The Yukon's first cross country ski race of the season was held last Saturday.

The 26th running of the Don Sumanik Memorial Homecoming Race was hosted by the Whitehorse Cross Country Ski Club.

This was day one of a two-day race. Classic, diagonal stride technique was used on courses between 1 and 12 km. The -20 C temperature was right at the lower end of the range allowed to stage the race, and resulted in slower times.

Courses were adjusted to limit ski racers' exposure to the north winds. Approximately 50 racers participated.

The race is traditionally scheduled to include homecoming college students, and they were well represented last Saturday.

In the Open Men's 10km race, David Greer proved his consistency by outpacing John Parry and Colin Abbott by one and two minutes respectively in a time of 26:59.

Meanwhile, in the Open Women's 6.5km race, Janelle Greer won over Emily Nishikawa by six seconds in a time of 24:36.

In other categories, highlights included a close race in PeeWee Girls, where Maggie Brook beat Hannah Schier in the 1 km race by two seconds for a time of 7:13.

In the Midget Girls, Adrienne Hynes won the 2.5 km race in 12:23.

In Juvenile Girls, Kendra Murray raced the 4km classic in 15:16 while Fabian Brook won Juvenile Boys in 14:08.

In MiniMidget Girls, Cambria Fuerstner won the 2.5km race in 13:50.

Complete results are available at http://zone4.ca/results.asp?id=2004

Day two's free technique race has been postponed until 12.30 p.m. Jan. 10. The entry deadline has been extended until 6 p.m. Jan. 7.

Entry forms are available in the ski club Wax Room.