She is living proof that great things can come from small places.

Sixteen-year-old Rachel Pettitt earned two national figure skating titles this year, highlighting a solid 2015 in sports for Yukon athletes.

The Whitehorse native – who now trains out of Kelowna, B.C. – won the novice championship at the 2015 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships in Kingston, Ont., then added a 2015 Canada Winter Games gold a month later in Prince George, B.C.

In Kingston, Pettitt became the first Yukon figure skater to win gold at the Canadian championships, which have been held annually since 1914.

“I’m really, really happy with how my season turned out,” she told the Star following her Canada Winter Games gold medal victory.

But Pettitt wasn’t the only Yukon athlete to put Yukon on the map this past season.

The following is a summary of the top local sport highlights in 2015’s year in review.

JANUARY

Not surprisingly, the aforementioned Pettitt claimed the first major sports headline of 2015, with her novice gold medal at the Canadian figure skating championships. Fellow Yukoner Bryn Hoffman also took part in the event, finishing seventh in junior pairs alongside partner Bryce Chudak.

Later, local boxer Roan Evans-Ehricht kicked off a stellar year with a gold medal win at the Alberta Bronze Gloves boxing championship in Whitecourt, Alta. The 18-year-old, who also claimed top boxer honours at the event, and went on to win gold at Silver Gloves later in the year, followed by a silver at Golden Gloves.

FEBRUARY

Brent Sass won his first Yukon Quest, passing defending champion Allen Moore down the homestretch to enter Fairbanks, Alaska, as the undisputed sled dog race champion. The Eureka musher collected nearly $30,000 for his victory, including four gold nuggets earned for arriving first in Dawson City.

Sarah Koltun’s curling rink returned uncontested to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, but was ousted in preliminary action in Moose Jaw, Sask.

Biathlete Nadia Moser stormed onto the Yukon sports scene at the 2015 Canada Winter Games in Prince George, B.C., winning three medals to lead the territory’s contingent. Yukon earned eight medals to finish eighth overall. Gold medal winners included cross-country skiers Knute Johnsgaard and Annah Hanthorn, as well as figure skater Pettitt. Meanwhile, Moser went on to win two silver medals at biathlon nationals in March.

Led by Darby McIntyre’s two golds, Team Yukon secured a total of five medals at the Special Olympic B.C. Winter Games. Three figure skaters also medalled at the event, held in Kamloops, B.C.

MARCH

Bob Smallwood and his resilient Whitehorse curling team took Prince Edward Island all the way to an extra end in a play-in game at the 2015 Tim Hortons Brier in Calgary, before losing 7-6 and being eliminated.

Following an undefeated regular season, the Whitehorse Huskies senior hockey club saw its Coy Cup dreams dashed in the playoffs by the eventual champion Fort St. John Flyers. The Huskies lost 8-2 and 5-2 in the two-game series.

The Whitehorse Bantam Mustangs claimed an historic gold medal victory at the B.C. provincial hockey championships, winning gold after going 6-0 in the Tier 3 tournament in Port Hardy, B.C.

The most-anticipated hockey tournament of the year came to a thrilling end for the A division EGT Nanooks from Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T. Led by Cody Pederson’s five points, the team crushed the hometown CAFN Storm 8-3 in the final to win their second straight Kilrich/Northerm Yukon Native Hockey Tournament.

Star curling skip Thomas Scoffin finally became a national champion with the University of Alberta Golden Bears, winning the Canadian Interuniversity Sport title 6-4 over the host Laurier Golden Hawks in Waterloo, Ont.

Led by Dahria Beatty and Emily Nishikawa, the Yukon ski team wrapped up nationals with a fourth-place finish in Thunder Bay, Ont. The Whitehorse ski club took home eight medals, and will host the 2016 national event.

APRIL

The Whitehorse Curling Club welcomed rinks from across the nation during the 2015 Canadian Masters Curling Championship. Manitoba skip Ron Westcott captured the men’s title, while British Columbia’s Karen Lepine took the women’s event.

MAY

He was never in the medal hunt, but Pelly Vincent-Braun learned tons at the junior world championships in Brazil. The 16-year-old whitewater paddler competed for Team Canada in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil.

Watson Lake wrestler Brittanee Laverdure and Whitehorse wheelchair racer Jessica Frotten both had stellar months, each winning medals at international events. Frotten, who went on to represent the territory at the Pan Am Games in Toronto, also won five medals in Victoria to kick off another season to remember.

JUNE

Cyclist Preston Blackie outsprinted rivals Joel Macht and David Gonda to the finish line to win the Southern Lakes Yukon Gran Fondo. However, work commitments kept Blackie out of the Kluane Chilkat International Bike Relay later that month. Macht claimed that title, out-racing younger rivals Gonda and Alaskan Tyson Flaharty to the finish line in Haines, Alaska.

From Whitehorse to Dawson, tandem kayak duo Dave Hutchison and Bob Ross stayed in the lead in this year’s Yukon River Quest. The pair, known by the team name “Time to GO!,” were the first to paddle across the finish line in Dawson with a winning time of 44:51:07.

