As you watched all of the young skaters perform their freeskate routines Saturday, it was hard to imagine that for many of them, the Yukon Gold Nugget Championships were their first brush with real competition.

Full of excitement and confidence, the athletes pulled off some impressive performances throughout the weekend, making it clear the future of figure skating in the territory remains bright at least if they have anything to say about it.

'They're all doing great,' said Trish Pettitt, one of the coaches with the Arctic Edge Skating Club.

'For a lot of them, it's their first competition of the year and for some of them, it's their first competition ever. It's pretty overwhelming, they've had a lot to do. Most of them had tests done as well.'

Besides exposing them to the pressures of competition, the championships also allowed the rookies to receive an evaluation from Outside judges who flew in for the weekend, and of course, the opportunity to show their friends and family what they've learned.

'It's a very good introduction to what it's all about,' stated Pettitt.

Fellow Arctic Edge coach Harold Sher agreed with Pettitt, adding he was pleased with the performances by all the skaters.

'There were a lot of firsts. Bryn Hoffman introduced two jumps into her program and landed them both cleanly. That's a milestone in a skater's career.

'The elementary skaters all did as well or better than expected. They had an opportunity to learn what competition is about and had fun, which is very important.'

Preliminary ladies skaters Maya Austin and Maddison Jarvis, who finished first and second respectively in the freeskate, felt good about their performances over the weekend.

While Austin had been working on her freeskate program for over a year, Jarvis just learned hers about a month ago.

'She did really good,' said Austin about her competitor.

Next up for Austin and some of her fellow members from the skating club is the B.C. Coast Region/Pacific STARSkate Qualifying Competition, which will take place Jan. 19-21 in Chilliwack.

'Second place is my goal,' stated Austin, who also has a long-term goal of one day skating at the Olympics.

'My whole family has been skating for a long time, so I just keep skating.'

Jarvis is one of the athletes who won't be making the trip to Chilliwack. However, she will compete at the Vancouver Island Skate International (VISI) competition in Victoria in the spring, and she hopes to place in the top three.

Out of more than 25 skaters who hit the ice at Takhini Arena over the weekend, only three of them will represent the Yukon at the Canada Winter Games in February Amelia (Millie) Austin, Teneil Caron and Chantal Emond.

'Millie's program is pretty well set,' said Sher. 'We're just trying to increase the technical difficulty. She's going from a two-jump combination to a three-jump combination and introducing an axel.

'She had a good sectionals earlier this year and is skating with a bit of confidence now. She's made very good progress.'

Austin, Caron and Emond will be joined by Caron's brother Kevin, who was away at the BMO Financial Group Skate Canada Western Challenge in Moncton, N.B., at the Games.

Kevin finished 10th in the short program, 10th in the free skate and 10th overall at the western event.

Here are the full results from the Yukon Gold Nugget Championships:

Elementary Elements

Group 1

1. Nikita White

2. Lilyanne Gale

3. Taylor Schneider

4. Kathryn Fortune

5. Zoe Krause

Elementary Elements

Group 2

1. Jessica Harlow

2. Kayla Armstrong

3. Amanda Dendys

4. Brittanny Au

5. Caitlin Diakow

Pre-Preliminary Elements

Group 1

1. Johanna Deguzman

2. Kelcy Armstrong

3. Rasheeda Slater

4, Maya Austin

Pre-Preliminary Elements

Group 2

1. Mikaela Lane

2. Jessica Diakow

3. Molly Topper

4. Vina Nelson

Preliminary Elements

1. Bryn Hoffman

2. Rachel Pettitt

3. Maddison Jarvis

4. Ariel House

Senior Bronze Elements

1. Kayla Hallonquist

2. Christina Coombs

3. Jessica Hawkins

4. Samantha Jarvis

Special Olympics Men

1. Julien Richard

Special Olympics Ladies

1. Aimee Lien

Canskate Ladies Freeskate

1. Lilyanne Gale

2. Kathryn Fortune

Elementary Ladies

Freeskate

1. Jessica Harlow

2. Kayla Armstrong

3. Taylor Schneider

4. Brittany Au

5. Amanda Dendys

Pre-Preliminary Ladies

Freeskate Group 1

1. Bryn Hoffman

2. Rachel Pettitt

3. Johanna Deguzman

4. Rasheeda Slater

5. Kelcy Armstrong

Pre-Preliminary Ladies

Freeskate Group 2

1. Mikaela Lane

2. Molly Topper

3. Jessica Diakow

4. Vina Nelson

Preliminary Ladies

Freeskate

1. Maya Austin

2. Maddison Jarvis

3. Ariel House

Junior Bronze Ladies

Freeskate

1. Christina Coombs

2. Samantha Jarvis

Senior Bronze Ladies

Freeskate

1. Kayla Hallonquist

2. Jessica Hawkins

Pre Preliminary Creative

1. Mikaela Lane

2. Maya Austin

3. Rachel Pettitt

4. Bryn Hoffman

5. Amanda Dendys

6. Jessica Harlow

7. Kelcy Armstrong

Junior Bronze Creative

1. Samantha Jarvis

2. Jennifer MacKeigan

Senior Bronze Creative

1. Teneil Caron

2. Amelia Austin

3. Kayla Hallonquist

Pre Introductory Interpretive

1. Rachel Pettitt

2. Maya Austin

3. Maddison Jarvis

4. Bryn Hoffman

5. Ariel House

Introductory Interpretive

1. Samantha Jarvis

2. Jennifer MacKeigan