It was a busy past couple of days for Cross Country Yukon (CCY). The Yukon Ski Team had seven racers while three other Yukon athletes, based outside of the territory, competed in the 2018 Haywood NorAm World Junior/U23 Trials in Canmore, Alta., from Dec. 13-16.

Yukon Ski Team coach Alain Masson accompanied the team to Canmore and had high praise for the race courses.

“Conditions on the trails were perfect which utilized man-made snow,” said Masson. “It was a very good event and a good way to finish 2018.”

The first event was the 1.4-kilometre classic technique sprint for all open, junior and senior skiers on Thursday. It was the first of three races that were used to select the team that will represent Canada at the World Junior and U23 Championships, which are to held in Finland in January.

The junior women (U20) race had two Yukon racers. Amanda Thomson, who is based outside the territory, finished in 13th place. Sonjaa Schmidt came in 43rd completing the race in a time of 4:41.63.

The junior boy (U20) race also had two Yukon skiers. Derek Dueling came in 20th with a time of 3:41.26. Teammate Sasha Masson, 3:54.86, came in 40th.

Dahria Beatty, another Yukon skier based Outside came in first in the senior women category with the winning time of 3:51.06. In the senior men category, Caelan Pangman Mclean, 3:43.47, placed 28th.

The second day of racing took place on Saturday, with interval start skate races. According to a press release by CCY, the conditions were great overall. It was another good day for the Yukon skiers.

In the junior women five-kilometre skate race, Thomson, 13:05.6, placed sixth. Schmidt came in 30th with a time of 14:11.5 and Hannah Dueling, 14:15.4 finished one position behind her teammate.

The junior men and the open women skate races were both 10-kilometres long. Derek Dueling came in 8th place while teammate Sasha Masson placed 25th. Beatty once again came in first place with a winning time of 26:05.1. Natalie Hynes came in 10th place in a time of 28:52.7.

In the men’s open 15-km skate race Pangman Mclean came in 31st.

The final day of racing was Sunday, which was a mass start classic race. All the senior and junior male skiers competed in a 30-kilometre competition.

A press release by CCY said that in the past, junior and senior skiers usually competed at different distances.

Combining the two classes made for a large field as 86 skiers started together. It was a similar scenario for the women’s 15-kilometre race, with 71 skiers in the starting grid.

In the junior women (U20) category Thomson, 48:39.9, came in the seventh position, Hannah Dueling, 50:02.5, and Schmidt, 52:40.7, placed 15th and 33rd respectively.

In the open women race Beatty, 42:55.8, found herself once again at the top of the podium. Haynes placed 6th in a time of 45:39.7.

Derek Dueling, 1:25:48.1, finished the 30-km in 9th place in the junior men (U20) race. Teammate Sasha Masson came in 25th with a time of 1:31:41.4. Pangman McLean in the senior men category finished in the 19th spot, in 1:25:55.1.

The races were used as a way to select skiers to represent Canada at the World Junior and U23 Championships.

Based on her performances in the distance races, Haynes qualified World Junior and U23 World Championships.

It is her fourth consecutive year qualifying for the World Juniors. Her coach Alain Masson said Haynes had a realistic shot of making the races based on her past performances as well as the weekend’s results. The World Junior/U23 World Championships will be in Lahti, Finland.

For the other skiers the Yukon Ski Team brought to Canmore it was an opportunity for them to get used to the level of competition.

“A lot of the skiers are 16 years old,” said Alain. “It is good to expose them to this level of competition now so in the next few years they will have a good opportunity to qualify.”

Overall, Alain thinks it was a good weekend for the skiers and he can get back to work on improving them further.

“It was a really good weekend of competitive racing for all the athletes,” said Alain.

“We will work on their technique and fitness. As a coach you see their strengths and their weaknesses, so we will address the shortcomings before the Canada Winter Games.”

Alain said the races in Canmore were not used for CWG selection, as the team is 90 per cent made, with the final decisions to be made at the end of January.

Beatty, after winning her last three races, will be heading to Europe to compete in the Tour de Ski, with races in Italy, Switzerland and Germany.

She will be joining Emily Nishikawa, who matched her best ever World Cup placing of 23rd place, crossing the finish line in a time of 27:54.3 in a 10-km skate race in Davos, Switzerland on Sunday.

Last weekend, Nishikawa competed in a 15-kilometre skate race in Beitostølen, Norway, where she finished in 34th place. The field of competitors was the same for the race in Davos.

“My goals were to ski technically well, and maintain a consistent speed throughout the race,” said Nishikawa via email.

“I was able to get a really fast start and ski with powerful, smooth technique. I was ranked 11th after the first five-km and faded a bit in the second lap, but I was thrilled to finish 23rd, which ties my best ever World Cup result. This is my personal best result in a skate race, so I’m very happy about that.”

Nishikawa said the racing conditions in Davos were really nice, fairly cold with a bit of new snow.

Up next for Nishikawa is the Tour de Ski which begins at the end of December.

“My next race will be the Tour de Ski,” said Nishikawa. “It is a series of seven races over nine days, in four different locations. It is an event modelled after the Tour de France. I am really looking forward to this event. It will be a lot of racing with a lot of great opportunities to continue improving.”