Good things come to those who wait, which was certainly the case for Brittany Smith and Colin Abbott who competed in the final event of the annual Don Sumanik Memorial Races.

Both skiers won the Don Sumanik Trophy after finishing with the fastest combined time in their respectable Open Class categories between the race series' two events, being the freestyle and classic technique.

The classic technique race was held after nearly a one month delay, which was due to lack of snow on the course used to hold this event.

Smith finished with a combined time in the Open Female Category between the 7.5-km Freestyle and the 7.5-km Classic Mass Start of 0:55:21.8 to win the trophy, while Abbott's combined finish of 0:55:15.28 in both the 7.5-km Freestyle and the 10-km Classic Mass Start was the fastest in the Open Male Category. This was the first time both skiers have won the Don Sumanik Trophy.

'I am glad I have done it,' Abbott said. 'I have probably been thinking about it for the last couple of years, just wanting to hold that trophy, but I'm glad it's finally happened.'

Sixty skiers participated in six different age categories for the classic technique race, which was sponsored by the Grey Mountain Lions Club.

The different age groups included Atom Boys and Atom Girls, which was open to skiers born in 2000 & later; PeeWee Girls and PeeWee Boys, which were both open to skiers born in 1999 and 1998; Mini Midget Boys and Mini Midget Girls, which featured participants born in 1997 and 1996; Midget Boys and Midget Girls, comprised of skiers born in 1995 and 1994; Juvenile Boys and Juvenile Girls, which included skiers born in 1993 and 1992; and the Open Class category for both male and female, which included skiers born in 1991 and earlier. All races cost $10 to participate in, with the exception of the Open Class category, which was $15.

Winners included Marek Boulerice with a time of 0:06:01.4 in the PeeWee boys 1-km Classic Mass start, while Natalie Hynes finished with a time of 0:05:38.3 in the girls category. Mira Mason's finished first in the Atom Girls 1-km Classic Mass Start with a time of 0:07:29.4, while Adam Hynes won for the boys category, finishing in 0:07:44.1. Smith was the top skier in the Open Female 7.5-km race, finishing the race's two laps with a combined time of 0:27:42.9, while Colin finished with a combined time of 0:31:39.1 in the 10-km Open Male event.

Janelle Greer's time of 0:12:58.8 was the fastest in the Juvenile Girls 3.75-km Classic Mass Start, while Knute Johnsgaard won the Juvenile Boys 5-km, finishing with a time of 0:16:12.2. For the Midget Boys 5-km, Fabian Brook recorded the fastest time with 0:17:41.5, while in the Midget Girls category, Dahria Beatty time of 0:13:48.9 over the 3.75-km race was the best. In the 2.5-km Mini Midgets girls race, Pia Blake's time of 0:12:10.5 was the fastest, while Caelan McLean won the boy's category with a time of 0:11:31.1. Besides the two trophies, first, second, third and participation ribbons were awarded at the event.

The two Don Sumanik races will determine the Arctic Winter Games ski team, which will consist of a maximum of 24 skiers. Skiers, competing in the older categories that do well at both races also increase their chances of qualifying for the Canadian Cross Country Ski Championships. Selections for the Arctic Winter Games squad should be announced by mid-week.

Smith, 16, said winning the trophy is the best thing she has won so far in the sport

'I think getting the trophy is absolutely amazing because you get your name on it and (it) forever will be in the ski chalet,' she said. 'It's like getting a medal at nationals because it's going to be here forever.'

She said she wasn't thinking about winning the trophy until after the race.

'It's sort of an added bonus when you consider it in the end because it is really difficult to think about winning when you are out there,' Smith said. 'You just think about going.'

Both Smith and Abbott are on the Yukon Ski Team and they hope to compete in nationals in March.

Alain Masson, the head coach of the Yukon Ski Team, said he was pleased with the team's results.

'Every time we have a race there are always some skiers who do really well, some who do average and some who don't do as well,' he said. 'That is part of racing because of health reasons, some people may get sick or tired, but I think if everybody tries hard and is happy with their race, I'm happy.'

Masson said the skiing conditions were perfect and he was glad the ski club waited to hold the race.

'If we had tried to run the race in December when we had less snow it would have been very marginal, so today was perfect,' he said. 'It was a very good for everyone.'

In other skiing news, no Yukoners made the cut for Cross Country Canada's recently announced team selections for this year's Word Junior Championships.

Both Emily Nishikawa and David Greer just missed out in final selections.