DULUTH — You’ll be able to find one more person with a Duluth connection at the upcoming 2026 Winter Olympics: just look for the woman in stripes.
Sarah Buckner, a 2012 Duluth East alum, has been nominated to serve as a linesperson in the Olympic women’s hockey tournament at the Games in Milan, Italy.
It’s good news that Buckner has known was possible in April, quietly confirmed in June and became public knowledge a couple of weeks ago. For Buckner, it’s been a secret she’s glad to no longer have to keep.
“It was more immediately like relief,” she said of her feelings when official word came out in late August.
Though Buckner is still relatively young, she has already worked the top-level women’s world championships three times, in 2023-25.
Buckner played for the Duluth Northern Stars during her time in Duluth and then was a two-sport (hockey, softball) athlete at Augsburg University in Minneapolis, appearing in more than 100 collegiate games for the Auggies in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
When her time with the Auggies was up, a teammate whose family had roots in the officiating trade talked her into getting involved at the ground floor.
“She kind of talked me into slash dragged me along,” Buckner said.
Starting out doing adult women’s games, she worked her way steadily up the ranks, doing youth and high school games plus additional camps to hone her skills. That led to elite high school and college club assignments, USA Hockey national events and even an entry into international play for the first time in 2020 at the Division II-B worlds in Mexico City.
Now Buckner is working in multiple junior and collegiate settings all the way up to the Professional Women’s Hockey League, all while working in research and development for General Mills and living in the Twin Cities.
Buckner will be one of 10 linespersons from six different countries at the Olympics, and unlike some past tournaments, she is not restricted by nationality from working any particular game in the tournament, which includes Germany, Sweden, France, Japan, Switzerland, Czechia, Finland, the United States, Canada and host Italy. Competition begins on Feb. 5 with medal games on Feb. 19.
Another person who knows her way around Duluth, St. Scholastica alum Alex (Blair) Clarke will be returning to the officiating crew as a linesperson for the second time after working in the 2022 Winter Games.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Sarah is the sister of News Tribune digital producer Wyatt Buckner.
Brandon has been sports editor of the News Tribune since August 2021.
