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Seasoned Yukon team set for Canada Games

Yukon is sending a small but experienced team to the Canada Winter Games, beginning this weekend in Prince George, B.C.
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Yukon is sending a small but experienced team to the Canada Winter Games, beginning this weekend in Prince George, B.C.

The territory will be represented by a team of 159, including 100 athletes, many of who have previous Games experience under their belt.

It is the smallest team Yukon has sent to a Canada Winter Games since the 2003 Games in New Brunswick.

“We just want them to perform to the best of their ability with a feeling of pride and fair play,” said Yukon Chef de Mission Trevor Twardochleb. “We are very proud of our athletes because a lot of them are very dedicated and committed and we invest a lot of money - not just the government, but the sports (organizations), the parents and everyone else - into these kids. So we want them to do crazy good.”

Yukon’s most recent national champ is obviously one to watch.

Figure skater Rachel Pettitt will take to the ice in the second week of the Games. The 15-year-old won Yukon’s first-ever gold at the 2015 National Skating Championships last month. Prince George will be Pettitt’s second Canada Games, having competed at the 2011 Games in Halifax at just 11 years old.

“I’m super excited,” Pettitt told the News after qualifying for the Games in November. “I had so much fun when I first went, and I was so young, so it was a huge experience for me. I feel like I’m ready to place, hopefully, at Canada Games and skate well, as well as it being an awesome experience.”

Pettitt also won two silver and a bronze for Yukon at the 2012 Arctic Winter Games.

Another figure skater to keep an eye on is Special Olympian Michael Sumner, who won silver at the 2013 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Sumner will first compete at the Special Olympics B.C. Winter Games in Kamloops next week before heading to Prince George.

Three of Yukon’s five medals at the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax came in cross-country skiing. This year’s squad will attempt to surpass that.

Two team members just took on the world. Annah Hanthorn and Knute Johnsgaard just finished representing Canada at the FIS Nordic Junior/U23 World Championships 2015 in Almaty, Kazakhstan, last week. Johnsgaard led the Canadian team in two U23 races, placing 14th in the sprint on Feb. 3. Hanthorn, who a member of the junior national team, placed in the mid-40s in the junior female races.

Yukon’s snowboarding team is chock-full of Games experience with plenty of hardware to show for it. Lara Bellon, who competed at 2011 Canada Games, won four gold at the 2012 Arctic Winter Games; Haylie Grant and Tim Schirmer have won six medals over two Arctic Games; Reanna Newsome won gold and two bronze at the 2014 Arctics, Esa Suominen three silver and a bronze, and Adam Waddington three silver.

Yukon’s most decorated athlete from the 2014 Arctics is set to ski and shoot in Prince George. Nadia Moser, the only Yukoner to collect three gold at the Arctics last year, will represent Yukon with teammate Maria Peters in biathlon.

National medalists will take to the slopes for Yukon on Saturday. Freestyle skiers Dylan Reed and Josh Harlow, who both won hardware at the junior nationals last year, will be joined by teammate Lyndsey Boorse, who won a gold at the 2013 B.C. Freestyle Ski Championships.

All 20 players on Yukon’s female hockey team are members of the Whitehorse Female Mustangs rep team. Thirteen played for Yukon’s fourth place team at the 2014 Arctic Winter Games. Three players - Maya Oakley, Sierra Oakley and Chyanne Spenner - even played for Yukon at the 2011 Games in Halifax.

Yukon’s male hockey team has nine players from the Whitehorse Bantam Mustangs, including captain and scoring machine Joe Stokes. Also on board are eight Yukon players returning from Outside teams.

Next week Yukon’s male curlers will hit the sheets with lots of high-level experience.

Trygg Jensen, Brayden Klassen and William Klassen won gold at the 2014 Arctics. Jensen and Brayden played at the Junior Canadian Curling Championships two weeks ago, coming home with a 3-6 record.

Female skip Alyssa Meger curled for Yukon at the 2014 Arctic Games, placing fourth.

Katelyn Vowk is hoping to hit top speeds in B.C. The Alpine skier, who won a gold and silver at the 2014 Arctics, is one of two set to represent Yukon.

Three athletes are lone Yukoners in sports down in Prince George.

Brown-belt Jacob Melanson will compete in judo, synchronized swimmer Catherine Seal will compete in the solo competition, and speedskater Michael Ritchie will race short-track. Ritchie pocketed three silver and a bronze at the 2014 Arctic Games.

Yukon is sending seven squash players to the Canada Games and for two of them it’ll be a second go. Mustafa Syed and Eshan Idrees both played for Yukon at the 2011 Games in Halifax. Syed also produced two wins and two losses at the 2014 Canadian Junior Squash Championships last April.

Gymnasts Reena Coyne, 14, and Emily King, 11, have both won Arctic Games bronze in team events. Next week they’ll be facing older, tougher competition.

“Canada Games is national-level gymnastics and we don’t have anybody at national level. They are one level below that; they are Level 5,” said coach Catherine O’Donovan. “They qualify, but it’s going to be a hard match for them. So we’re more building the team for the future. So we’re giving them that experience and exposure to the national level.”

