Leif Blake and Forest Pearson headlined podium performances of a group of Yukon athletes competing at orienteering nationals last week.

Blake and Pearson finished second and third in the middle distance, competitive category of men 21-34. Blake, who is actually 17, made the decision to race up to be in a more competitive category.

“I was going in quite calm looking to favour better navigation over running speed and always knowing where I was,” he said of his strategy for the middle.

The team of nine Yukon athletes stood atop the podium a combined nine times, with repeat medal performances by Afan Jones, Sabine Schweiger and Nesta Leduc. Darryl Bray also won bronze in the beginner sprint race.

Blake, who is fresh off his rookie debut at junior world championships, injured his knee and only raced one event at nationals.

The races were originally scheduled to be held in Canmore and the Kananaskis Country, but a bountiful and early berry crop had higher than normal numbers of bears visiting the Canmore Nordic Centre, the site of the long, sprint and sprint relay races. Alberta Parks closed the area down and race officials scrambled to find a new site.

The long was moved to the Rafter Six map, where the middle was also being held and the sprint and sprint relay were moved to the University of Calgary campus.

With the increased bear presence in the foothills and mountains, parks and conservation officers patrolled the course, sounding off air horns. A canine team trained in detecting bears was also on-site.

Racers older than 18 were required to have bear spray on them to run the course.

Sabine Schweiger said that other than one bear on one morning, there were no sightings on the course during any of the races.

The new site of the sprint race at U of C was a typical urban course, but many of the racers weren’t used to the less natural course, compared to running through the forest. Schweiger credits her experience racing on courses in Europe to her success on the map, where she placed third in the 45+ category.

“The sprint was my best race from a technical perspective,” she said.

“I’ve improved dramatically in terms of flow, and finding traps.”

The Yukon was also represented in the sprint relay by Schweiger, Pearson, Bray and MacKeigan. They placed fifth.