The Whitehorse Cross Country Ski Club hosted the annual Don Sumanik Memorial Race Sunday afternoon on the Mount McIntyre trails.
The event is a two-day total time event; however, due to a lack of snow, Saturday’s classic events were postponed.
Friday and Saturday snow meant Sunday’s freestyle races could proceed, but were changed to individual starts instead of mass starts, so ski racers were not always sure how they compared with other competitors in their age class until the final results were posted.
Forty-four athletes took part in Sunday’s race. There were some close races in the older age classes.
The 7.5-kilometre open men’s class was won by Colin Abbott, with a time of 23 minutes 36 seconds.
Nansen Murray finished second, 16 seconds behind Abbott in a time of 23:52. Likewise, a mere three seconds separated third and fourth place finishers Jeff Wood and Logan Potter with times of 24:21 and 24:24 respectively.
Emily Nishikawa won the open women’s class in a time of 27 minutes, 11 seconds. Second place finisher Brittany Smith crossed the line 27 seconds behind Nishikawa with a time of 27:38.
The race also served as one of the trial races for the Arctic Winter Games team selection for Cross Country Skiing.
Variations of the Canada Winter Games loops were used. One-, 2.5-, 3.75- and 7.5-kilometre courses were run from the main stadium area. The longest course required racers to make two loops through the stadium.
The second day of the Don Sumanik Memorial Race, using the classic technique, will be held on Saturday, January 12, 2008.
Figure skating
Arctic Edge Skating Club members Michelle Gorczyca and Kevin Caron recently returned from the Western Challenge Competition, which ran December 5 to 9 in Mississauga, Ontario.
Caron qualified to skate in the Novice Men’s category with his fourth place finish in the BC/Yukon Sectional Championships early in November.
After solid skates in both the short and long programs, Caron finished in 12th place in both, with an overall score of 69.45.
The level of competition was extremely high, with all skaters in the top-eight landing triples in both their short and long programs.
The top eight also qualified to skate at the Junior Nationals in Ottawa at the end of January. Caron said he had a great experience and will be working hard on his triples for his next competition.
Michelle Gorczyca, new to the Yukon but not to the skating scene, competed in the Junior Ladies event, she also qualified via a fourth place finish at last month’s BC/Yukon Sectionals.
Michelle was in 12th place after her short program and ended up 15th overall. The competition was tough as the top 10 finishers qualified to skate at the Canadian Championships next month in Vancouver.
Whitehorse
Recreational Hockey
Sunday results:
Terra Firma Muckers 10
Kluane Drillers 3
Brian Douglas led the Muckers with a hat trick, and Justin Halowaty and Rene LaPierre netted two goals each. Jeff Bond, Andy Connors and Dan Beaudoin scored as well.
Doug Roberts, Matt King and Mark Daniels scored for the Drillers.
U-Brew Bruins 3
Sports North 3
Tyson Hawkins netted a pair for the Bruins, and Roger Floyd added one, while Sports North kept things even with goals from Ken Olson, Kaleb Dawe and Dave Richard.
Whitehorse
Oldtimers Hockey
Sunday results:
Firth Rangers 6
Klondyke Dental Molars 2
The Rangers spread the scoring around, with goals from Derrick Hynes, Gerry Rivest, Ernie Jamiesson, Joel Witten, John Skilnyk and Russell Bamford.
Klondyke’s scorers were Adam Green and Ross Phillips.
Performance Centre
Turbos 12
AON Flames 2
The Turbos snuffed out the Flames with two goals a piece from Glen Heinbigner, Rick Blaker and Paul Lackowicz, and singles from Gord Campbell, Bob Candow, Matt Sills, Bob Allison, Peter Grundmanis and Don Morrison.