Half of Yukon’s table tennis team has seen major Games action before. Georgia Gaw, Grace-Anne Janssen and Arcel Siosan all played at the 2014 Arctics in Fairbanks.

Yukon archers will take aim at target shooting in Prince George. Corvin Dick, Nila Helm and Surene Pretorius each won divisions at the Yukon Outdoor 3D Archery Championships last October.

Contact Tom Patrick at

tomp@yukon-news.com

Roster

Alpine Skiing

Samantha Richardson

Katelyn Vowk

Coach: Yves Titley

Coach: Lisa Vowk

 

Archery

Corvin Dick

Nila Helm

Surene Pretorius

Kyland Simon

Coach: Les Johns

Manager: Emma Praprotnik

Artistic Gymnastics

Reena Coyne

Emily King

Coach: Catherine O’Donovan

 

Biathlon

Nadia Moser

Maria Peters

Coach: Laurie Jacobsen

Coach: Dennis Peters

Tech support: Bill Curtis

 

Cross-country skiing

Simon Cash

Hannah Deuling

Marcus Deuling

Annah Hanthorn

Adrienne Hynes

Natalie Hynes

Knute Johnsgaard

Caelan McLean

Kendra Murray

Mac Prawdzik

Coach: Amanda Deuling

Coach: Alain Masson

Coach: Jan Downing

Manager: Scott Williams

Tech support: Jean-Francois

 

Curling (female)

Peyton L’Henaff

Alyssa Meger

Bayly Scoffin

Karen Smallwood

Coach: Rhonda Horte

 

Curling (male)

Trygg Jensen

Brayden Klassen

William Klassen

Bailey Muir-Cressman

Coach: Dean Klassen

 

Figure skating

Mikayla Kramer

Rachel Pettitt

Michael Sumner

Coach: Jason Mongrain

Coach: Trish Pettitt

Coach: Michelle Semaschuk

Manager: Christine Benedek

 

Freestyle skiing

Kyran Allen

Dawn Bohmer

Lyndsey Boorse

Josh Harlow

Dylan Reed

Niko Rodden

Coach: Steve Harlow

Coach: Stuart Robinson

Manager: Sylvie Geoffroy

 

Hockey (female)

Mikaila Blanchard

Emily Grantham

Shania Hogan

Sophie Janke

Monica Johnson

Jamie King

Zoe Leas

Mary McBride

Haley McConnell

Mykhaila McInroy

Emma Morin

Joy Morin

Maddie Nicholson

Ali Nordahl

Hannah Nordlund

Maya Oakley

Sierra Oakley

Cayman Oestreich

Chyanne Spenner

Abbie Turner

Coach: Louis Bouchard

Coach: John Grant

Coach: Candice MacEachen

Manager: Lorna Spenner

Tech support: Carolyn Relf

 

Hockey (male)

Bryce Anderson

Mack Benn-Wipp

Matt Braga

Matthew Butler

Kaine Comin

Mathew Cooper

Dylan Cozens

Johnny Elias

Cruz Goodman

Tynan Hope

Lukas Jirousek

Gavin Lawrie

Niall Lawrie

Jonas Leas

Jesse McCuaig

Riley Smoler

Joe Stokes

Ryan Troke

Ethan Vanderkley

Brett Walchuk

Coach: Derek Klassen

Coach: Martin Lawrie

Manager: Angie Troke

Tech support: Rob Warner

 

Judo

Jacob Melanson

Coach: Aaron Jensen

Manager: Peter Melanson

 

Snowboarding

Lara Bellon

Ethan Davy

Haylie Grant

Crystal Legoffe

Reanna Newsome

Tim Schirmer

Esa Suominen

Adam Waddington

Coach: Katrina Couch

Coach: Norm Curzon

Tech support: Gabriel Rivest

 

Speedskating

Michael Ritchie

Coach: Phil Hoffman

 

Squash

Ava Cairns-Locke

Mackenzie Cameron

Katrina Dobush

Logan Harris

Eshan Idrees

Mustafa Syed

Sana Syed

Coach: Khoon Chua

Manager: Terri Cairns

 

Synchronized swimming

Catherine Seal

Coach: Heather O’Carroll

Manager: Aura-lea Harper

 

Table tennis

Kelcy Armstrong

Thomas Brenner

Georgia Gaw

Grace-Anne Janssen

Greg Murdoch

Arcel Siosan

Coach: Kevin Murphy

Manager: Cornelia Brenner

 

Mission Staff

Trevor Twardochleb - Chef de Mission

Christine Benedek - figure skating

Tracey Bilsky - asst. Chef de Mission/gymnastics/synchro

Diana Dryburgh - communications

Paolo Gallina - speedskating/communications

Jim Gilpin - squash

Lynda Harlow - freestyle skiing

Tanya Hope - hockey (male)

Laini Klassen - curling (male)

Jeane Lassen snowboarding/hockey (female)

Sarah Lewis - photographer

Peter Melanson - judo

Lisa Vowk - alpine skiing

Sue Richards - biathlon

Christine Rushant - table tennis

Bill Stonehouse - cross-country skiing

Helen Strong - curling (female)

Tara Wardle - archery