With a day to go at the Arctic Winter Games, Team Yukon continues to show off impressive performances and winning medals as the games enter the sixth day.
Team Yukon’s wrestling team returned to action again after their first game on Jan. 31 where they won a silver medal in the team event.
The wrestlers “had great individual events,” Team Yukon said in a statement.
On Feb. 2, Liam Gishler, Kaleb Parry, Gabriel Racine, and Jaymi and Leah Hinchey took gold ulus in their weight classes. Leah McLean and Harlan Keefer took silver.
In speed skating, Kieran Horton won his second gold ulu of the games in the juvenile 500-metre race, while Lisa Freeman earned silver in the junior female 777-metre race.
Kate Koepke earned a silver in the junior female Alaskan high kick while Augustine Greetham also won a silver in the junior male kneel jump.
In curling, the Yukon male team put up their best against Alaska, but lost 6-3. They will be bring home a bronze ulu. The female team did not play on Feb. 2.
In badminton, Team Yukon’s Winnie Zhang lost her semifinal match 7-21 to Anna Arleth, but will play for bronze later today against Methma De Silva. The junior male doubles team will also take on Alaska for bronze today, while the junior female doubles squad will take on Alberta North for bronze.
The U16 hockey team ceded the game winning-goal with 40 seconds left in regulation to fall 2-1 to the Northwest Territories team. Kaelan Basnett scored the Yukon’s lone goal. The team will play for bronze against Nunavut on the final day of the competition.
The girls’ hockey team scored two quick goals against the N.W.T. to go up 3-2. However, the lead was short-lived as the N.W.T. equalized a minute later and with three minutes to go, the team scored the winning-goal to defeat their Yukon counterparts 4-3.
The boys’ volleyball team dropped their final round robin game to Alberta North 2-0, but they defeated N.W.T. 3-0 in the semifinals to secure a ticket to the gold ulu game against Alberta North later today.
The Yukon female volleyball team lost 3-1 to Greenland. The loss dashed their hopes for a medal at the competition.
The juvenile boys’ futsal team drew their game against Alaska on Feb. 2. This placed them second in the seeding. They played the N.W.T. in the late game with a finals berth on the line.
The junior boys’ futsal team earned a hard-fought victory over Nunavut 9-0. For the girls’ futsal team, Madeleine Smith, Juno Hanatani and Ella Lawrence scored a piece to give them the win over Nunavut.
Team Yukon officials said the female basketball team put up their best but couldn’t get past their N.W.T. opponents. Their record in the game is now 2-2.
The male basketball team was three points down and lost 64-61 to N.W.T.
The six Yukon table tennis athletes were in singles action. Melodie Qui of the junior female team and Misa Svoboda of the male team secured a spot for the quarter-finals on Feb. 4.
In figure skating, the athletes performed their routines into the evening.
The archery team shot their second round of the individual tournament and will head into the elimination rounds on the final day of the competition.
For the biathlon team, Team Yukon said it was too cold for the biathlon team to compete on Feb 4.
An exhausted Dene Games team competed in the finger pull to come out with top 10 finishes and receive “lots of compliments on their clean technique,” according to Team Yukon.
As of Feb. 3, Team Yukon maintains their lead on the medals table with 85 medals. Team Alaska is closing in on 83 medals while Alberta North is at 61.
Contact Patrick Egwu at patrick.egwu@yukon-news.com
