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Yukon orienteers haul in medals at Nationals

It was an impressive first day at the Canadian Orienteering Championships in Saskatchewan with Yukoners winning seven medals in the sprint race.

It was an impressive first day at the Canadian Orienteering Championships in Saskatchewan with Yukoners winning seven medals in the sprint race.

The sprint took place at the University of Saskatchewan campus, with control sites hidden amongst beautifully landscaped gardens, treed areas and monuments.

The maze of buildings and underpasses made for very interesting route choices.

Several Yukon orienteers were up for the challenge. In the women’s elite category Pam James was the winner by a large margin by virtue of her error-free run and high speed throughout the course.

James looks to be in good form as she heads off to the World Orienteering Championships in the Ukraine in a few weeks.

Brent Langbakk, who is also representing Canada in the Ukraine, was a mere four seconds away from winning a gold medal of his own amongst the elite men.

Jon Torrance from Ottawa was the winner in 13 minutes 33 seconds. The top spots were very closely contested, as 2006 North American sprint champion Patrick Goeres, from Manitoba, was just 11 seconds back.

Yukon’s second gold medal of the day came from Logan Roots who ran a very strong and consistent race in the Boys’ 13-14 category. He managed to minimize his errors and his fitness shone through.

Getting a medal of her own was Logan’s younger sister, Galena Roots, who won a silver medal in the Girls’ 12-and-under category.

Already doing very well in her second year of orienteering was Jennifer McKeigan. She won a bronze medal in the Girls’ 13-14 category.

The masters’ categories also produced Yukon medals as Ross Burnett won a bronze in the Men’s 35-44 category.

Burnett, a perennial medal threat at the Canadian Championships, was running in a younger age category to give himself more of a challenge. Juri Peepre completed the Yukon medal haul with his silver medal in the Men’s 45-54 category.

Also worth mentioning were the strong performances of Colin Abbott, Lee Hawkings and Nansen Murray in the Men’s 17-20 category.

The Canadian Championships races are being used as part of the selection for the 2008 Junior World Championships, and all three Yukon juniors are certainly in contention for those spots as they finished fourth, fifth and seventh respectively in a very deep field.

Stay tuned for results of the middle- and long-distance events at the Canadian Orienteering Championships.

Men’s commercial golf:

Stroke Play was the format this week in the Men’s Commercial Golf League at Mountainview.

Big winners were Super A, Olsen Construction, Nuway Crushing and Roadhouse Bar & Grill.

Mike Sheppard from Super A shot a super par round of golf which is remarkable for someone with a 11 handicap on nine holes. Next week’s format will be team match.

Current standings (July 26, total points):

Mountainview Men’s Commercial Golf:               

1st Emco 4-Skins, 6, 71

2nd MacKay LLP, 5, 65

3rd Super A,  8, 56

4th Shoppers Drug, 6, 54

5th Missing Links, 6, 53

6th Ketza Construction,

2, 52

7th Pour Rite Construction,

5, 51

8th Skookum Asphalt, 6, 51

9th Matco Transporation,

0, 51

10th Lister’s Motor Sports,

5, 50

11th The Chain Gang, 4, 49

12th Feature Foods, 2, 47

13th Olson Construction,

8, 45

14th NuWay Crushing, 8, 42

15th Triple “J” Services, 3, 42

16th Northwestel, 0, 41

17th Macdonald & Co,  3, 41

18th Roadhouse Bar & Grill,

8, 40

19th Total Trac Yukon, 4, 40

20th Irving Collision, 2, 37

21st Talmark/Sit Easy, 3, 38

22nd P&M Recycling, 0, 34

23rd Roadhouse Offsales

Relics, 2, 34

24th Northerm, 5, 33

25th Super Save Propane,

3, 30

26th Kal Tire, 0, 29

27th Casa Loma Motel, 3, 24

28th Whitehorse Business

Machines, 5, 24