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The Yukon鈥檚 cross-country ski team arrived at the 2015 Canada Winter Games and instantly added three medals to the territory鈥檚 medal count yesterday.

Knute Johnsgaard and Annah Hanthorn both earned gold medals in the classic ski events, while Kendra Murray claimed a bronze for good measure.

The interval start races took place at the Otway Nordic Centre on hard-packed trails in temperatures of 5 C. An intense route saw skiers traverse several twisty corners and plenty of quick downhills.

Johnsgaard, 22, blew away the field, finishing in 25:48.19, nearly 30 seconds ahead of runner-up Scott Hill of Ontario.

Quebec鈥檚 Raphael Couturier claimed bronze.

Johnsgaard鈥檚 medal was the first gold for the Yukon at the current Canada Winter Games in Prince George, B.C.

鈥淚鈥檓 super excited about it,鈥� Johnsgaard told the Star from Prince George yesterday. 鈥淚 was really hoping to bring home some medals. It鈥檚 really special. I think we鈥檙e all super proud to come from a small town with so many skiers.

鈥淚鈥檓 proud to be a Yukoner today.鈥�

Johnsgaard 鈥� competing in his second Canada Winter Games 鈥� said the individual start race made it difficult to know where he stood, but the Yukon coaches on the sidelines did their best to keep him abreast of his split times throughout the two-lap race.

鈥淭hat really fuelled me throughout the race,鈥� he admitted.

Meanwhile, Hanthorn鈥檚 gold medal in the 7.5-km classic race came by the slimmest of margins.

The 19-year-old beat out Quebec skier Katherine Stewart-Jones, also 19, by 0.68 seconds, finishing in 22:22.17.

Stewart-Jones led by just over three seconds at the halfway point but a spill on the final downhill allowed Hanthorn to overcome her late in the race.

Kendra Murray, 21, earned bronze, crossing the finish line in 22:47.64.

Hanthorn said she knew she was gaining on Stewart-Jones, thanks to splits shouted her way by coaches.

鈥淚 was three seconds behind, then two seconds behind. ... I was never told that I was leading,鈥� Hanthorn said. 鈥淚 hoped to race a really good race and the medal is a great surprise.

鈥淚鈥坵anted to ski relaxed and efficiently,鈥� she said of her race strategy.

鈥淭here was a lot of hills and I didn鈥檛 want to cook myself on the first lap.鈥�

Hanthorn pushed herself to ski faster on the second lap 鈥� then finished with a final 鈥渓unge鈥� down the homestretch.

While the gold medal went to the Yukon, the Northwest Territories-born Hanthorn said at least sentimentally, the win was also for her hometown of Fort McPherson.

The victory also came in front of her mom, Lynn Hanthorn, who is serving as a coach for N.W.T.

鈥淪he hadn鈥檛 seen me race in a long time,鈥濃�圚anthorn said. 鈥淪o that was very special.鈥�

Like Johnsgaard, Murray is also competing in her second Canada Winter Games and said it was very special to share the podium with a teammate.

鈥淥ut of all the races, this was the one I was looking forward to,鈥� she said of the 7.5-km classic. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an open category U23 so you get to compete against everyone. It鈥檚 nice to see where you stand.鈥�

She added that the medal win feels 鈥渕ore special鈥� than nationals and other competitions as it is an event that only happens every four years.

Murray said the success of the Yukon ski program continues to take the nation by surprise.

鈥淧eople are like: 鈥榃ow. The Yukon is actually good,鈥欌�濃�坰he explained.

鈥淧eople don鈥檛 expect much from the territories. But it鈥檚 nice to show up and say: 鈥榊eah, we can ski.鈥欌��

Head coach Alain Masson said the day would be one to remember for the Yukon ski team, as each of the squad鈥檚 female skiers placed in the top-15 and the men all finished in the top half.

He also thanked the members of the squad who are not attending the event for working hard to contribute to the success of the team.

鈥淜now that all of you played a role in making our team a competitive one by pushing each other in training and in the races,鈥� Masson said in a statement on the team鈥檚 blog.

The Yukon skiers were back at it today, competing in sprints.

As of press time today, the Yukon remained tied with Manitoba for seventh in the overall medal standings, ahead of Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Prince Edward Island.

The six medals are one better than the Yukon鈥檚 2011 result in Halifax, where five medals were won.

Seventeen-year-old biathlete Nadia Moser won each of the Yukon鈥檚 previous three medals last week.

鈥� 鈥� 鈥�

In men鈥檚 hockey action, the Yukon dropped to 0-2 at the Canada Winter Games following a lopsided 11-2 loss to Newfoundland yesterday.

The East Coast team scored three first-period goals and added three more in the second before the Yukon finally struck.

Gavin Lawrie scored the territory鈥檚 first goal of the tournament on a powerplay late in the second to end the Yukon鈥檚 scoring drought at 96:31.

Jonas Leas would add a third-period tally, assisted by Matthew Braga, but it would be for naught as Newfoundland continued to pepper pucks past goalie Ethan Vanderkley.

Final shots were 51 to 23 in favour of Newfoundland.

The Yukon opened play on Sunday, losing 13-0 to P.E.I.

Yukon medal winners (as of press time Tuesday)

GOLD

Knute Johnsgaard (10-km XC ski)

Annah Hanthorn (7.5-km XC ski)

SILVER

Nadia Moser (12.5-km biathlon)

BRONZE

Nadia Moser (7.5-km biathlon)

Nadia Moser (10-km biathlon)

Kendra Murray (7.5-km XC ski)