麻豆社区

Originally postponed due to a frigid cold snap in the Yukon capital, a spike in temperatures allowed the annual Don Sumanik Memorial Cross-Country Ski Race to go on Saturday.

With northern temperatures rising to a beautiful -10 C, 55 local skiers hit the trail Dec. 29 for the race originally scheduled for the Saturday previous.

Three Yukon Elite Squad skiers finished one-two-three in the Open Men 7.5-kilometre Classic Mass Start. David Greer, fresh off his first World Cup experience in Alberta, was first in a time of 19:49.7, Colin Abbott was 16 seconds behind at 20:06 and John Parry finished third in 20:32.6.

"It's always fun to be back home and race the local races,鈥� Greer told the Star. "It feels like we are able to give something back to the ski community ... and help some of the younger skiers gain some higher-level racing experience and motivation.鈥�

Alaska Nanooks skier Heidi Brook won the Open Women 5-km Classic Mass Start in a time of 16:52.5. Whitehorse skier Kendra Murray was only 17.2 seconds off that pace to finish second, while Lois Johnston finished third in 20:39.9.

The race is named in honour of the late Don Sumanik, who was instrumental in the formative years of the Whitehorse Cross-Country Ski Club.

After moving to the Yukon in 1966, he was a major contributor to the expansion of the sport in the territory. His efforts culminated in 1981, when he lured the World Cup Ski Race to Whitehorse.

Sumanik died Dec. 1, 1982 and was posthumously inducted into the Sport Yukon Hall of Fame.

The Don Sumanik races are used by Cross Country Yukon as qualifying races to select athletes to represent the Yukon at the Western and National Championship races in 2013.

The younger age categories featured many strong performances.

Sasha Masson won the Peewee Boys 2-km race in a time of 6:44.1. Nichollis Schmidt finished second, just 6.1 seconds behind, and Derek Deuling finished third, .7 seconds after Schmidt.

Sonjaa Schmidt won the Peewee Girls 2-km in 7:39.6. Dahlia Lapointe was second (7:58.1), and Hazel Lewis finished third (8:32.1).

The Atom Boys 1-km was won by Mettias Schmidt in 4:05. Ross Sennett finished second (4:35.1), while Felix Masson finished third (4:37.8).

Kate Mason won the Atom Girls 1-km in 4:10.8. Annie Cable was second (4:30.5) and Ava Irving-Staley crossed the finish line third (4:45.3).

Michael Kishchuk was the only Midget Boys competitor, finishing his 2.5-km Classic race in 9:15.3.

Maggie Brook won the Midget Girls 2.5-km race in 9:25.6. Regan Fuerstner was just 2.9 seconds off the pace, while Amanda Thomson finished third (9:41.7).

Caelen McLean had the top Juvenile Boys time, completing the 7.5-km race in 22:49.7. Marcus Deuling was second (23:36.2), and Hudson Deuling was third (25:31.6).

Cambria Fuerstner was tops amongst Juvenile Girls, finishing 5-km in 20:01.4.

Eliza Paul was second (20:37.6), and Natalie Hynes finished third (20:40.7).

Trevor Bray was the sole Junior Boys skier, finishing 7.5-km in 24:45.1. On the Junior Girls 5-km side, Adrienne Hynes (18:22.6), Nahanni Sagar (18:31.7) and Holly Bull (18:38.8) finished one-two-three.

NOTES: Next up for Yukon skiers is another race in the NorAm series. Athletes will be traveling to Thunder Bay, Ont. to compete in qualifiers to determine who represents Canada at the World Junior and U-23 championships.