Team Yukon girls have won five medals over three days at the 2011 Haywood Ski Nationals in Canmore, Alta., starting last Saturday.

Three of those medals came Sunday with Kendra Murray's bronze medal in the junior girls five-kilometre skate ski event, Emily Nishikawa's silver – making her the top Canadian behind U.S. skier Chelsea Holmes – in the 10-km skate ski and Dahria Beatty's silver in the junior women's race.

"It's (Murray's) best result ever at a nationals or in any race for that matter,” said Team Yukon head coach Alain Masson, who added that Murray is "skiing the best she's ever done in her life.”

Little can be added to Nishikawa's streak: the 21-year-old won three medals (gold, silver and bronze) at the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax, N.S., in February.

And Beatty's medal is hardly surprising, Masson said, despite the fact that she's punching above her weight class.

She could compete in the junior girls (17-18) category but chose to compete in the junior women (19-20).

"Because she's so competitive she can race a few years up her age and still be competitive,” Masson said.

"Dahria's is one of the best skiers probably the Yukon has ever had.”

The Yukon's two other medals came on day one.

Murray and Beatty teamed up to win gold in the Challenge Female Team Sprint Free in a time of 12 minutes, 49.2 seconds, 10 seconds ahead of second-place finishers Anne-Marie Comeau and Alexia Rancourt of Mont-Ste-Anne, Que. (12:59.24).

In that event, two skiers each completed three laps of the 0.8-km course, tagging off to their partner after each lap.

The Yukon wasn't done with their gold rush on day one.

Janelle Greer and Emily Nishikawa won the Open Female Free Sprint Relay (three laps each of the 1.2-km course) in 17 minutes, 45.8 seconds, 2.13 seconds ahead of silver-medal winners Amanda Ammar and Annika Hicks of Canmore Nordic 1 (17:47.92).

"We started with a bang,” Masson said. "It was amazing. That was way beyond expectation, especially in skating.

"Last year we won two gold on the opening day of the races in Whitehorse but it was in classic, and we had won both of the challenge categories last year, male and female. So this year winning the open female and challenge female was really good.”

The Yukon guys had less luck on opening day.

But even while battling illness the guys remained competitive.

John Parry and David Greer combined for a seventh-place finish in the Open Male Free Sprint Relay (1.2 km laps each) with a time of 15 minutes, 29.71 seconds, 31.61 seconds out of first.

The Haywood Ski Nationals has attracted almost 700 of the best senior and junior racers in North America to Canmore.

The Yukon failed to medal on Monday, day three of the week-long event, and is continuing races today through to Saturday.