A unique location, the right facilities and most of all, that great northern hospitality.

Whitehorse received the thumbs up from visiting coaches and skaters this past weekend, as local organizers and volunteers worked to put on the final test event prior to the 2007 Canada Winter Games.

More than 80 figure skaters from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, B.C., the N.W.T. and Yukon took to the ice over the two-day competition, which featured pre-novice and novice men's and women's singles, as well as pre-novice and novice ice dance events.

About 30 officials were also flown into the capital city from the western provinces.

There were definitely some dominant performances, such as the one displayed by Rika Inoda of B.C. in the novice women's category, as well as some extremely close races for the podium.

Yukoner Kevin Caron, who was hoping for a top-five finish at the event, achieved his goal by placing fourth overall in the pre-novice men's category. While he acknowledged there is still a lot of room for improvement, Caron was pleased with his performance especially in the free skate.

'(Sunday) I just wanted to skate for myself and have fun,' he stated, in an interview following the final event. 'It was the first time I landed a triple loop in competition.'

Caron admitted skating in front of a hometown crowd something none of the Yukoners had ever really had a chance to do before the weekend was a bit more nerve-wracking than he had anticipated.

His coach, Vancouver's Karen Magnussen, agreed.

'It's always different at home, whether the athletes feel it or not,' said Magnussen, who also coaches Caron's sister Teneil and Amelia Austin.

'(Kevin) did a very good job. He's done a better short program before, but all in all, he performed well. His program just needs some finishing touches.'

Magnussen said the main thing Kevin needs to work on is presentation. Both Magnussen and Kevin's parents are working on finding someone in Whitehorse with a dance background, to help him with that aspect.

'That's very important for him, for his future skating. It's a big part of the marks.'

Kevin will also be working on his triple sow jump, which he has started landing in practice. He and Teneil will fly to Vancouver to work with Magnussen at the North Shore Winter Club later this week, before heading to their next competition in Saskatchewan.

Teneil finished 25th overall in the pre-novice women's competition on the weekend while Austin was 21st. Fellow Yukon skaters Katie Blaker and Chantal Emond were 19th and 30th respectively in the same category.

'Teneil and Millie both improved a lot in this competition,' said Magnussen. 'They both had personal bests, as far as how they competed.

'Teneil rotated all her jumps and Millie landed a lot of things that she sometimes doesn't. She really concentrated and that's very important.'

While the Yukon athletes didn't skate away with any hardware, the visitors insisted Whitehorse should still be very proud.

Saskatchewan's Mervin Tran, who claimed silver in the novice men's division, enjoyed his first visit to the territory and is excited to come back for the Games next February.

'It's a really nice rink, better than the one we have back home in Regina. It's a little harder to breathe here, because of the high altitude. But we got here early, so we were able to adjust before the competition.'

Tran was extremely impressed with the hospitality during his stay in Whitehorse. Both Tran and one of his teammates from Saskatchewan celebrated their birthdays during their visit and their billot actually threw them a birthday party, complete with cake and presents.

It was a move that went far beyond what was necessary, said his coach, Maureen Kohl.

'It was amazing. All the billots took such good care of everyone.'

Kohl was also pleased with the action on the ice. The test event was a part of her team's commitment to training for 2007, she said, adding it was important for all of them to get a feel for the host city and the facilities they will be competing in at the Games, so they don't feel overwhelmed.

'The facilities are just awesome. We're really looking forward to getting back here.'

Here are the overall results from this past weekend's figure skating test event, including points totals:

Pre-Novice Women

1. Mandy Nguyen, BC, 67.09

2. Gloria Chang, BC, 65.74

3. Rebecca Pickles, BC, 64.43

4. Courtney Bean, AB, 64.40

5. Rebecca Marsh, AB, 63.61

6. Ashley Blackmore, AB, 62.90

7. Jayme Nagy, SK, 62.72

8. Taylor Gibney, BC, 60.52

9. Alexandra Ryan, AB, 59.72

10. Nicole Orford, BC, 57.94

11. Kathy Gill, AB, 56.65

12. Paloma Proszak, SK, 54.23

13. Holly Peyton, MB, 53.31

14. Taylor Odgers, SK, 53.13

15. Ashley Skulmoski, SK, 51.93

16. Brittany Hewlko, MB, 50.55

17. Madison Stewart, MB, 50.47

18. Aleah Thoms, SK, 47.90

19. Katie Blaker, YT, 47.29

20. Danielle Walker, MB, 45.05

21. Amelia Austin, YT, 44.66

22. Kristina Hewalo, SK, 40.32

23. Lindsay Penner, MB, 39.11

24. Janine LeBlanc, SK, 37.43a

25. Teneil Caron, YT, 35.83

26. Jacqueline Burns, NT, 35.77

27. Erika Kritsch, NT, 34.31

28. Sarah Elke, NT, 33.39

29. Laura Ross, NT, 31.66

30. Chantal Emond, YT, 31.37

Pre-Novice Men

1. Stuart Ure, AB, 70.58

2. Liam Firus, BC, 68.08

3. Dylan Archambault, BC, 66.53

4. Kevin Caron, YT, 64.75

5. Christopher Blackmore, AB, 63.55

6. Rhys Anderson, BC, 62.99

7. BJ Cheung, AB, 60.66

8. Pollux Yeung, BC, 60.30

9. Lee Chandler, MB, 56.77

10. Paul-Remi Poulin, SK, 55.48

11. Nic Van Der Merwe, AB, 55.21

12. Kurtis Hori, BC, 55.21

13. Garrett Gosselin, SK, 48.17

14. Barry Tran, SK, 44.65

15. Aaron Stanley, MB, 35.59

Novice Women

1. Rika Inoda, BC, 88.67

2. Sara Horcoff, AB, 76.13

3. Kai Yi Pang, BC, 72.21

4. Danielle Flukinger, BC, 71.79

5. Dallas Daniel, AB, 71.36

6. Kristen Grocholski, SK, 71.26

7. Lindsey Woodcock, AB, 70.52

8. Jessica-Amy Sergeant, AB, 69.16

9. Devon Kippen, AB, 68.90

10. Kelsey Ross, BC, 65.93

11. Nicole Hunter, SK, 64.50

12. Ricki Obed, SK, 63.91

13. Shasta Bear, SK, 62.90

14. Kelsey Nagy, SK, 62.77

15. Alanna De Mello, BC, 58.01

16. Kaleigh Hole, MB, 57.25

17. Brittney Casavant, SK, 51.56

18. Kelsey Ring, SK, 47.96

19. Tara Kaip, NT, 36.78

Novice Men

1. Robbie Harrison, BC, 80.20

2. Mervin Tran, SK, 73.51

3. David Shoults, AB, 73.08

4. Sasha Wells, AB, 71.56

5. Tyler Leduc, BC, 70.56

6. Brandon Prete, SK, 63.71

7. Braden Davie, SK, 62.57

Pre-Novice Dance

1. Melissa Scott/Peter Ahluwalia,

BC, 53.55

1. Elizabeth Hadwell/Jason

Cheperdak, BC, 50.03

1. Brittany Blair/W. Bryce Bartel,

SK, 48.19

1. Jill Okrainetz/Jon Okrainetz,

SK, 46.06

1. Tessa Hill/Barry Tran,

SK, 43.74

Novice Dance

1. Helen Ramful/Justin Mohr,

AB, 65.36

1. Tara McCashin/Jeff Williams,

AB, 63.36