Whitehorse's athletes were busy in February; here is the continuation of the year in review from yesterday's Whitehorse Star, starting off a few days into February.

Whitehorse's junior curlers had a great turnout at the M&M Meats Canadian Junior Curling Championships, with their best showing yet.

Team Sarah Koltun, which was recently honoured with the 2009 Team of the Year Award from Sport Yukon, and Team Thomas Scoffin had a combined eight wins.

The 2009 Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race began in Whitehorse on Valentines Day. See page ### for a recap of the race action.

Two Yukon soccer teams of 12 headed down to Edmonton in mid-February to compete in the 2009 Power Play Cup. The two teams took home the gold and the silver at the Tier 2 tournament, with coach John MacPhail.

Special Olympian Owen Munroe had an incredible achievement in the middle of February, when the cross-country skier won three medals at the Special Olympics World Winter Games held in Idaho.

Munroe won bronze in the one-kilometre classic race, bronze in the four-by one-km relay and fourth place in the three-km classic event, for which a medal was awarded.

6,000 athletes participated in the event from 100 countries.

Munroe immediately set his sites on the 2011 Summer World Games to be held in Athens, Greece where he hopes to compete in the 400-metre sprint race and the running long jump.

March began with the Yukon's biathlon athletes heading off to the Western Canadian Biathlon Championships. Four medals were won for the Yukon. Ryan Burlingame won gold in the 12.5-kilometre, and bronze in the 7.5-km sprint. Erin Oliver-Beebe won bronze in the junior girls six-km and gold in the four-km sprint.

The Coldwell Banker Minor Hockey team won gold in the Yukon Novice Spirit of 2010 Hockey Tournament held in Haines Junction. Coldwell edged out Envirolube 3-2 to capture the gold hardware.

F.H. collins Secondary School defended their title at the Yukon Championships basketball tournament. Both the boys and girls teams in Grade 11 and 12 won the title.

Coming off of his win in the 2009 Yukon Quest, Sebastian Schnuelle began the Iditarod with an early lead out of Finger Lake. He continue a strong showing into the Takotna, Alaska check stop in third place, 700 miles from the finish line.

The Yukon Cross Country Ski Team continued their successful season at the Haywood Ski Nationals held in Duntroon, Ont. Team Yukon was in fifth place after three days of competition with six medals on the strength of Dahria Beatty and David Greer.

On Friday, March 13, it was reported that Schnuelle was still going strong in fourth place in the Iditarod.

Back to the Haywood Ski Nationals, Beatty pulled off an incredible performance in a classic sprint event to get a gold medal. Janelle Greer won a bronze medal, for her third of the meet.

Schnuelle moved up the ranks in the Iditarod by March 17, with Lance Mackey leading the 1,770-kilometre race out of Koyuk, Alaska. On Tuesday, March 19 Schnuelle finished second place in the Iditarod behind Mackey in Nome, Alaska.

Mackey won his third straight Iditarod.

At the B.C. Pier 3 Provincial Hockey Championships, the Pee Wee Mustangs brought back a silver against the host New Westminster Royals, who took the contest 5-2.

On the weekend of March 20 to 22, former Olympic figure skater Victor Kraatz visited the Arctic Edge Skaters for a clinic. The young skaters of the club were overwhelmed by the skating star, and many brought posters for him to sign.

As reported on Tuesday, March 24, the City of Whitehorse announced they would bid to host the 2012 Arctic Winter Games.

Jonathon Lucas became the winner of the Yukon Brewing Copper Haul Twister league after winning the final race of the season and stealing away the trophy from two-time winner Lee Kirkpatrick. Lucas ran the entire season with two dogs on his skijor team.

Graham Nishikawa got back on his skis and in the news when he won a bronze medal at the U.S. National Cross Country Championships held in Fairbanks. He placed in the 10-km free technique race.

On Sunday, March 29, Whitehorse finally got to host the Stanley Cup. Holy Family Elementary won the right to have the trophy at their school after raising $7,589.06 for the Special Olympics. Student Jessica Collins raised the most money; $1,621.56. Collins had dinner with the Cup for her fund-raising efforts, which is a rare honour that usually only players get.

Altogether the contest raised $18,000 for Special Olympics Yukon.

Hans Gatt got a big win in the dog mushing season when he won the 33rd Annual Percy De Wolfe Memorial Race in 23 hours, 26 minutes, to finish off the month of March.

The Whitehorse Women's Hockey League ended the season at the beginning of April. The Red Rockets won the final showdown against the White Team 3-2.

While the winter sports began to wind down, the athletics season started.

Denise McHale and her husband Greg had an awesome race at the BHP Billiton Rock and Ice Ultra. Greg won first place for the second year in a row, in a time of 29 hours. Greg ran in the Diamond Ultra category. Denise came in third overall and first in the women's category in 33 hours. The race was a gruelling 225-km, six-day adventure race.

On April 8, Bronwyn Pasloski and Alexandra Gabor were chosen to swim at the Australia Age Group Championships, to be held in Sydney.

The Oldtimers Hockey League finished up on April. 8, with Kilrich taking the league.

On April 14, Yukon Tennis revived the Capital Cup after a 20 year hiatus, a trophy the Yukon vies for against cities in Alaska.

Whitehorse Bantam Mustangs players Tyson Glass, Gage Preece and Matthew McCarthy were chosen to travel to the Czech Republic to play European teams.

The boys were scouted in Dawson, B.C. during a game with the Mustangs.

The results started coming in for Gabor and Pasloski at the Australia Age Group Championships. Gabor won gold in the 100-m freestyle, breaking a B.C. record for girls aged 15-17 with her time of 56.52 seconds. She also won gold in the 200-m freestyle with a time of 1 minute 52 seconds. She went on to get silver in the 400-m freestyle, bronze in the 200-m free where she set another 15-17 age group record.

She also broke her own record in the 50-m freestyle with a time of 25.76 seconds.

Pasloski won bronze in the 16-year-old breastroke with a time of 1 minute, 10.89 seconds, fifth in the 100-m breastroke, setting a new B.C. record for girls 15-17, then went on to win gold in the B final of the 200-m breastroke.

On April 24 the Takhini Heartbeaters skipping team qualified for a spot at the nationals, after a fifth place finish at the B.C./Yukon Rope Skipping Championships.

The Arctic Edge Skaters took home a total of 13 medals at the Vancouver Island Skate International Competition in early April to end a month of incredible achievements from Yukoners at home and around the world.

For the continuation of the 2009 year in review, see tomorrow's Whitehorse Star.