Yukon cyclist Zach Bell posted an impressive ninth-place finish in the four-kilometre individual pursuit in the second stage of the UCI Track World Cup in Moscow this weekend.
He was less than 10 seconds behind the winner, Britain’s Rob Hayles.
It’s an improvement over his 11th-place finish in the first stage of the World Cup in Sydney, Australia, in November.
Bell also finished ninth in the 30-kilometre points race — a drop from his eighth-place finish in Sydney, but his third consecutive top-10 finish in World Cup races.
Bell and Gina Grain of Victoria were the only Canadians to compete at the Moscow World Cup event, and Bell went into the weekend ranked 25th in the world in the individual pursuit.
Dogsled racing
Whitehorse’s Gerry Willomitzer and Sebastian Schnuelle cracked the top five in their first race of the season, the Sheep Mountain 150, this weekend at the Sheep Mountain Lodge on the Glenn Highway between Palmer and Glenallen, Alaska.
The 2006 Yukon Quest champion Lance Mackey took the top spot, completing the 241-kilometre race in 22 hours, 49 minutes. Mackey took home a new Gatt mid-distance sled and a cheque for US$1,750.
Willomitzer finished third, in a time of 23:25, and Schnuelle was fourth at 23:37.
Atlin’s Hans Gatt finished in fifth spot with a time of 23:42.
Mackey, Willomitzer, Schnuelle and Gatt are all signed up for the 2007 Yukon Quest, which starts February 10 in Whitehorse, and for the Iditarod in March.
Whitehorse
Minor Hockey
Peewee division (Sunday)
Yellow Cab 7
PowerAde 4
Mike Arnold and MVP Kai Breithaupt both scored hat tricks for the cabbies, as they put PowerAde on ice. Colin Kabanak added a goal as well, and Hannah Wood-Walker had two assists.
PowerAde’s scorers were Brandon Langenhan, who scored twice, and Ben Pereira and Michael Skookum. Kurt Spencer helped out with two assists.
Whitehorse Recreational Hockey
Saturday results:
Whitehorse Midget Mustangs 5
Yukon Appliance Blues 3
Ted Stephens led the Mustangs with a goal and two assists on Saturday, and Alex McDougall, Lowell Johnston, Kaleb Dawe and Drew O’Connor rounded out the scoring.
The Blues had goals from Cary Goodman, Jason Berkers and Pat Kenny.
SportsNorth 6
Kluane Drillers 4
Mitch Malchow and Terry Slonski scored two goals each for SportsNorth, and Linus Fraser and Mike O’Connor added goals as well. Rick Olson helped out with a pair of assists.
The Drillers’ Doug Roberts scored a pair, and Rob Pitzel scored and assisted on two more. Ed Vanderkley scored as well.
Alwarid & Associates 7
Environmental Dynamics 5
Blayne Monahan had a five-point night for A&A, scoring two and assisting on three. Both Tyson Hawkins and Brad Holmes scored two goals and assisted on one, and Taylor Love scored and assisted as well.
Justin Halowaty netted a hat trick for the Dynamics, and Dan Beaudoin and Brian Douglas added singles, and Marc Champagne had two assists.
Sunday results:
Whitehorse Midget
Mustangs 5
Southern Tutchone Storm 4
Kane Dawe led the Mustangs to a close victory over the Storm by scoring four times. Ted Stephens assisted on all four, and also helped setup a goal by Lowell Johnston.
Southern Tutchone’s Scott Horsey netted a pair of goals, and Darrell Sturko scored two as well.
Whitehorse
Oldtimers Hockey
Sunday results:
Klondyke Dental Molars 4
Medicine Chest 4
Chris McNutt and Laurie Malo scored a pair each for the Molars, with Jim Baker and Jordan Borgford helping out with two assists each.
Ed Van Randen had a four-point night for the Chest, scoring two and assisting on two more, Ron Sumanik and Grant Lyon scored as well.
Edgewater Hotel 3
AON Flames 1
Ross Phillips, Gary Vantell and Sean McAskie scored for the Edgewater, and Lorne Burnett assisted twice.
Guy Rook scored for the Flames, assisted by Tony Clennett and Al Lane.
Squash
Thursday Night League
Electrical Shop 19
Whitehorse Travel 10
The Electrical Shop won three of four matches against the Travel, with Chris Ziegler leading the way with an impressive straight-sets win over Benoit Broulliard. Shari MacIntosh and David Buckler won their matches in five sets, over Ronnie Sue Steinhagen and Eric Irvine, respectively.
Patti Flather had the lone Whitehorse Travel win, beating Tracy Pittman in three sets.
Kumon Learning 21
Sterling Insurance 10
Kumon’s Jeanette Carney and Darrin Sinclair swept their Sterling opponents, winning in three sets over Shari Thompson and Amberley Wolfe. Darren Holcombe also had a win for Kumon, beating Bryan Gartner in four sets.
Beth Ellis needed five sets to win against Judy Ratcliffe, for Sterling’s only win.
Navigo Broadband 16
Northern Lights
Optometry 10
Kapri Martin led Navigo with a close sweep of Mark Beese, (9-6, 10-8, 10-9). Lisa Gudbranson beat Northern Lights’ Monica Gibson in four sets, and Lara Trotter beat Tara Matechuk in four as well.
John Kramer had Northern Light’s only win, by default over Trevor Gorety.
Standings
(as of December 14):
1st (tie) Navigo Broadband,
Kumon Learning, 93 points
2nd The Electrical Shop, 88
3rd Well-Read Books, 83
4th Sterling Insurance, 73
5th Whitehorse Travel, 71
6th Northern Lights, 47
Snowmobiling
Dawson’s Trek Over the Top will get some international attention in January when Snowmobiler TV will kick off its new season with a two-episode highlight of last winter’s event.
A TV crew followed the ride from Tok, Alaska, to Dawson, just the first of many events over a three-week period.
The Yukon’s premier snowmobiling event is heading into its 14th season. It will be held over a three-week period from February 22 to March 12, 2007.
Viewers can watch the program beginning on January 7th on the Outdoor Life Network and the A Channel.
Fox Sports Network, Citytv and Men’s Network will also air the episodes.
For more information about the trek, check out www.trekoverthetop.com