Yukon cross-country skier Graham Nishikawa continues to prove his worth on the national stage this season, and with the 2010 Olympics firmly in his sights, the best may be yet to come.

Skiing in tough conditions, Nishikawa won his first ever Canada Cup race this past Sunday in Valcartier, Quebec. With the win, he also took over top spot in the Haywood Canada Cup race series, which tests elite athletes in races across the country.

Nishikawa and fellow national ski team member Dave Nighbor a member of the Canadian Olympic team for 2006 fought for the lead throughout the full 20-kilometre pursuit race, with Nishikawa taking control on the last lap of the free technique portion of the race, to take the title by 14 seconds.

The victory was sweet for Nishikawa, who finished second behind Nighbor in both Thursday's 15-km classic race where he finished with a time of 45:12, just 24 seconds behind and Saturday's one-km sprint races.

Yukon coach Alain Masson noted, 'It was a great tactical race for Graham, who was thrilled with the victory. He just keeps getting stronger and stronger.'

Along with putting Nishikawa in the lead in the Canada Cup race series, the win clinched a berth on the Canadian team heading off to Slovenia next weekend, for the world under-23 championships.

The races last week were not quite as good for fellow Yukoners Brittany Greer and Emily Nishikawa. Suffering from a cold, Greer finished in 27th position in the open women's 10-km pursuit, although she struggled through to a fifth place finish in Saturday's sprint race, winning the B final.

Emily was competing in her first world junior trials, and was just seconds behind Greer in the pursuit race, and came in 14th in Saturday's sprint competition.

In the classic race last Thursday, Emily and Brittany finished in 14th and 15th positions respectively, with impressive times of just over 38 minutes each.