recently selected to the All-State Music Festival Ensemble. Petersburg senior Eleanor Kandoll and juniors Canek Sosa and Heidi Brantuas were selected to represent Alaska at the Music Festival from Nov. 21-23, in Anchorage. Kandoll was selected for the Clarinet section. "Honestly, I was mostly relieved because I've been an All-State twice before, I would've been very disappointed if I hadn't been [selected]," Kandoll said. "It's a wonderful experience -...

  • PHS Wrestling aim for strong season and a return to the ASAA State Championships

    Aiden Luhr|Oct 17, 2024

    Coming off a season in 2023 in which Petersburg High School's wrestling team sent four competitors to state, the Vikings will look to get back there again, with seniors Kaden Duke, Angus Olsen and Marcus Anderson leading the way. Having wrestled for 12 years now, Duke knows what he needs to do to achieve his goal to improve on his 2-2 finish at state last year. "I've accumulated a lot of knowledge of how to properly diet – I'm hoping this year I can at least win a regional championship – my seco...

  • PHS Cross Country are double State Champions

    Aiden Luhr|Oct 10, 2024

    For the first time in program history, the PHS Boys and Girls Cross Country teams are both the ASAA State Champions for Division III. "It's a special and historic day – I'm so happy for the kids, they earned it ... they've been consistent and worked hard every day," Head Coach Casey Gates said. Last season, the PHS boys cross country team finished third, behind Cordova and Wrangell. This year, the Vikings were able to beat Wrangell and claim their spot on top. The team was led by junior Gaje V...

  • PHS Swim team continue to improve in Juneau

    Aiden Luhr|Oct 10, 2024

    The PHS Swim team continues to ramp up their intensity heading towards regions, with strong performances from multiple swimmers at the Juneau meet. "We bumped everything up after Ketchikan – they're getting pretty fit right now and we'll start working on speed," Head Coach Andy Carlisle said. "We're getting pretty close to our best times in the middle of the season which makes me pretty optimistic after we get another month of work in, we'll be doing pretty well at regions." One swimmer who h...

  • Cross country girls are the Region V champs

    Aiden Luhr|Oct 3, 2024

    For the first time since 2018, the PHS girls' cross country team are the Region V Champions for Division III. Last year – despite a few very strong finishes including a second place overall finish from Maria Toth – the girls' team was unable to place as a team because of having too few runners, which made this year's championship win that much sweeter. This time around Maria Toth claimed first place in the race. And along with her, all of Petersburg's girls finished in the top ten. With a com...

  • Vikings struggle on offense, lose season opener

    Aiden Luhr|Oct 3, 2024

    Petersburg High School's volleyball team lost their first games of the season, falling to the Ketchikan Kings in games one and two this past week. The Vikings lost the first set of game one 25-13, 25-17 in the second set, and 25-19 in the third set on Thursday, Sept. 26, in Ketchikan. The Vikings had just 18 total kills on 43 attempts (41.8%) in total through both nights. "We struggled offensively, we could not put a ball away from our hitters – we didn't attack well," Head Coach Jaime Cabral s...

  • Muddy cross country squad shows grit at Capital Invite

    Aiden Luhr|Sep 26, 2024

    The PHS Cross Country team continued to build momentum toward regionals with strong performances from the men's and women's teams at the Capital Invite on Saturday, Sept. 21., in Juneau. A mid-season break didn't slow the Vikings as they race towards regionals. "The kids had a real strong week of training – and with this race, I was more excited about the overall experience and the kids pushing through a tough, gritty course," Head Coach Casey Gates said. "It was really wet, it was really m...

