Though I've only been in Whitehorse for a few weeks, my days here have been punctuated by the incredible dedication, passion, and support I've been able to witness in the local sporting community.

From the impeccable performances of the top tier athletes to the enthusiasm of the local recreational leagues, the athletes in Whitehorse have earned their reputation of being hard-nosed, devoted, and talented.

In doing the research for this year-end review those notions were only further solidified. Local organizers, coaches, fundraisers, parents, volunteers, fans, and athletes should all be proud of their accomplishments this past year.

From individual displays of talent, to collective team feats, to the strength of a community united over the passion and brilliance of sports, the past year in athletics has been markedly impressive.

Over the next two days the Star will dive into the best moments of 2011. Today, we begin with part one.

A good team becomes great with the right mixture of chemistry, coaching, and talent.

The Red Deer College Kings had all three.

Yukoner's Ray Hall, George Wright, and Ron Kulych were members of the Kings from 1976 – 1980 and were inducted into the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame on June 11.

In those four years the Kings became the first team to appear in four consecutive Canadian Colleges Athletic Association national championship gold medal games (winning two) and the first team in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference to finish first in the regular season for five consecutive campaigns.

In each of their national championship seasons, the Kings led the league with the most goals for and the fewest goals against.

"Looking back, it was a blur to me. You're going to school, everything was fast-paced back then, coming from Whitehorse,” Kulych told the Star from his Porter Creek home.

"I enjoyed playing the hockey. It was a great learning experience.

"When you go out of Alberta to the Westerns, and then once you get out of the Westerns to go to the (national) championship – that was a big thing.”

After the conclusion of his college career, Kulych laced up his skates for the Edmonton Oilers rookie camp in 1980 but was unable to crack the final roster.

With his playing days behind him, Kulych was able to return to Whitehorse and inject the local hockey community with his knowledge and experience.

A Watson Lake native became a world champion this past year.

After winning silver at the 2011 Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Track Cycling World Cup in Bejing, China, at the end of January, Zach Bell was rewarded with a number one overall ranking in the UCI and World Cup standings.

On the heels of that accomplishment, Bell traveled to Manchester, England and was crowned World Cup champion of the omnium in February.

It was the first time the omnium title was awarded on the UCI World Cup tour and the event will make its Olympic debut at the 2012 Olympics. Bell is hoping to be there and is considered among many in the cycling community to be a medal favourite.

Another local athlete also has her eyes set on the 2012 London Games.

Jeane Lassen came out of retirement and after only a few weeks of training captured a silver medal at the Western Canadian Weightlifting Championships in Richmond, B.C.

It was her first competition since 2009.

Lassen went on to capture a silver medal at the Canadian Senior Weightlifting Championships in Ontario in May.

Keeping up with athletes continuing to dominate their respective fields as they age, local swimmer Mary Anne Myers was named female national/territorial athlete of the year at the Sport Yukon's Annual Awards night in November.

Competing in the women's 55-59 division, Myers swam her way to four gold medals and National record at the Canadian Masters Swimming Championship in Montreal.

With a time of six minutes and 20 seconds, Myers set the Canadian record in the 400-metre individual medley, breaking the previous record by more than four seconds.

"I'm getting faster as I get older,” Myers told the Star.

"If your passionate about something and you work hard it's there,” she said. "But you've got to work to get there.”`

Staying in the pool, local swimmers Haley Braga and Mackenzie Downing represented Whitehorse on the national and international stage.

Braga was the lone representative of the Yukon at the Canadian Age Group Championships in Montreal, where she went on to set two Glacier Bear club records.

Downing competed in her third World University Games in China, making the finals in the 20-metre butterfly.

Glacier Bear head coach, Marek Poplawski, left the pool in May, after seven successful years with the club.

During his tenure the Glacier Bears broke 856 club records, 69 BC Provincial records, 12 Canadian Age Group records and two Canadian Senior National Records.

He also won Coach of the Year from Swim BC twice and coached Swim Yukon at two Canada Summer Games and at the Western Canada Games.

"It's nice to see swimmers in the club are improving and going to the really high level. The satisfaction was great; I was enjoying doing that and seeing it growing, it keeps you going and it's a good motivation for a coach to keep working and trying to do even better, if you see growth and improvement,” he said.

With Poplawski's departure, Paralympian Stephanie Dixon became the new coach and has led the Bears to a strong start this season.

Seventeen-year-old Joel Brennan traveled to Germany in June to represent Canada at the World Freestyle Kayak Championships.

The Whitehorse native earned a spot on the junior national team by taking second at the National Freestyle Kayak Team Trials in Kananaskis, Alta., in August.

Brennan was the lone representative of the West on Team Canada, with the vast majority of athletes hailing from the Ottawa area.

"Living in Whitehorse has given me the opportunity to learn to paddle with the Yukon Canoe and Kayak Club. This is where I first learned to paddle,” he told the Star.

"Being able to use gear with only a cheap membership really helped me get into the sport.”

Two local biathletes, Erin-Oliver Beebe and Jennifer Curtis, continued to represent the Yukon on the national stage.

Oliver-Beebe captured two gold medals at the Western Canadian Biathlon Championships in Alberta before adding a bronze medal to her collection in the senior girl's 7.5-kilometre pursuit at the Canadian Biathlon Championships in New Brunswick.

The two combined to place in the top 10 in five of the six events at the Canadian Championships.

In April, Judo Yukon traveled to Edmonton where the team collected nine medals.

The territory – represented by Hiroshikai Judo, Shiroumakai Judo, Northern Lights

Judo and Golden Horn Judo – displayed their prowess at the Edmonton International Judo Championships.

The athletes joined more than 600 competitors from across Canada, the U.S., England, Germany and Cuba.

In the 2010 event Judo Yukon came away with one medal.

"It's a great booster,” Judo Yukon president Dan Poelman said."It was great exposure, good experience, especially for our first-timers. For most of them it was their first time going Outside.”

Also in April, local curler Thomas Scoffin was selected to represent Canada at the 2012 World Youth Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, in January 2012.

"In curling this would be I think equivalent to being drafted first overall in the NHL,” said Wade Scoffin, president of the YCA and Thomas' father. "Curling and hockey, those are Canada's number one sports. Even though there isn't a drafting process in our sport, this would be sort of an equivalent to that.”

It's no secret that the landscape of Whitehorse forms an unparalleled playground for athletes. From the plentiful trails, to the ski hills, to the lakes, Whitehorse deserves international recognition for it's rugged outdoor facilities.

In November, the International Mountain Biking Association did just that.

The organization deemed the Mountain Hero Trail on Montana Mountain as worthy of being placed in its Epic Trails category. The route became one of only five trails in Canada to achieve the honour.

The International Softball Federation (ISF) also recognized Whitehorse's ability to host world-class events by announcing that the city will host the 2014 Junior Men's World Championship.

ISF president Don Porter told the Star that Whitehorse's most recent winning bid, the announcement for which came at the ISF Congress in Oklahoma City at the end of October, was in part due to the success of the 2008 junior men's championships.

Whitehorse will also host the Women's World Fastpitch Championship, from July 13-22.

Be sure to pick up a copy of tomorrow's Star for part two of the year in review.