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YUKON PRIDE – Gold medal-winning figure skater Rachel Pettitt waves the Yukon flag as she leads her teammates into the closing ceremony at the 2015 Canada Winter Games in Prince George, B.C., Sunday. Photo courtesy of TEAM YUKON 2015/SARAH LEWIS
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FAMILIAR FOES – Yukon men’s hockey players Joe Stokes, left, and Mack Benn-Wipp, centre, crash the net against the Northwest Territories during action at CN Centre Feb. 27. The Yukon team finished 11th in the tournament with a record of 2-3-0 after beating the N.W.T. twice. Photo courtesy of TEAM YUKON 2015/SARAH LEWIS
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FLYIN’ HIGH – Haylie Grant catches air during the women’s snowboard slopestyle on Tabor Mountain at the Canada Winter Games Feb. 27. She finished eighth. Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
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ICE QUEEN – Mikayla Kramer skates in the pre-novice women free program Feb. 25. She finished 12th overall. Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
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OUT OF BREATH – Yukon XC skier Knute Johnsgaard tries to catch his breath following the men’s 15-km race at the Canada Winter Games Feb. 26. He placed sixth. Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
The territory’s female cross-country ski relay team capped a very successful Canada Winter Games with a collective bronze medal win Saturday.
The territory’s female cross-country ski relay team capped a very successful Canada Winter Games with a collective bronze medal win Saturday.
The medal was the eighth won by Team Yukon, made up of 100 athletes.
The eight medals was good enough for eighth in the medal standings.
The ranking puts them ahead of Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Northwest Territories, Prince Edward Island and Nunavut.
The eight medals match the territory’s second-best output of all time, behind only the 1991 result of 17 medals. In comparison, the Yukon won five medals at the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax.
Not only did the team win eight medals, they also claimed the Jack Pelech award, given to the team that best exemplifies competitive performance, good sportsmanship, and a spirit of fair play, cooperation, and friendship.
The Yukon previously won this title after hosting the event in 2007.
“For us to win that award speaks volumes about our team and how well we support one another,” said Yukon chef de mission Trevor Twardochleb. “Through competition, people really see what we’re made of, win or lose.
“It’s a big deal because it speaks to the people of the Yukon. We raise good kids through sport. You’ve got to be proud of that.”
In terms of medals, 17-year-old biathlete Nadia Moser carried the torch for the territory in the first week of competition, claiming three medals.
In the second week, it was the Yukon’s cross-country skiers who led the way, capped by a performance for the ages by novice women’s figure skater Rachel Pettitt, 15.
Pettitt was tapped to carry the flag for the Yukon at Sunday’s much-hyped closing ceremony.
Twardochleb called the eighth-place finish “outstanding,” adding that the Yukon finished first in medals per capita – 10 times more than the next province.
Ski coach Alain Masson said he hopes his athletes will carry this momentum into the national championships in Thunder Bay, Ont., scheduled for later this month.
“We are looking really good for nationals, because now all these athletes will compete in their age group,” he said. “It was a great week with great results.”
Kendra Murray, Hannah Deuling, Natalie Hynes and Annah Hanthorn teamed up to win the Yukon’s final medal in the four-by-five-kilometre relay event.
Quebec took gold, while host B.C. took silver.
Meanwhile, fellow coach Scott Williams earned an assist on B.C. skier David Palmer’s bronze medal in the 15-km mass start event Thursday, when he handed him a fresh pole after Ramsay’s broke during the race.
“He just happened to be in the perfect place to provide a spare pole,” Masson said of Williams’ kindness. “Not everybody would (do that), but definitely for the Yukon, this is something we would do for everyone.”
Williams wasn’t the only Yukoner lauded for his kindness on the field of play. Fourteen-year-old squash player Ava Cairns-Locke took home a prize for sportsmanship.
The youngster worked hard to support her teammates, and won and lost her matches with grace.
It is those types of stories that ensure the Yukon is winning at events such as the Canada Winter Games, said Twardochleb.
“Hopefully this momentum will spill over into Westerns,” he said.
Knute Johnsgaard (10-km XC ski)
Annah Hanthorn (7.5-km XC ski)
Rachel Pettitt (figure skating)
Nadia Moser (12.5-km biathlon)
Nadia Moser (7.5-km biathlon)
Nadia Moser (10-km biathlon)
Kendra Murray (7.5-km XC ski)
Female XC ski relay team
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