Mat-Su teens represent Alaska at Patriot Games national athletic competition

What you need to know:

• Two Mat-Su teens represented Alaska this month at the Patriot Games in Geneva, Ohio. Ella Richardson is a standout girls flag football player, while Thale Randall is a mountain runner and dog musher.
• Both performed well in unfamiliar events. Richardson placed seventh overall and advanced to the semifinals, while Randall finished just outside the semifinal cutoff after excelling in the military-style obstacle course.
• Richardson and Randall valued the opportunity to meet and compete against athletes from across the country. Both returned to Alaska focused on their athletic goals: college flag football for Richardson and mountain running, sled dog racing and eventually the Iditarod for Randall.
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Ella Richardson and Thale Randall have very different athletic backgrounds. Richardson, a Mat-Su Career and Technical High School senior, is a girls flag football standout who is also active in other team sports like hockey and soccer. Randall, a homeschooled sophomore, is a mountain running champion and dog musher who lives off the grid with his family in the Caswell area.

But both were selected to represent Alaska during a national athletics competition earlier this month.

Richardson, 17, and Randall, 15, competed in the Patriot Games in Geneva, Ohio. The Mat-Su teens were among high school-aged athletes from across the country who participated in the competition, which was part of Freedom 250, a movement honoring the 250th anniversary of the United States.

Freedom 250 billed the Patriot Games as a “national athletic competition celebrating the character, determination and excellence that define the American spirit.” The top athletes from the girls and boys classes each received a $125,000 scholarship; events were televised on the ESPN app, and President Donald Trump attended the final round of the competition.

The games drew criticism over the lack of transparency in their organization and athlete selection process.

But for Richardson and Randall, it was an opportunity of a lifetime.

“Probably number one,” Richardson said. “It was such a cool experience. So many kids from everywhere, and all different backgrounds.”

Richardson advanced to the semifinal round and placed seventh overall in a field of 60 girls. The top four advanced to the finals.

“I knew I was going to go all out and do my best,” Richardson said. “I set some pretty hard expectations. That’s just who I am. I think I did pretty well. I think I reached my expectations.”

Randall was just outside the semifinal cut in the overall standings. The top 16 advanced to the semifinals.

“Everything was super fun,” Randall said. “It was a super cool experience.”

The games featured three days of competition. The first day began with the presidential qualifier, which was sort of an athletic combine, with drills such as the 100-meter dash, shuttle run, medicine ball throw and broad jump.

Dodgeball and kickball games followed that day. Participants competed in the circuits — a varsity sports circuit and military obstacle course — during the second day. The third day featured tug of war and a basketball challenge.

Randall was 31st after the first day. He made a big jump to 18th overall after finishing sixth in Operation Endurance, the obstacle course. He said that was his favorite part.

“I don’t get to practice that stuff, but I still did well on it,” he said.

Richardson agreed.

“I had not done a lot of that stuff in my everyday life. I like challenging myself,” Richardson said.

The military boot camp-inspired course tested athletes as they flipped tires, climbed monkey bars and a cargo net, and carried water jugs. The varsity circuit included more traditional team sports. Participants needed to catch a tennis ball, throw a football, and hit a volleyball and baseball.

Randall said that’s where the learning curve came for him.

“I’m homeschooled. It’s not like I go play on a soccer team or football team. I haven’t done much of that,” Randall said.

Randall’s grandfather visited his family for about a week before the games and taught him a few things.

“He was teaching me how to throw a football, how to catch a baseball,” Randall said. “He’s very experienced in that kind of stuff. To be able to spend time with him and learn from him was cool.”

There was an application process, which included submitting a two-minute video. The games were paid for through public and private funds as part of Freedom 250 programming. Travel expenses to the games were also covered by the program.

Randall said his roots in nontraditional sports, such as mountain running and sled dog racing, probably helped.

“Everyone who was there had something that was a little bit unique,” he said. “There are so many athletes putting in for this. I’m sure it’s really hard to pick certain people. There was such a wide variety of things they had us do.”

Randall’s family owns and operates Rock on Racing in Caswell. The kennel is home to their 46 sled dogs. All four members of his family are mushers. He competed in the Junior Iditarod for the first time last winter, placing third, and has also won the Willow Junior 100 in each of the last two years. His older sister, AddieAnn Randall, will become the youngest musher in the history of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in March. Randall said he also has Iditarod aspirations.

Randall is also a mountain running champion, with three victories this summer, including the Junior Mount Marathon boys title. He entered the race lottery three years ago and scored a spot in the boys field. He has rapidly improved in three years, finishing 25th in 2024 and eighth in 2025. Randall won the junior boys title on July 4.

“I’ve always liked hiking up mountains,” he said.

Randall also won the Bird Ridge Jack’s Run race for the second straight year, where he holds the course record, and the Blueberry Rampage at Government Peak. He also ran alongside adults in the Kesugi Ridge and Turnagain Arm Trail races.

Richardson just started her senior season of girls flag football. She attends Mat-Su Career Tech but competes for the Colony Knights.

Girls flag football is arguably Alaska’s fastest-growing high school sport in recent years, and Richardson has quickly emerged as one of the top talents in the state. A slot receiver on offense and cornerback on defense, Richardson earned all-conference and all-state honors as a junior. She also helped the Knights advance to the ASAA state tournament.

Richardson played on Colony’s girls soccer team as a freshman and sophomore and is returning to the program after taking her junior year off. She has also played competitive hockey for the Alaska All-Stars Tier II team and was part of a squad that advanced to the national youth tournament.

Both said they enjoyed the chance to interact with kids from across the country.

“It was cool competing against them and also meeting everyone,” Randall said. “We’re from totally different places in the United States, but we have similar interests.”

Richardson said she was able to find common ground with the other athletes.

“I come from a Christian background. There were so many kids with the same values I have, and so many disciplined athletes,” Richardson said.

Athletes stayed in dorms. Richardson said she instantly bonded with her roommate from Connecticut, and the two are now good friends. The schedule was full during their stay, but Richardson said participants spent their free time in the athletes’ lounge. There was a golf simulator, video game systems, pool and ping-pong tables, snacks and a smoothie bar.

“Everybody was having such a great time making connections,” Richardson said.

Dorm rooms were customized with bedspreads, pillows and towels that matched the athlete’s state flag. It was all sent home with the athletes.

“I’ll have a nice college dorm set up for next year,” she said.

Richardson is planning on playing women’s flag football at the college level and pursuing a career in physical therapy. Randall will continue mountain running and sled dog racing, with the goal of competing in the Iditarod. He would also like to get his pilot’s license.

Jeremiah Bartz is a longtime local journalist based in Palmer, and a sportswriter in Alaska for nearly three decades. He writes about student activities for the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District where he works fulltime as a community relations coordinator.