Roger Franklin spends his time counseling students in the Northwest Arctic School District. He is based in Ambler, hundreds of miles away from the nearest track oval.

This weekend, he'll be inducted into the sports Hall of Fame at the University of Arkansas at Monticello, where Franklin was a world-class sprinter in the late 80s. He joined the team as a walk-on and left it as a highly decorated NAIA All-American.

Franklin has recently become running partners with Mike Janecek, the longtime (and former) track and cross country coach at Palmer High who is spending time in Shungnak these days. "We have some nice wilderness trails out here along the Kobuk river. Challenging running, but beautiful," Janecek reports.

Janecek emailed us with news about Franklin's induction. Here's what the university wrote about Franklin in a press release:

"Roger Franklin was one of the top track and field athletes in UAM history, earning NAIA Division I All-America honors four times while competing at distances of 200 and 400 meters outdoors and 600 meters indoors.

"Franklin was the NAIA Division I indoor national champion at 600 meters in 1989. He earned outdoor All-America honors in the 200 and 400 in 1988 and ’89 and was an indoor All-American at 600 meters in 1989 and 1990. Franklin was a three-time All-Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference selection."

-- Beth Bragg