One of the most illustrious seasons for Whitehorse skiers came to an end with the Yukon Cross-Country Ski Championships at the Whitehorse Nordic Centre on Saturday.
Exemplifying the depth of local talent were the two winners of the Gordon Taylor Award for the fastest time in the longest distances. One was a junior, the other a masters competitor.
Junior girls skier Dahira Beatty posted the fastest time in the 7.5-kilometre event while masters men’s Stephen Waterreus was the quickest in the 10-kilometre race.
Beatty, who completed the race in 26 minutes and 6.7 seconds, recently returned from the Haywood Ski Nationals with a gold medal in the five-kilometre classic. At the Haywoods in Quebec, conditions got slushy as temperatures crept into the mid-teens.
“The race went well. It’s great to race in hard-packed snow conditions again,” said Beatty, referring to the slush at nationals. “I had a good race and it was nice to finish the season feeling good.
“I skied the whole thing by myself, but it was fun.”
Finishing behind Beatty were two other junior females. Holly Bull took second with a time of 29:37.2 and Yukon biathlete Jennifer Curtis was third with a time of 29:38.5.
Bull, who also competed at the Haywoods, took in a fourth-place finish at the Arctic Winter Games last month. At the Canadian Biathlon Championships a couple weeks ago, Curtis placed fifth in the pursuit race for her best result.
Waterreus completed the 10-kilometre ski in 30:59.7. Taking second was junior boys’ Fabian Brook at 31:23.8, outpacing his father, masters men’s Dave Brook, at 32:35.6 in third.
The previous weekend Waterreus finished second behind Dave Brook in the 50-kilometre race at the Buckwheat Classic.
“Last week he kicked my ass, so today was all about revenge for me,” joked Waterreus. “I trash-talked him at the beginning. He was sitting with his daughter and I asked her if she had ever seen her father cry and she should come to the finish line if she wanted to.
“I think it worked.”
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Fabian had a great season. He won gold in the 10-kilometre classic at the Haywoods and was the junior boys aggregate winner. He also captured gold and bronze - half of the Yukon’s medals in cross-country skiing - at the Arctic Games.
“Fabian was out in front most of the time and it took me three laps to catch-up to him,” said Waterreus. “I didn’t trash-talk him. I just went by.”
Beatty, a member of the junior national team, had another outstanding season. The 18-year-old took in two top-25 performances in the junior female division at the World Junior and U23 Championships in February in Turkey, twice finishing as the top Canadian.
In addition to winning gold at the Haywoods, she placed fifth and sixth in other races and was third in the aggregate Year-of-Birth category.
She also won three golds at the Western Canadian Cross Country Ski Championships in January.
“It was a good season; I was really happy with it,” said Beatty. “It was a lot more consistent than last year, which is great.
“I’m looking forward to next year, focusing on skiing mostly ... at a training centre, hopefully.”
The Yukon team and the Whitehorse Cross-Country Ski Club both had a record-setting season. Cross-Country Yukon had a record five athletes compete at the World Junior and U23 Championships in Turkey.
The Whitehorse club posted 30 top-10 placings and collected nine medals at the Haywoods. As a result, Whitehorse claimed silver out of 66 clubs for its best ever showing.
Top five results
Atom boys (1.5 kilometres)
1st Sullivan Bond - 5:45.7
2nd Mettias Schmidt - 6:46.8
3rd Lucas Taggart-Cox - 6:58.3
4th Felix Masson - 9:06.3
Atom girls (1.5 kilometres)
1st Emilienne Roberts - 5:56.4
2nd Constance Lapointe - 8:44.0
3rd Kate Mason - 9:27.8
4th Larkin Miller-Wright - 9:40.1
5th Abigail Jirousek - 11:09.1
Peewee boys (2.5 kilometres)
1st Liam Mather - 10:22.8
2nd Nichollis Schmidt - 11:19.3
3rd Derek Deuling - 11:42.7
4th Sasha Masson - 11:48.0
5th Ben Puskas - 12:54.5
Peewee girls (2.5 kilometres)
1st Regan Fuerstner - 10:32.5
2nd Hannah Jirousek - 10:58.3
3rd Savannah Cash - 11:17.2
4th Amanda Thomson - 11:18.4
5th Dahlia Lapointe - 13:07.0
Midget boys (five kilometres)
1st Ian Hogeboom-Burr - 18:02.6
2nd Simon Cash - 18:04.1
3rd Michael Kishchuk - 20:18.2
4th Elias Sagar - 24:30.6
Midget girls (five kilometres)
1st Hannah Shier - 19:12.3
2nd Natalie Hynes - 19:51.7
3rd Alexis Gee - 20:10.8
4th Maggie Brook - 21:00.5
5th Hannah Deuling - 22:13.3
Juvenile boys (7.5 kilometres)
1st Caelan McLean - 23:59.2
2nd Marcus Deuling - 24:30.3
3rd Andrew Seal - 28:46.1
Juvenile girls (7.5 kilometres)
1st Zoe Painter - 32:31.4
Junior boys (10 kilometres)
1st Fabian Brook - 31:23.8
2nd Trevor Bray - 34:32.5
3rd Reid Seal - 34:35.7
Junior girls (7.5 kilometres)
1st Dahria Beatty - 26:06.7
2nd Holly Bull - 29:37.2
3rd Jen Curtis - 29:38.5
4th Nahanni Sagar - 29:39.0
5th Katie Peters - 29:39.1
Masters men (10 kilometres)
1st Stephen Waterreus - 30:59.7
2nd Dave Brook - 32:35.6
3rd Chris Schmidt - 33:29.2
4th Scott Williams - 33:32.2
5th Simon Lapointe - 36:14.8
Open women (7.5 kilometres)
1st Janelle Greer - 33:41.2
Masters women (7.5 kilometres)
1st Lois Johnston - 31:07.1
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com