The 2004 Yukon junior squash championships were held at the Better Bodies Cross Training Centre in Whitehorse this past weekend.

About 25 juniors took part in the championships, which were sponsored by the Business Development Bank of Canada.

Julien Revel finished first in the Platinum Division while Stephen Buckler came out on top in the diamond division. Daphnee Tuzlak won first place in the ruby division while Jeanette Carney was first in silver division action and Jasmine Harvey-Ganter finished on top in the bronze division.

Yukon coach and Better Bodies squash pro Marie Desmarais said the tournament was very successful and featured a couple of surprises especially in the Diamond Division.

'Stephen Buckler and Robert McMynn both did very well against Jane Bell,' she said. 'Jane had been beating them all year but they played really well this weekend and sort of rose to her level I guess.

'Robert beat her in five games so that was very exciting.'

Desmarais said it's nice to have a benchmark, somebody a little higher than you that you know you can beat if you work hard enough. And that's exactly what Buckler and McMynn did.

'It just turned out this was Stephen's day,' she added.

The junior championships were the last competition for Squash Yukon this season, although Desmarais is organizing a junior squash camp for the beginning of August.

Trevor Borland, considered one of the best up-and-coming squash coaches in Canada, will be travelling to Whitehorse for the camp. Borland, who works in Winnipeg, coaches national champion Alana Miller.

'Out of the 12 juniors he coaches, he's got about eight of them on the national squad,' stated Desmarais.

After a few months off, qualifying play for squash league starts in August, while the first tournament next season will be held in September.

Both Buckler and fellow junior Grayson Peters are leaving Whitehorse this summer, so there may be a few new faces on the block.

'It's been a really busy year,' said Desmarais. 'It's the first time for juniors that we targeted four Outside tournaments. We usually target two or three but because nationals were in the West this year, we took the opportunity to do that.'

When asked for some of the highlights of the past squash season, the coach pointed to Yukon's performance at the junior nationals. Bell came in fourth place out of 19 players in her division while Marc Emond finished ninth out of 38, something Desmarais called 'just fantastic.

'For a population our size to have contenders at that level of play is amazing,' she said proudly.

Here are the full results from the Yukon junior championships this past weekend:

Platinum Division

1st Place - Julien Revel

2nd Place - Jared Tuck

Diamond Division

1st Place - Stephen Buckler

2nd Place - Robert McMynn

Consolation - Jane Bell

Ruby Division

1st Place - Daphnee Tuzlak

2nd Place - Erin Linklater

Silver Division

1st Place - Jeanette Carney

2nd Place - Zoe Walker

Bronze Division

1st Place - Jasmine Harvey-Ganter

2nd Place - Anatole Tuzlak

Door Prize Winners

Marc Emond - Vest

Zoe Walker - Water Bottle

Grayson Peters - Water Bottle

Robert McMynn - Water Bottle

Jared Tuck - Water Bottle

Jeannette Carney - Water Bottle

River Walton - Water Bottle

Shaun Stinson - Notebooke

Daphnee Tuzlak - Junior Membership