JULY

The territory’s world-class trails were showcased during the Western Canadian Orienteering Championships. Orienteers from western Canada – as well as Ontario, the U.S.A., and Europe – gathered in the Yukon capital for the three-day event, which featured, sprint, middle distance and long courses. Yukon athletes earned 29 top-three finishes.

A year after losing the Men’s A final 24-20 to Skagway-based Chico’s Bail Bonds, the P&M Recycling Guns took back their title with an emphatic 21-8 win over the Urban Realty Reds. The win was the Guns’ seventh in the past 10 years, alongside three runner-up finishes. Guns left-fielder Matt Kremer provided the heroics, crushing a no-doubt grand slam over the centre-field fence to push his team to victory via the mercy rule.

AUGUST

Special Olympic runner Darby McIntyre, 15, came home from the 2015 World Summer Games in Los Angeles with two medals. The youngest member of Team Canada claimed gold in the 5,000-metre run and bronze in the 1,500-m race.

Logan Roots earned his third Yukon River Trail Marathon title in four years, completing the 42.2-kilometre course in 2:59:16. Carcross endurance runner Denise McHale won the women’s title.

Watson Lake hockey players laced up their skates alongside some of their NHL heroes. Arizona Coyotes goalie Mike Smith was joined by free agents David Booth and B.J. Crombeen for the Yukon hockey camp.

Rennes Lindsay made waves for Yukon, swimming to two bronze medals at age group nationals. The 12-year-old up-and-coming star earned bronze in both the 400- and 800-metre freestyle swims in Quebec City.

They didn’t win any games, but Yukoners left their mark at the Men’s and Women’s Canadian Slo-pitch Championships in Dorchester, Ont. The Urban Realty Reds and Fountain Tire Titans represented the territory at the event.

Team Yukon arrived home from the Western Canada Summer Games in Fort McMurray, Alta, with two medals. Hannah King, 14, won the Yukon’s first medal, taking bronze in judo, while Brody Smith, 18, won silver in the 5,000-m race walking event.

Wheelchair racer Frotten won two bronze medals at the Parapan Am Games in Toronto, finishing third in the 100- and 400-metre events. The 27-year-old went on to represent the North at the 2015 International Paralympic Committee World Championships in Qatar, in October.

Yukon orienteers earned 15 top-three finishes, including 11 golds, at the Canadian Orienteering Championships. Events were held in New Brunswick, P.E.I. and Nova Scotia.

Ian Perrier, 24, became the first hockey goalie in Yukon history to sign a professional contract, joining Åmåls Sportklubb in Sweden.

SEPTEMBER

Pairs skater Hoffman continued her rapid rise up the figure skating ranks, finishing fourth alongside partner Chudak at a Junior Grand Prix event in Colorado Springs, Colo., a circuit organized by the International Skating Union. The two collected a second fourth-place finish later in the month in Poland.

Anchorage-based Team Raven pulled a fast one on Team Scarecrow to once again claim victory at the Klondike Trail of ’98 International Road Relay. Long a men’s team, the group hoodwinked its Yukon rivals to win the 176.5-kilometre race from Skagway to Whitehorse last weekend – in record-setting style no less.

The seven-man, three-woman team blazed through the race’s 10 legs in less than 11 hours, setting a new mixed record of 10:56:36.

The city’s shuttered bowling alley re-opened part-time. Mad Trapper Alleys in Riverdale closed in May, but manager Stephen Kwok vowed to keep the alley afloat part-time for at least one more season.

OCTOBER

Canadian scrum half Phil Mack, a former Yukoner, represented the nation at the Rugby World Cup in England.

The territory’s U14 Yukon Strikers soccer team ended their national tournament on a high, beating the host Newfoundland and Labrador’s second team 2-1 on goals by Joe Hanson and Ben Shier to cap their tournament in St. John’s with a huge victory. The win propelled the team into 10th place, ahead of both the second N.L. team and P.E.I., revealing a bright future for the young squad, which included several underagers.

NOVEMBER

A big month for Yukon curlers began with Scoffin joining Brendan Bottcher’s rink at the National in Oshawa, Ont. The move represented the first call to the big leagues for the 21-year-old, who played second.

Then, Jim Sias’ magical run at the 2015 Travelers Curling Club Championships ended with an 11-2 loss to Quebec in the quarter-finals at the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club.

DECEMBER

Two of Yukon’s most recognizable athletes over the past decade called it a career in the same week. Zach Bell, 33, retired from professional cycling. The two-time Olympian accepted several new positions that will keep him close to the sport he loves, however.

Wrestler Laverdure also announced her retirement. The 33-year-old indicated to the Star in May that her final career goal was to represent Canada at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, but failed to win her category at trials held in Strathcona County, Alta.

The Whitehorse Huskies opened their season by splitting a series with the Whitecourt Wild. Derek Klassen scored the game-winner in Game 2 to give the squad their first win of the new senior hockey season.