Cross country skiing
Day two of the annual Don Sumanik Memorial Races was finally run on Saturday afternoon on the Whitehorse Cross Country Ski Club trails under ideal conditions.
Sixty cross-country ski racers took part in Saturday’s race.
Forerunners — skiers who ski ahead of racers — helped to pack down the fresh snow, speeding up the course for the racers. Light snow fell during the race.
The courses closely followed the successful layout of last year’s Canada Winter Games. A mass start led up and out of the ski stadium to the north. Loops of 2.5, 3.75 and 5 kilometres were used.
The closest finish occurred in the open male category where a mere 0.1 seconds separated second and third places causing an exciting photo finish.
Logan Potter held his lead in the finish chute, edging out Michael Abbott by a boot length. Colin Abbott posted the first-place finish in the open male, covering the 10-kilometre course in 31:39.1.
Brittany Smith had the fastest time in the 7.5-kilometre open female event, finishing in 27:42.9, followed by Ziggy Reimer and Katherine Sandiford.
The races also served as a trial for the Arctic Winter Games team selection for cross-country skiing (the team will be announced this week).
As well, Ron Sumanik presented trophies at the close of the event, which is named in memory of his father, Don.
Don Sumanik was instrumental in bringing World Cup ski races to Whitehorse in 1981. Ron presented the trophy for fastest male and female racers over the two-day event to Colin Abbott and Brittany Smith, respectively.
Whitehorse Oldtimers Hockey League
Kilrich 4
Klondyke Dental Molars 2
Dean Hassard led Kilrich with a pair of goals, and Tim Turner-Davis and Wayne Crowe scored as well. Bob Schwinghamer, Woody Bennett, Jeff Jensen and Gary Vantell assisted.
The Molars’ scorers were Terry Jackson and Ross Phillips, assisted by Shelby Workman and Brian Eyolfson.
Firth Rangers 2
Edgewater Hotel 1
The Rangers’ Joel Witten and John Skilnyk scored as they slipped past the Edgewater, with assists from Kevin Billy, Ernie Jamieson and Gerry Rivest.
Sean McAskie scored the lone Edgewater goal, assisted by Sean McLeish and Brian Gudmundson.
Whitehorse
Minor Hockey
Atom division (Saturday)
Pearson Dental 5
Gem Gas 2
Riley Smoler and Max Clarke scored two goals each, and Keenan Livingston added one for Pearson. Kathleen Pereira had a pair of assists and Isaiah Schab was named player of the game.
Gem Gas’ Cole Smeeton scored two goals for his team, assisted by Henry Hsi. The MVP was Dennis Hsi.
Indoor soccer
Under-11 (Wednesday)
Henry Gulch 4
Better Bodies 2
Tanner Borsa led the Gulch with two goals, while Kyle Wallace and Wynn White added singles. Stephanie Avery took the MVP nod.
Better Bodies’ scorer was Tristan Walsh, with two goals, and Noah Kitchen took the MVP honours.