  • PHS Swimmers post strong results at Ketchikan meet

    Aiden Luhr|Sep 26, 2024

    The PHS Swim team continued their 2024 season with strong results on Sept. 20 to 21, in a meet that included Juneau-Douglas, Ketchikan, Sitka, Craig and Wrangell, at the Ketchikan Invite. Head Coach Andy Carlisle was pleased with his team’s progress since their first meet in Petersburg. “We had a pretty good meet,” Carlisle said. Junior swimmer Logan Tow was one of the swimmers who posted strong results throughout the two-day meet. On Friday, Tow finished second out of 11 swimmers in the Men’s 100 Yard Freestyle, with a time of 50 seconds and t...

  • PHS Volleyball enters 2024 determined and ready to qualify for the 2A State Championship

    Aiden Luhr|Sep 19, 2024

    Coming off a season in which they finished third at regions in 2023, the Petersburg High School Volleyball team open 2024 with a young team, on a mission to qualify for the 2A Volleyball State Championship. "The seniors this year, they've got this mentality that last year is over, this year is this year now, but we learned a lot of stuff from last year that we got to continue on to keep it going," Head Coach Jaime Cabral said. "The closer we unite and stay together, the more production we can ge...

  • Rainforest Survival class teaches children wilderness skills

    Aiden Luhr, Pilot writer|Sep 12, 2024

    A warm aroma of cooked food and the scent of cedar embers sifted through Sandy Beach during the first ever Rainforest Survival series, hosted by Petersburg Parks and Recreation on Saturday Sept. 7. The two-day event focused on helping teach kids about survival skills. The class on Friday consisted of emergency bag preparation and knot tying lessons. On Saturday, lessons featured shelter building, flare signaling for rescue and fire building. "For the most part, I think it went beautifully,"...

  • PHS Cross Country dominates at Craig Invitational

    Aiden Luhr, Pilot writer|Sep 12, 2024

    Heading into their first meet on the road, the Petersburg High School cross country team looked to build on their momentum from the invitational hosted in Petersburg. And they did exactly that. The PHS cross country girls team had a dominant showing this past weekend in Craig, with sophomore Maria Toth, junior Gabriele Whitacre and freshmen Ariel Tucker and Zia Hulebak finishing first, second, third and fourth in the entire meet in the Women's 5000 Meters. "It was really promising and really...

  • PHS Swim team posts solid results to begin the 2024 season

    Aiden Luhr, Pilot writer|Sep 12, 2024

    Petersburg High School's swim team started the 2024 season with solid results during the Petersburg Invite on Friday Sept. 6 and Saturday Sept. 7 which featured teams from Juneau Douglas, Ketchikan, Sitka, Craig and Wrangell. Head Coach Andy Carlisle was pleased with his team's overall performance. "I can see where we're actually a little ahead of where I thought we would be, so everything is good." Carlisle looks forward to the first meet to see where his team stacks up against other competitio...

  • PHS swim enters 2024 season with championship aspirations

    Aiden Luhr, Pilot writer|Sep 5, 2024

    The 2024 Petersburg high school swim season is now underway. Coming off a season in 2023 where they made the state championships, the Vikings are looking to return to the championship meet in Anchorage, Alaska. In 2023, there were only two members of the team, now junior swimmers- Brooklyn Whitethorn and Logan Tow. This year, the Vikings have eight total members on the team. What I'm most excited about is "having relays because I have four boys and four girls now," this year is going to be way m...

  • PHS cross country starts the season fast in the Petersburg XC Invitational

    Aiden Luhr, Pilot writer|Aug 29, 2024

    Petersburg High School's cross country team raced out to a strong start to the 2024 season on Saturday, Aug. 24, in Petersburg. In a meet that included Sitka, Wrangell, Ketchikan, Juneau-Douglas, Skagway and Craig, the boys placed fourth out of seven teams. The girls placed second out of four teams. Head coach Casey Gates was very pleased with his team's performance during the first meet of the season. "I'm very excited and happy with how today went and also with the outlook of the season, I...

