The athletes competing in Phase 1 of the Western Canada Summer Games have finished their events giving way to Phase 2 which begins today. The girls’ volleyball team will kick things off this morning against Alberta.

Cyclist Mara Roldan added a bronze medal in the cross-country mountain bike race to her trophy case. Roldan finished the race, at the Highland Coulee Trails, in 35:54. Her teammate Aisha Roldan placed in the top 10 placing eighth.

The Yukon medal count currently sits at five.

The canoe/kayak team had another successful day in the water on Tuesday with top 10 finishes and near podium misses.

Winner of two bronze medals, Julianne Girouard put on a fifth-place performance in the K-1 200-metre race and followed it up by placing fourth in the K-1 5000m.

Cole Wilkie-Hobus was the sixth place paddler in the K-1 5000m and teammate Joel Girouard as seventh.

The male K-4 team had a near podium miss. The quartet placed fourth in the 200-metre race.

The girls’ soccer team ended their tournament Tuesday with a loss to Saskatchewan.

The boys’ also played Saskatchewan in a game with medal implications. A win could have pushed them to silver and no lower than bronze. Joe Hanson scored twice for the Yukon but they ran out of steam and dropped the game 5-2.

“It was just Saskatchewan’s day,” said Jake Hanson, one of the coaches with the team. “The boys were right in it and just ran out of gas.”

In losing, the boys fell to fourth place, but it was still a major step forward for the soccer program in the Yukon according to Hanson.

“It is an unprecedented result,” said Hanson. “We had never taken a point off of Manitoba and we drew 0-0 with them.

“We almost had the same against Alberta, the gold medal winners. We had a goal called back for offside in the final minute of the game which would have tied it.”

The boys played Alberta in their first game at Westerns and fell 2-1.

Although the sting of not medalling is still fresh Hanson said the team will look to carry the positive momentum forward.

“There is some disappointment from the boys,” said Hanson. “But just having that opportunity to deal with the pressure and the moment will help them going forward. It is a special opportunity to play at a Games.”

The core of the boys’ soccer team is the same as the side that went to the U15 Nationals last year and finished seventh.

“They took it up a notch,” said Hanson. “Not it is keeping them motivated and positioning themselves well for future opportunities.”

The team still has competitions on the horizon. On the Labour Day weekend, they will be travelling to B.C. to play in the SX International Cup. Their experience at the Western Canada Summer Games will only help them compete at a higher level going forward.

The girls’ and boys’ basketball teams played their final games of Westerns on Monday night. The girls dropped their first game to Saskatchewan and bowed out of the tournament after a loss to the N.W.T.

Like the girls, the boys also played and fell to Saskatchewan in their first game on Monday. They followed with a 63-51 loss to the N.W.T.

The beach volleyball team of Katelyn Holway and Paige Poelman, known as Yukon Black, ended their tournament with a 2-1 loss to Nunavut.

Yukon White’s tournament ended on Monday.

The boys’ Yukon White team of Manas Toews and Brendan Cabardo-Atkin also fell to Nunavut in their final match 2-1.

It is a slow day in Swift Current for the Yukon athletes, only the volleyball teams will be playing. The boys open their Games against Saskatchewan.

Things begin to pick up on Thursday when the triathletes and track athletes join the volleyball players in competition.