麻豆社区

The Yukon Orienteering Championships continued this weekend with the Sprint and Middle Distance Championships on Lewes Lake Rd.

The championships kicked off last Wednesday with the Long Distance event, which was hosted at the Carcross Desert.

Nearly 50 athletes competed at that event, traversing the challenging course carved out in the desert and dunes.

On Sunday, it was another strong turnout for the local club with 45 athletes competing in the Sprint competition and 47 in the Middle distance.

The athletes were sorted into Novice, Advanced/Intermediate, Expert and Elite divisions.

The Lewes Lake map was prepared for last year's Canadian Championships and is noted as one of the best courses in the country.

"It was excellent,鈥� said Forest Pearson, who helped organize the event.

"It was really fun and people were really excited to be out there.鈥�

Leading the way in the Novice division was Elias Sagar, who completed the 1.1-kilometre course in 9:20.

He was followed closely by Liam Mather who arrived just 13 seconds later.

Thirteen athletes competed in the Advanced/Intermediate division with Karen McKenna leading the way in the 1-km course in a time of 9:07.

McKenna flew through the course with her closest competitor, Ellyn Brown of Anchorage, arriving two minutes later.

More than an hour separated the first and last place finishers.

In the Expert division, John Rance of Vancouver paced the field with a time of 12:53 in the 1.2-km course.

Rance is the president of the Greater Vancouver Orienteering Club.

Kendra Murray led the Elite Women's division in a 1.4-km course with a time of 11:23.

Murray also led the way at the Long Distance Championships, completing the 5.5-km Expert course in just over 50 minutes.

She was followed by Philippa McNeil and Kerstin Burnett.

Pearson got lots of positive feedback about the world class course.

"It's a beautiful course but it's extremely technical and extremely difficult,鈥� he said

"It's amazing terrain.鈥�

Ross Burnett, who helped map last week's Long Distance course was able to compete this time around and didn't take the opportunity for granted, leading the Elite Men's division with a time of 13:49 on the 1.8-km course.

Caelan McLean and Darren Holcombe rounded out the top three.

In the Middle Distances, Reena Coyne posted the fastest time of the day, pacing the 2.2-km course in 17:33 in the Novice division.

Sonjaa and Nichollis Schmidt placed second and third.

The Middle championships also featured a Beginner division, which was led by Savannah Cash. She paced the 2-km course in 25:33.

Georgi Pearson, Darcy Olsen and Caelan McLean led the way in the Intermediate division. Pearson completed the 1.4-km course in 20:16.

Wendy Nixon led the Advanced 1.7-km course with a time of 46:27, she was followed by Kris Gardner and Steve Hahn.

In the Expert division, Brown continued a strong performance, this time capturing gold in the 2.2-km course with a time of 31:01.

She was the only non-Yukoner to win a division.

McNeil led the way for the Elite women, completing the 2.3-km in just over 34 minutes. She was followed by Mirray and Kimball Forrest of Anchorage.

Brent Langbakk won the Elite men's division with a time of 27:32.

Langbakk is also the head coach of the national High Performance Program with features Yukoners Murray, Pia Blake, Trevor Bray, Burnett and Jennifer MacKeigan.

Bray and Burnett rounded out the top three.