  • Uke'a Ladies bring sweet sounds to Saturday market

    Aiden Luhr, Pilot writer|Aug 22, 2024

    The sound of plucked strings and women's voices singing in unison could be heard at the outdoor Market in Petersburg on Sat. Aug. 17. The performers were a six-person ensemble known as the Uke'a Ladies. The group formed last summer thanks to music lessons offered at Petersburg's music store Bearing Song and Gifts. "I was advertising that I wanted to do a ukulele drop-in group, and [Danielle MacPhee] was my first person to come in for the ukulele class," said Sarah Hofstetter, owner of Bearing...

  • Capitol Christmas tree will come from the Tongass

    Aiden Luhr, Pilot writer|Aug 22, 2024

    A sitka spruce from the Wrangell Ranger District was selected to represent Alaska as the 2024 U.S. Capitol Christmas tree. "This is the first time the Capitol Christmas tree has come from the Tongass National Forest," Public Affairs and Partnerships staff officer Paul Robbins Jr. told the Pilot in an email. According to Robbins Jr., the tree will be transported over 900 miles by sea and 2,899-mile cross country to Washington D.C. Alaskans have been asked to provide over 10,000 handmade...

  • Contaminating recycling bins with garbage causes whole bales of recyclables to end up in landfill

    Aiden Luhr, Pilot writer|Aug 15, 2024

    Fish and deer carcasses, propane bottles, and glass, all of these nonrecyclable items have shown up in the Petersburg Borough Sanitation Department's comingled recycling bins. Commingled means customers' recyclable materials don't need to be sorted into plastic, aluminum, paper, etc. However, the recycling must be clean and free of food and debris. Glass is not recyclable in Petersburg. But there are glass drop-off locations for the public at the baler and at Public Works. "At 303 South 2nd Stre...

  • Wrangell's Rally for Cancer fundraiser generates over $20,000 to provide cancer care travel grants

    Aiden Luhr, Pilot writer|Aug 15, 2024

    ​​The annual Rally for Cancer Care Golf tournament, also known as Fun and Frolic, was held Saturday, Aug. 10, at the Muskeg Meadows, in Wrangell.​​ This year Desi Burrell and 39 other women from Petersburg went to Wrangell to participate in the annual event. This isn't your normal golf tournament; no score is kept and no skill is required by participants. "It keeps getting better every year," Burrell said. "If you've never golfed in your life, you could still have a really good time. There w...

  • Beth Flor: Petersburg's painter of light and shadows

    Aiden Luhr, Pilot writer|Aug 8, 2024

    Beth Flor took her first ever drawing class during her sophomore year of college. She had enrolled in the class because she needed one more credit and she had enjoyed drawing when she was little. That first art class made such an impression on her, she considered changing her major from social work to art. Her art teacher from that class confronted Flor with some tough advice that has stuck with her all these years. She remembers him saying, "You'll never be great, but if you work hard, you'll...

  • With high expectations set, the Vikings set their eyes on claiming two Division III titles

    Aiden Luhr, Pilot writer|Aug 8, 2024

    The 2024 Cross Country season has officially begun. Coming off of his first season as a head coach, Casey Gates believes this year's team could do something special. "I think the sky's the limit for us, I think we can have a very successful season," Gates said. Gates is eager to see what the talented newcomers increasing the roster on the girls team might mean for this year. "I'm excited about our girls' team this season, mostly because we're bringing in some talented freshmen and we're going...

  • Triathlete completes a personal best during the 2024 Summer Sprint Triathlon

    Aiden Luhr|Jul 25, 2024

    Triathlete Dustin Barber competed in Petersburg's Summer Sprint Triathlon last Saturday, running a personal best for himself, finishing with a time of 69 minutes and 18 seconds – an improvement from 2023 when Barber completed the triathlon in 71 minutes and 46 seconds. The summer triathlon consisted of a 500-yard pool swim, then a 10-mile bike ride and a 5k run to finish everything off. Unfortunately, Barber was the only competitor in this year's race. "I expected eight," Aquatic Supervisor S...

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