The Yukon's top cross-country skiers are en route to Newfoundland today, in preparation of the 2014 Haywood Ski Nationals.

The territory's team of 13 will be highlighted by Olympian Emily Nishikawa and Yukon Elite Squad members Knute Johnsgaard and Colin Abbott.

At last year's nationals in Whistler, B.C., the Yukon's ski team finished fourth out of 67 entries in overall club aggregate standings.

This year's event will take place March 15 to 22 in Corner Brook, Nfld. Blow Me Down Cross Country Ski Club will host the national event.

On Saturday, many of the national team members participated in the Yukon Cross Country Ski Championships at the Whitehorse ski club.

The championships doubled as the final leg of the Grey Mountain Lions race series.

A dusting of fresh snow and mild temperatures made for excellent conditions at the championships, said chief of race Grant Abbott.

"The weather was splendid,” he told the Star. "It came through really nicely for us. It was pretty icy but then it snowed the night before. We groomed early in the morning and it just cleaned up the tracks. They were great.”

The field of 61 young skiers put in strong showings with close finishes in several categories.

Johnsgaard won the open men's category, completing the 10-km race in 27:29, while Annah Hanthorn won the junior female 10-km race in 35:08.

Michael Kischuk topped the midget boys five-km race in 16:37, while Regan Fuerstner beat both Amanda Thomson and Hannah Jirousek by one second to claim the five-km midget girls race in 18:42.

Junior winners included Marcus Deuling (7.5 km in 22:22) and Solstice Toews (five km in 19:23), while Simon Cash (7.5 km in 23:45) and Hannah Deuling (five km in 17:23) were the top juvenile finishers.

In the younger categories, Sasha Masson and Derek Deuling tied for first in the peewee boys 2.5-km race (8:21), while Sonjaa Schmidt was the clear-cut winner in the 2.5-km peewee girls race (9:54).

Felix Masson (6:00) and Abigail Jirousek (6:16) achieved victory in their respective atom 1.5-km events.

The Gordon Taylor trophy for fastest male and female skiers was awarded to Johnsgaard and Hanthorn.

Meanwhile, the Schiffkorn Trophy for the fastest male and female skiers under the age of 14 was awarded to Kishchuk and Fuerstner.

While the Yukon's top talents will be skiing in Newfoundland next week, the next generation of cross-country ski stars will be in Fairbanks, Alaska, at the Arctic Winter Games.

A team of 15 skiers will be part of the larger Yukon contingent at the multi-sport tournament.

Abbott said the future continues to look bright for cross-country skiing in the territory.

"All the top senior people are not in Whitehorse anymore, so it's sort of a younger crowd,” he said. "The encouraging thing is some of the younger categories are really tight. There was pretty big fields in the peewee categories, with a lot of close results.

"We're getting a bit more depth and talent in the younger kids, and it's really promising for the future.”

Abbott said more skiers were expected initially, but Whitehorse Minor Soccer's indoor championships were held simultaneously and lowered the final turnout.