Â鶹ÉçÇø

Recent annual general meetings in the Yukon and Alaska resulted in plenty of changes to the Yukon Quest 1,000 Mile International Sled Dog Race.

In Whitehorse, Michael Peterson was elected as the new president of the Yukon board.

Peterson, a long-time director on the Yukon board and race volunteer, replaces outgoing president Joost van der Putten.

Additionally, former Yukon Quest musher Rob Cooke assumes the role of vice-president, replacing Rolf Schmitt.

Newly-elected board members for the Yukon include: multiple race finisher Normand Casavant, who was the mushers' representative on the board in 2013; Dylan Soo of Northern Vision Development, a long-time supporter of the Yukon Quest; Natalie Haltrich, the checkpoint manager in Carmacks; and Judy Beaumont, who has volunteered with the Quest for more than 18 years.

Haltrich was also elected as secretary of the board while Yukon Quest veteran Brian Wilmshurst remains the Yukon mushers' rep for the second straight year.

Bev Regier was re-elected as treasurer.

Mieke Langerhuizen and Harry Kern return as directors.

Meanwhile in Fairbanks, one new member was chosen for the Alaska board while another was re-elected.

The new board member is Nancy Flannery, an avid follower of the race who worked as a handler in 2014.

She brings a huge enthusiasm for the sport and a positive attitude to compliment the current board.

Meanwhile, Susan McDonald was re-elected after serving on the Alaska board for the past two years.

McDonald spent one year as the treasurer, two years on the finance committee and one year on the race and trails committee.

Current Alaska president Bill McDonald joins Judy Currier, Nicolle Hendrix and Brent Sass as returning members of the Alaska board.

Officers for the Alaska board will be elected at the next regular board meeting, June 11.

The Yukon Quest would like to extend a sincere thank you to all out-going board members, including van der Putten, Schmitt, Pamela Brown, Lisa Baraff and Stephanie Knaebel for their countless hours of hard work and support of the race.

The 2015 Yukon Quest will start Feb. 7 in Whitehorse.