麻豆社区

Yukon cross-country skiers continue to make their mark at the Haywood Ski Nationals in Whistler, B.C.

With his team sitting in fourth place in the country in aggregate club standings, coach Alain Masson told the Star that his team is "turning everybody's heads鈥� with their strong performances on the trail this week.

"So far, we've had three categories with two medalists,鈥� Masson said yesterday.

"There's very few ski clubs in the country who can do that, let alone one in a small northern town.

"We expected some people to do well, but our first-year juveniles' performance was amazing,鈥� Masson added.

The coach is hoping his club can maintain their pace for a top-five medal finish.

The latest results from this morning's long sprint races saw Kendra Murray win bronze in the junior women 1.4-km classic 鈥� just 2.67 seconds off the winning pace. Dahria Beatty finished sixth in the same race.

In the open men 1.6-km classic, both Graham Nishikawa and Knute Johnsgaard skied to top-10 finishes 鈥� sixth and eighth respectively.

Yesterday, only four Yukon skiers hit the trails for the juvenile and junior boys and girls short classic technique sprints, but the territory still managed to make an impression.

In the juvenile boys one-km sprints, Caelen McLean and Marcus Deuling both cracked the top 30 of a 94-member field to advance to the quarter-finals. Hudson Lucier failed to advance from the qualifying round and finished in 44th place.

McLean was the 麻豆社区for the day as he easily advanced to the finals, and then earned a silver medal for his collection. Deuling was knocked out in the quarters, finishing 19th.

McLean, 15, is having a great season, showing that he can hold his own against the nation's best in both distance and sprint courses.

In the junior women's group, Adrienne Hynes raced her 1.2-km course to a 33rd placing and did not advance to the heats.

Weather was the main topic of conversation for the day as sunny skies and soaring temperatures ruled, contrary to both forecasts and expectations.

By the time the semifinals had begun, the mercury had soared to 12 C and skiers were hitting the start line in shorts and T-shirts. The course crew managed to keep tracks in place, but the hard, lightning quick tracks from the qualification rounds had turned soft and slow, making it a challenging day for skiers and techs alike.

On Tuesday, McLean won gold and Deuling took bronze in the juvenile boys 7.5-km classic technique race.

The day started out with fast, rock hard tracks for the athletes, but then the sun came out, and warm temperatures again became a factor.

The soft conditions didn't hamper the Yukon skiers, however. David Greer had a stellar race and took silver 鈥� his first individual national medal in the open men's category 鈥� finishing just ahead of Graham Nishikawa.

"So far the nationals have been great for Yukoners,鈥� Greer said. "It was pretty neat to have two Yukon teams on the podium in the open men's team sprint. Everything just fell in place for me to have a great race.鈥�

Racing 10 km on the Vancouver Olympic trails, some local female skiers also picked up some hardware.

In the junior women's field, Murray had a great ski and finished with a silver medal, which also qualified her for a gold in the Canadian Colleges and University Championships, running concurrently with the ski nationals. Beatty won bronze.

The day was not so kind to Emily Nishikawa, who had a disappointing 15th place finish in the open women's race. She appeared fatigued after flying in from Sweden only hours before the race start.