Whitehorse's Dahria Beatty had a successful weekend at the Noram races in sounthern B.C.'s Sovereign Lakes area.

Beatty was competing in the junior female division for the first time against young women four to five years older than her. The fifteen-year-old pulled off a bronze medal finish in the 10-kilometre free technique race on Saturday. She finished in just over 33 minutes.

The race was topped off by B.C. Ski Team member Rebecca Reid.

The third place finish was just the start of things for Beatty and the rest of the Yukon Ski Team.

On Sunday Beatty switched it up for a 1.1 kilometre sprint race, joined by fellow Yukoner Janelle Greer.

The short race was fast paced and saw Beatty take the gold with Greer close behind in second place.

"This is a super result for the girls; it was a great skate day for the team.” said head coach of the Yukon Ski Team, Alain Masson, who accompanied the girls on the trip.

Also doing well this weekend from Whitehorse was Colin Abbott, who just missed the podium in fifth place in the junior male division.

Olympic hopeful Graham Nishikawa didn't see the same level of success this weekend, as he came in 10th place in the distance race held Saturday. He was the fourth Canadian overall in the race that was dominated mostly by American skiers.

His Olympic dream is still alive, however. Nishikawa will still have a chance to make the Olympic team as the trials continue next weekend in Canmore, Alta.

At home in Whitehorse the excitement is starting to build as the Whitehorse Cross Country Ski Club prepares to host the 2010 Haywood Ski Nationals following the Olympics in only three months.

"Coming right after the Olympics, the Canadian ski community will still be on a high,” said Claude Chabot, who will be the chief of competition for the event.

"We're going to see some superb racing at distances from 600 metres to 50 kilometres.”

Whitehorse will welcome more than 400 of the best cross-country skiers to the North for an event that is the biggest the Whitehorse Cross Country Ski Club has hosted since the World Cup races in 1981.

"We've had skiers from right across the country, even Prince Edward Island, tell us they're coming to Whitehorse,” said Joan Stanton, who is chairing the event side of the competition. "And we're expecting a big contingent from Alaska as well.”

The races will extend over eight days in Whitehorse, where the hundreds of skiers will get a chance to take in the famous Yukon hospitality and the world-class trails.

Planning such a large-scale event has been a challenge for the ski club, but one they've been up for.

"Some of our biggest issues now relate to the activities that will happen off the racing trails,” Stanton said. "Things like setting up waxing facilities are a challenge. We will be bringing some large tents on site so that each team can have space to wax their skis. This event is about four times bigger than the Canada Winter Games and much more complex for us.”

The club has seen considerable help from local funders such as the Community Development Fund and Lotteries Yukon, who have signed on to help out.

"We still have some great sponsorship opportunities available,” said Stanton.

The races, in addition to being supported by Haywood, will be sponsored for every individual day. Two days are still available for any businesses that are interested.

"Haywood is our overall sponsor, but each day will also be presented by a different company,” Stanton said. "We've partnered with three great sponsors already, but still have two days available. Plus, of course, we welcome all support at whatever level people are comfortable with.”

The club is working to recruit and train the approximately 200 volunteers that will make the event a success.

Many of them will be veterans of other successful Whitehorse events such as the 2007 Canada Winter Games and the 2006 Northwestel Westerns.

Work over the summer smoothed out the trails, and equipment was upgraded to meet with the demands of the 400 racers. The ski club added an entirely new timing system, that worked well for the recent Don Sumanik Race Series.

"We're using all of our regular races as practice sessions for the real thing,” Chabot said. "Four hundred skiers stress the systems and the officials pretty hard, but we'll be ready. Whitehorse has a reputation for putting on great events and we're going to make sure that everyone – athletes, coaches, parents and, yes, our volunteers – come away with great memories of the North.”

The new timing system had a few issues on the opening day of the Sumanik races, but the back-up system kicked in and all data was saved.

The Haywood Nationals will run in Whitehorse from March 14 to 21.