Team Yukon is leading the medals chart at the Arctic Winter Games.
The team has a total of 17 medals — five gold, nine silver and three bronze medals as the competition enters day three.
Alberta North and Northwest Territories trail behind with 15 and 12 medals respectively. The team from Sápmi is last on the medals chart.
The Yukon female hockey team entered the second day of the games by trumping their counterparts from Nunavut 11-1 during the second day of the competition.
Alia Drummond, Emery Twardochleb, Jordan MacDonald and Rachel Kormendy had two goals each to get the team into the win column.
The team bounced back from a previous defeat on the opening day of the competition on Jan. 29 when they lost 5-1 to Northern Alberta.
The junior boy’s futsal team maintained their win streak in the competition with a 4-2 win over the N.W.T. team. The Yukon female futsal team earned a 2-1 win over the N.W.T. after losing to Alaska on the first day of the competition. Kassia Emery and Callah MacGillvray scored a goal each to give the junior female team the lead. However, the male and female juvenile futsal teams drew the late games.
The Arctic Sports team started with the triple jump. The women also did the two foot high kick, and the open men did the head pull. Junior female Amélie Guilbeault placed fifth in triple jump, and open male Eric Porter placed sixth.
The wrestling team was behind in their first game of the competition on Jan. 30. Team Yukon officials said the wrestlers fought hard but came up short against Alberta North. Only Jamyi Hinchey fought against Alaska in the second team event of the day and dispatched her opponent quickly.
The U16 boys’ hockey team squared up with the N.W.T. team. Despite putting in their best, they could not find the back of the net and lost 4-0 to their counterparts.
The Yukon U19 boys’ hockey team had a similarly tough game against Nunavut. They fell behind 2-0 in the second period before getting one point back in the third. Team Yukon officials said that despite their efforts, they could not find the equalizer. They also had a late game against Alberta North.
The cross country ski team went on a medals haul on their first day of the competition winning gold, silver and bronze on their first game of the competition. Six skiers found the podium: Sophia Giangrande, Simon Connell and Sophie Molgat won gold; Abigail Jirousek, Cheyenne Tirschmann took silver and Nicolas Giangrande pulled bronze.
The biathlon team, both ski and snowshoe, competed under freezing temperatures. Team Yukon officials said the weather challenge didn’t stop the athletes, as five from each discipline found the podium. In snowshoe biathlon, Johna Irving-Staley, Stella Mueller and Alex Brown won gold. Chase O’Brien won silver and Claire Macmillan won bronze.
In the ski biathlon, Isla Hupe won gold while Cole Germain took silver. Niamh Hupe, Lydia Brown and Alex Lebarge took bronze.
Team Yukon’s snowboard team impressed during their first game of the competition with Stian Langbakk winning gold. Watson Lake’s Isabelle Paquette got silver and Seamus MacDonald also earned silver.
The snowshoe team’s efforts paid off as every athlete was placed on the podium. Avery Kinsella and Taiga Buurman won gold. Johannes Benkert, Jaime Chown Chaikel and Mathias Frostad earned silver; and Dredyn Kassi won a bronze.
“Everyone on the snowshoe team ran so hard they got sick,” says a Team Yukon press release.
During the giant slalom, the alpine ski team won silver. Tom Vollmer and Tori Vollmer earned gold, Ellyann Dinn and Zach Ball got silvers, and Grace Allaway of Haines Junction secured a bronze medal.
The Dene games athlete gave it their all in the stick pull. Junior athlete Marcus Herron earned a bronze medal. Team Yukon officials said the open male and female competition went into the evening.
The women’s volleyball team picked up a 3-0 win over Greenland. On the men’s side, Team Yukon male volleyball player, Sebastian Tajonera said the team “took the dub and it felt ecstatic.” The men beat Alaska 2-0. Both squads also had late games.
The table tennis matches began in the junior team event and mixed doubles competitions. The tournament continues today.
The girls’ basketball team picked up their first win of the games, scoring 54-45 against Nunavut. The men won their Nunavut counterparts 78-57.
Coming up from a 4-0 deficit, the male curling team defeated N.W.T. 6-5 during their second day of the competition. The girls team fought hard against the N.W.T. but couldn’t secure the win, making it their second defeat of the competition.
The badminton team played in singles and doubles on their first day of the competition. Most of the players found wins on day one.
Team Yukon officials said the speed skaters had a busy day competing in the 1000-metre individual races. Many of the skaters made it to the finals, which went late into the day. The speed skating team has two siblings, Greg and Lisa Freeman, who are coached by their mom, Cynthia Freeman.
Contact Patrick Egwu at patrick.egwu@yukon-news.com