Not to be outdone by the hockey players, the swimmers or the numerous other athletes posting topnotch results for the Yukon this year, the figure skaters are also hauling in the hardware from Outside.

More than 30 figure skaters from the Fireweed and Whitehorse clubs competed at the Vancouver Island Skating Invitational (VISI) this past weekend, in Victoria, and nearly every one of them came back with a medal.

'VISI is always a good trip because almost all of our test-level skaters go,' said Fireweed head coach Trish Pettitt. 'And almost everyone came home with one or two medals. It was good.'

In the lower level categories, medals were given for the top six places, which is great for the younger kids who are attending their first or second competition, said Pettitt, adding everyone of her skaters impressed her in Victoria.

'Yes they received medals, but more than that they did exactly what they were supposed to do. No one forgot parts of their program, they skated it all the way through. When it's your first competition, that's really important.'

Chantal Emond picked up two gold medals for the Fireweed club in the skills and artistic events, as well as a seventh place finish in the freeskate. Emond said while she was really proud of her gold-medal performances, she was disappointed in her freeskate.

'I had a really good warmup and then when I did my program, everything just fell apart. But I was still surprised with my placing because I got seventh (out of 12), which isn't too bad.'

Emond said she had a lot of fun in the artistic event and was 'smiling the entire time,' since there are no jumps so she could relax. It's those jumps that she hopes to work on for next season, while she feels her presentation is her strong point.

'I have pretty good presentation from what I've heard from other people, and that's a big part of skating too. Posture is a really important thing in skating.'

Two of the Fireweed senior skaters posted some great results, with Colleen Kormos finishing first in her free skate and Kristen Glass coming in second.

Kevin Caron, the lone male figure skater in the Yukon, also had a good competition. Caron was first in his pre-novice short program and second in the long, finishing first overall. He also claimed a silver medal in the Gold Showcase event.

'For him, that was good because he had such a growth spurt this year,' said Pettitt. 'It takes time to adjust to that and he struggled a bit this year to keep it together, so that was really good for him and I think it was important to know he's on the right track.'

Caron may have received some help from the B.C. select team camp he attended the week prior to VISI. He skated with former Canadian ice dance champion and Olympic medalist Victor Kratz and also spoke with CTV and TSN commentator Debbi Wilkes.

'It was a lot of fun,' said Caron. 'It was just about opening your eyes and seeing what other techniques the other coaches are using. I learned a lot.'

After that camp, Karon skated for a few days with 1972 Canadian Olympic medalist, Karen Magnussen. Then it was off to VISI, which he felt went 'very good.

'I could have done better, but I still did really well.'

Caron said he completed two good double axles, but he would still like to work on his higher jumps and clean up his double axle and triple toe.

Kevin's sister Teneil showed her tenacity at VISI, after her skate laces popped out in her interpretive skate. Teneil had the music stopped and started over from where she left off, which is a distraction, but she still won gold.

'She was awesome,' said Pettitt. 'She skated with so much energy.'

Also for Fireweed, Jennifer Mackeigan placed fourth in her Preliminary Elements category, which was the first time she received a medal at competition. Elementary Ladies competitor Rachel Pettitt came home with two medals, including a gold, and Christina Coombs, who also went through a growth spurt this season, ended up with a medal as well.

'I really feel everyone accomplished something there,' said the coach. 'The trip was well worth it.'

The Whitehorse Figure Skating Club took 14 of their skaters to VISI and head coach Charlene Taylor said all of them did pretty well, although there was some disappointment. Taylor said a couple of showings in the interpretive event didn't turn out as good as they should have.

She said the judging for the interpretive was somewhat confusing, as a couple of the judges had the Yukon skaters ranked second or third and then a couple had them last following their routines.

Preliminary Ladies skater Samantha Jarvis was one of the athletes who was disappointed with her placing in interpretive, despite the fact she felt like she did very well she finished in last place. When Taylor looked at the judging break down, there were two second-place ordinals and the rest put her at the bottom.

'Interpretives are so hard to put together, because there's such a grey area,' said Taylor. 'Sam's program is really tough. I put it together for her to skate it for two years, so she can really work on it and make it strong.'

Jarvis said she had some real strong points in both her interpretive and free skates, but there are also some things she needs to work on.

'I didn't fall and I was nice and balanced. Most of my turns were clean and I had really good edges, I think. I need to work on my landings. After I come out of a spin, I need to get my arms up and shoulders back.'

Maddison Jarvis, Bryn Hoffman and Mya Austin all skated in the Elementary Ladies category for the Whitehorse club. Maddison collected a gold medal at just her second competition while both Hoffman and Austin also grabbed medals it was Austin's very first Outside event.

'They skated just awesome,' said Taylor. 'They were great. We were all up in the stands, cheering them on.

'Bryn's costume (constructed by her mom) was phenomenal. She did a can-can number. She had the flipped up skirts with ruffles and the whole works.'

Also in the Elementary Ladies category, Katie Casper, who just recently moved up from CanSkate, won a medal in her first competition.

'She was pretty excited,' said Taylor. 'And she did really, really well.'

Kayla Hollonquist recently switched to the Whitehorse club from Fireweed and impressed Taylor with her performance, placing third in the bronze interpretive.

'She was a little disappointed,' said Taylor. 'I wasn't.'

Taylor was also really proud of Pre-Novice Ladies skater Kaighen Munro, who returned to competition for the first time in three months and only started training hard again a few weeks ago since she's been really sick this year. Taylor said Munro started her program 'just tremendous,' but her lowered lung capacity from the time off started to show at the end.

'You could see she was really fighting to finish. And that's the sign of a true competitor. I was so proud of her.'

Between the two clubs, said Taylor, the Yukon had an excellent showing.

'I think everybody's beginning to realize, Hey, we really have to watch out for these guys.' And it's because of the excellent coaching we have up here.

'Trish (Pettitt) has some fantastic skaters and so do we.'

Several of the Yukon skaters will get another opportunity to show off their stuff this season at the Victoria Day competition in May, which will also be held in the B.C. capital. The majority of the athletes attending will be Canada Games hopefuls and the event will also serve as an evaluation ground for provincial development teams.

Kevin said he would like to get his triple toe back in his program in time for the Victoria Day competition and also work on making his double axles more consistent. Emond will be taking her Pre-Novice test in May, so she will also be working on her jumps.

Whatever the outcome, Trish said it has been a successful season for both clubs and Taylor agreed.

'We've got a good, strong contingent coming out of the Yukon,' she said. 'The kids have come into their own and it's showing.'