Next weekend, five provinces and more than 100 athletes will compete at the Northwestel Junior National Freestyle Ski Championships on Mount Sima.
So far, skiers from Alberta, BC, Ontario, Manitoba and Quebec, including 17 national officials, have confirmed they will participate in the first junior freestyle championships to be held north of 60.
“I’m really optimistic that when local kids see this, they’re going to be blown away,” said event chair Keith Thaxter. “They’re going to want to join freestyle.”
The championships are a test event for the 2007 Canada Winter Games in Whitehorse.
They will consist of four disciplines: moguls, dual moguls, half-pipe and aerials.
With Canada being a strong country for freestyle skiing, many of the athletes competing at the championships may go on to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Mount Sima staff have been working hard to prepare the hills for the event, but weather has not been co-operative. Most of the snow is manmade.
“Since November 5, we’ve had probably 15 centimetres of natural snow. We normally budget for two weeks of snow making, but it seems like we’ve been making snow forever this year,” said Richard Roy, general manager of the ski hill.
Cross-country skiing
The Whitehorse Cross Country Ski Club held the third Subway five-kilometre race Wednesday night.
Ray Sabo took the men’s top spot with a 15:14 time and Emily Nishikawa was the fastest woman with a time of 18:22. David Greer was only a half second behind Sabo, while Marcus Waterreus finished 10 seconds later.
Janelle Greer finished three seconds behind Nishikawa and was followed by Robyn Findlater.
On the 2.5-kilometre course, Fabian Brook was the fastest male finishing in 10:24, while Galena Roots took the women’s top spot in 18:53.
Forty-five skiers participated in the race. Subway Night Race No. 4 will be held April 5 at 6 p.m.
Novice hockey
Haines Junction hosted the Spirit of 2010 Novice Hockey Tournament over the weekend, which promoted physical activity, amateur sport and the upcoming 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
One hundred players made up seven teams which came from Whitehorse, Haines Junction, Juneau-Douglas and one team was a mixture of players from Yukon communities.
Juneau-Douglas of Alaska won the gold medal, while Haines Junction and Pizza Hut of Whitehorse took silver and bronze respectively.
Oldtimer hockey
Firth Rangers 4
AON Flames 4
Scorers for Firth were Tim Vincent, Rob MacDonald, Ross Phillips and Sean McAskie, while Brian Fedoriak popped in two for the Flames, with Jim Giczi and Dave Borud adding their single markers.
Klondyke Dental 5
Performance Centre 2
Lester Balsillie, Bruce Williams, Bob Allison, Gary Boyd and Mitch Organ all pitched in for the winners. Laurie Malo and Tim Turner-Davis scored for the losing side.
Soccer
Under 16 (Wednesday)
Quantum Machine Works 7
Alcan Adjusters 3
Markus Liebau scored a hat trick for Quantum with Grant McWatters, Samantha Macklon, Joaquim McWatters and Dylan Cole each scored singles. Robbie Borud scored two for the losing side and Aaron Holway added a goal.
Pepsi 11
Pristine Auto 3
The scorers for Pepsi were Raissa Anderson, Devin Lee Blanchard, Cory Birckel, Paul Profeit and David Hemmings, while Scott Dupont, Ester Worthington and Jeremy Johnson booted in the goals for Pristine.
(Tuesday)
Pristine Autocare 5
Yukon Electrical 4
Courtney Grant helped himself to a hat trick for Pristine with Esther Worthington and Scott Longman adding singles. Alex Peepre and Dominick Messer each scored two goals for the losing side.
(Monday)
Quantum Machine Works 7
Pepsi 6
Markus Liebau led Quantum with four goals, while Dylan Cole netted a hat trick. Paul Profeit and Cory Birckel both kicked in two goals while Thomas McWhinney and David Hemmings booted in singles for Pepsi.
Under 13 (Tuesday)
AON 4
Pine Plumbing & Heating 2
Calvin Laveck, Thomas Mills, Jeff Bell and Derek Wilson provided the offense for AON. Kaiden McIntyre scored both goals for Pine.
East West Health Centre 8
Quarton & Sutherland 2
Tyson Baxter was a power house for the winners with his four goals. David Zheng and Travis Olynyk scored two goals each. Brandi Scobie and Mac Potter scored for the losing side.
Intersport 8
Medicine Chest 7
Four goals were booted in by Intersport’s Brett Hills, while Dakota Couch and Montanna Coburn each popped in a pair. For Medicine Chest, Jaime Whitty and Alex Lindsey kicked in pairs with Brett Enns, Michael Donohoe and Helen Hedstrom-Langford adding to the score.
Klondike Copier 9
EBA Engineering 7
Both Robin Smith and Riley Smith performed hat tricks for copy crew, while Kyle Risby and Cole Mickey netted two and one goals respectively. Robbie Borud was a scoring machine for EBA with his four goals, while Jack Lanigan followed with his pair. Erica Trimble had a goal.
Under 9
M&A Yukon 7
Sale Salvage 2
Wyatt Gale kept busy with his five goals for M&A, with Louis Kedziora rounding up the score with his pair. Brayden Klassen and David Grove salvaged the goals for the losing side.
Under 7 (Monday)
Ruby Range Outfitters 6
Heritage North 0
Sean Clarke and Josh Muir each kicked in two goals with single markers coming from Kelcy Armstrong and Riley Smoler.
Electrical Shop 5
Plantation Flowers 2
Graydon McDonnell and Alex Soin were electric with their two goals a piece. Logan Harris scored once. Plantation scorers were Trenton Dupont, Devon Seamon and Shannon Small.