The warm weather Whitehorse experienced last week did not cause enough trouble on the Whitehorse Cross Country Club's ski trails, and the Don Sumanik races were able to be held Saturday and Sunday.

It has been a weird time in the world; COVID-19 has ended a lot of competitions. The Don Sumanik weekend was the first official ski competition the Yukon has had since everything was shuttered.

"We managed to have them, which was remarkable," said Alain Masson, the coach for Cross Country Yukon. "We were very happy to give the athletes some normalcy."

All National level competitions in Canada have been cancelled because of the ongoing pandemic, so if the skiers can travel in the near future, it will be to local or provincial events.

"It's hard for racers right now with no Nationals, Westerns, or trials," said Masson. "It is challenging. It was important to make it feel like our training since May was going toward something. They needed to test themselves.

"This was the first official race of the season so we saw what adjustments can be made. It provided athletes the opportunity to fine-tune their skills and make improvements."

Masson said the athletes were really happy to race and that more local races will be held in an effort to keep athletes in racing mode.

"It's important to still have races like the Don Sumaniks," said Masson. "Some things can't be replicated in training; like having officials, parents watching, and music playing."

Because of COVID-19, Masson said there were fewer people at the race to remain compliant with pandemic protocols.

"We simplified the officiating side, it wasn't the usual way we would do it," he said. "We had less volunteers, which in a way was easier because there was less recruitment, but they had to share more duties.

"The sport is so volunteer-intensive, but we made sure we had fewer or else we'd be crowded. We kept it at a manageable number."

Results from Saturday's skate races:

The U18, U16, Masters Men, and Senior Men raced 7.5 kilometres or three laps of the ski stadium.

Isadore Champagne, 23:45, outpaced his fellow U18 counterpart Noah Connell by 19 seconds to secure the win for the age category.

The U16 division was taken by Simon Connell in 22:16. He just eked out the victory finishing only a second ahead of second-place finisher Cole Germain. Bruce Porter rounded out the podium.

John Parry, 23:03 out-skied the competition to be the Masters Men victor. Forty-nine seconds behind was Brian Horton, and Jon Stamp placed third.

There wasn't much separation in the Senior Men category. Colin Abbott, 21:04, led the way beating Matthias Purdon by 31 seconds. Caelen McLean came third.

The U18, U16, Masters Women, and Senior Women raced five kilometres.

Kate Mason, 18:30, was the top U18 skier. Bella Mouchat was only 37 seconds behind and Maude Molgat got the bronze position.

Constance Lapointe was the quickest U16 athlete. Her time was 18:29. Second and third-place finishers, Abby Jirousek and Sophia Giangrande, were only separated by two seconds.

Jane Hollenberg, 21:34, won the Masters Women category. Laura Salmon skied to second and Kristenn Magnusson third.

Emily Stewart-Jones was the lone Senior Woman athlete but posted an impressive 18:32 time.

The U14 girls and boys skied 2.5 kilometres.

It was a photo-finish at the end line in the U14 Boys race. Nicolas Giangrande eked out the win over Jonah McConnell by two seconds. Fin Bradford placed third.

Minty Bradford won the girls' race in 12:22. She outpaced second-place finisher Cheyenne Tirschmann by 44 seconds. Sarah Svoboda secured third.

Results from Sunday's classic races:

The distances for the different divisions remained the same as Saturday's races.

It was familiar faces topping the U16 Boys race. Simon Connell and Cole Germain were once again one-two and Daniel Phillips-Freedman came third.

The U18 Boys flipped their end position. Noah Connell won the age category with Isidore Champagne coming second.

John Parry once again found himself the champion of the Masters Men division. Willie Bell came second and Simon Lapointe skied into third.

Constance Lapointe took the U16 Girls race for her second win of the weekend. Sophia Giangrande and Abby Jirousek came second and third, swapping positions compared to Saturday.

The trio of U18 Girls top-three finishers remained the same Sunday. Kate Mason won her second race of the weekend, with Maude Molgat and Bella Mouchet placing second and third respectively.

A new face topped the Masters Women division. Aisha Montgomery skied to first place with Laura Salmon and Kristenn Magnusson following.

Nicolas Giangrande, Jonah McConnell and Fin Bradford were the top three in their age category again. There was no change on the girls' side either. Minty Bradford, Cheyenne Tirschmann, and Sarah Svoboda were once again the podium finishers.