Three gold medals for Yukon on opening day of Haywoods nationals

Whitehorse welcomed the top cross country skiers from across Canada for the Haywood Ski Nationals on Sunday in the best way possible

Whitehorse welcomed the top cross country skiers from across Canada for the Haywood Ski Nationals on Sunday in the best way possible – with three gold medal finishes.

The sprint racing teams of Knute Johnsgaard and Jeff Wood, and Darhia Beatty and Janelle Greer used their home-field advantage to rally over some of the best athletes in Canada. Both teams secured a top podium spot. Also topping the podium for Yukon was Colin Abbott, skiing out of Carleton University with teammate Steffan Lloyd.

“It was nice having a couple of gold medals for Whitehorse kids,”said Claude Chabot, timing official for the Whitehorse Cross Country Ski Club.

The event was a team sprint. Each team did six laps of a short course inside the ski stadium at Mt. McIntyre, switching off three times. The teams did a loop of 4.8-kilometres or 7.2-km depending on their category.

Beatty and Greer dominated the Challenge Girls division, staying at the top of the field throughout.

“They’re both incredibly strong skiers,” Chabot said.

Johnsgaard and Wood had a bit of a tougher time in the Challenge Boys division, as they fell behind until the final laps.

The team was in fourth place heading into the last lap, when Johnsgaard began his final circuit. Chabot said the skier did an incredible catch-up to get Wood in the perfect spot to slingshot past the rest of the field. Wood finished up with a five-metre win over the second place team.

“It was pretty exciting,” Chabot said.

Abbott skied in the CCUNC division, or the Canadian Colleges and Universities, out of Carleton University in Ottawa.

Also finishing well were David Greer and Ray Sabo who came in just shy of the podium in fourth in the open men division.

Heidi Brooke and Kendra Murray were a few spaces back of Beatty and Janelle Greer in fifth.

About 100 spectators came out to cheer on their local team.

This year the Whitehorse Cross Country Ski Club introduced new timing equipment ahead of the Haywoods, and throughout the season officials have been working hard to get to know it.

Chabot said there was at least one glitch Sunday, that caused a minor delay but it was nothing the club couldn’t handle.

“It felt good to get the first race under our belt,” Chabot said.

Today the competition takes a bit of a break for the Fast and Female 2010 Annual Ski Festival.

Female athletes aged nine to 19 will take part in the fun day of skiing with Olympic gold medallist Chandra Crawford.

The participants will get in a full day of cross country skiing, yoga, dancing and talks with Crawford.

Tomorrow the Haywood Ski Nationals will continue starting at 10 a.m. with the individual classic event.

Chabot said the races will be the biggest test of the club yet – with over 400 skiers expected to cross the start line.

“It’s scary. That’s like four times the Canada Games,” he said.

The ski stadium at Mt. McIntyre continues to be a hive of activity, as skiers, officials, wax technicians and coaches bustle in and out.

“It’s like a new little city down there,” Chabot said.

During the off day, coaches and wax technicians will be out on the courses testing wax for the conditions. Chabot said this is what has given the Whitehorse club a bit of an advantage – the skiers and waxing officials already know what wax works the best for the snow conditions, weather and trails at the club.

“It gives us a nice little home-field advantage,” he said.