Ten Yukon speedskaters burned up the track at two meets at the Olympic Oval in Calgary recently.

After posting some very impressive results and winning a few medals, by the end of the meets many southern skaters and coaches were asking "Where did those skaters say they were from?”

At the R U Fast meet this past weekend, Cord Hamilton and Malcolm Taggart set the stage for the weekend by skating in the Masters division Friday night.

Hamilton, in his first out-of-territory meet, set one personal best (PB) and tied for fourth overall in the Masters group, while Taggart won all his races, set PBs in each of the four distances and ended up first.

Hanna Wirth, skating as the lone Yukon junior, won all her B finals, resulting in her placing sixth out of a field of 10 in her division and setting two PBs in the process.

Michael Ritchie of Haines Junction and Micah Taggart-Cox of Marsh Lake skated in the T2T Boys Division 3, a competitive group of 16 skaters.

Their 3,000-m points race was at a constant fast pace for what is supposed to be more of a strategic race.

"Normally a points race ebbs and flows, but this one was pretty well a sprint from the gun,” said Phil Hoffman, head coach of the Whitehorse Rapids Speed Skating Club.

"It was a very competitive pack for their race, and the boys were pretty well thrashed by the time they crossed the finish line.”

Including their results in the 3,000, Ritchie ended up sixth out of the 16 skaters, while Micah took home the division's gold medal.

Tristan Muir of Whitehorse, although at age 11 still an L2T athlete, had strong seed times and was moved up to the T2T Boys Division 4 to skate against older and more experienced competition. It was Muir's first meet outside the Yukon and a tough introduction to skating in tight and fast packs of competitive skaters. But he more than rose to the challenge, setting two new personal bests and having fun in the process.

Three younger Yukoners skated in the Learn to Train Division. Emma Hamilton of Whitehorse, skating outside the Yukon for the first time, was most successful in her 1,000-m race, leading it from start to finish and knocking a whopping 18 seconds off her previous personal best.

Meanwhile, Marsh Lake brothers Caius and Lucas Taggart-Cox competed in L2T Division 2 with Caius bringing home the bronze medal and the younger Lucas finishing seventh in the field of 20.

At the end of all the races, one of the highlights of the weekend was having Canadian speedsters, who had just returned from the Sochi Olympics, present the medals.

Gilmore Junio, Lucas Makowsky and Denny Morrison signed helmets and gear bags for the Yukoners, later tweeting they had just signed the gear of future Olympians.

Meanwhile, at the Winterfest Short Track Speed Skating Meet Feb 22 to 23, both of the Yukon's 19-year-old speedskaters found that the longer the race, the better they did.

In her division, Heather Clarke of Whitehorse placed seventh in the 500-m, sixth in the 1,000-m and third overall in the 1,500-m while setting new PBs in each distance. Clarke trains full-time at the Olympic Oval and is preparing to skate at

the National Team Selection meet in Vancouver in two weeks.

Shea Hoffman, also of Whitehorse, placed ninth overall in the 500-m, sixth overall in the 1,000-m, and by skating a PB, second overall in the 1,500-m in his division.

He is preparing to head to the Arctic Winter Games in Fairbanks March 16 to 22, along with the rest of the Yukon speedskating team.