Another three ulus have been added to Yukon's total for the 2004 Arctic Winter Games.

The new total of 108 marks one of the highest counts the territory has ever achieved, according to Chef de Mission Trevor Twardochleb.

It's not known what events the ulus were added from, as no one could be reached at Sport Yukon this morning. In an interview Monday, however, Twardochleb mentioned he expected more ulus from Dene Games and perhaps ski biathlon.

'I thought the kids performed excellent,' he said. 'I always thought we'd finish in the top three, but it exceeded my expectations that we did as well as we did. We were in the lead right from the start of the week almost to the end, and people were chasing us.'

Twardochleb said he's never seen such a close race before between the four teams which picked up over 100 ulus, pointing out this is the first time Alberta North has presented a full team.

'Alaska always has a full unit, so they usually do well,' he said. 'We only had a team of 345, which was the smallest of the four units that ended up on top smaller than the N.W.T. and Alaska.'

Twardochleb said the fact Yukon didn't have a wrestling team this year hurt the ulu totals, since Alberta North dominated the medals in that sport.

As far as the actual hosting of the Games, Twardochleb said Fort McMurray did a fantastic job.

'The host society did really well,' he said. 'Once they got the (web) site sorted out, I thought the results were some of the best I've ever seen. Obviously there were some issues with transportation and food service but they were worked out towards the end of the week.'

The main complaint with the transportation was the time it took to get somewhere, and the wait to get on the bus, said Twardochleb.

'They (athletes) were so nervous about missing the bus for an event, they wouldn't go to another one to watch, or they would just stick around their area all the time.

'Some kids that had family down there, they (the families) were helping kids get around.'

Twardochleb said the mission staff only had nine vehicles between the 12 of them, which was a stretch at times. At the end of the day though, he said, it's about the athletes and making sure they have a good time.

'About 99 per cent of them will tell you it was fantastic,' he said. 'They enjoy the competition, but more so it's about the people they meet, and about the sportsmanship. They're all hoping that everyone does well.'

The Chef de Mission also believes everybody on the mission staff would say they had a great time in Alberta.

'There were long nights, and it was a long week,' he admitted. 'But I think if you asked them they'd do it again in a second.'

Twardochleb said he would definitely do it all over again, but next time, he would hire someone specifically to write the results and another person to take photos.

'The quality of our newsletter was not up to the standard I'd hoped only because of manpower,' he said.

And speaking of manpower, Twardochleb said the one thing which was prominent at the Games was the number of volunteers.

'There were more volunteers than participants,' he stated. 'We (Sport Yukon) actually sent a bunch of pins to different communities along with thank-you letters and cards. Sometimes volunteers don't get thanked enough.'

Team Yukon seemed to do a pretty good job of being courteous, though. Twardochleb said Nunavut may have won the Hodgson Trophy for best overall sportsmanship, but the Yukon, which finished third in voting, was known as a very respectful team.

'When parents and kids come up to you and say, you have a real respectful group of kids', that means a lot.'