Five members of the Yukon speed skating team are packing their bag for Cambridge, Ont., as they prepare for the North American Age Class Championships.

Masters skaters Barry Sugden, Ian Parker, Bill Parry and Ken Kiemele will join juvenile male skater Troy Henry at the North Americans. Yukon coach Tom Elliot and Bruce Henry, the president of the Yukon Amateur Speed Skating Association (YASA), will also be making the trip.

All of the participants hit the ice at Takhini Arena for the Yukon Championships Sunday afternoon, in what ended up being more of a practice.

'It went good,' said Elliot in an interview after the championships. 'It was a success in terms of there was some personal bests skated. Lots of people got starting practice and some new officials were in training (Sunday).'

Elliot admitted a lot of the skaters were worn out from Arctic Winter Games, so some of the efforts were a but lacking. The coach was impressed with the masters skaters, however, and believes they have a good shot in Cambridge.

'The one who's probably in the most challenging group is Ian, because he's in masters one (age 30-40)' said Elliot. 'That's probably the fastest masters division. Bill and Barry, they'll do OK. They're fitness level is pretty good.

'Ken, he'll either set Canadian records or, well I'm not sure about the North American (records), they're pretty fast. But I'm pretty sure he'll break his own Canadian record and maybe some others.'

Kiemele, who skates in the masters two category (40-50), holds the Canadian record for the 1,000-metre distance. He set the record unofficially at 1:49:20 in Whitehorse last year, then beat it by a few seconds in Calgary a couple months later for the official mark.

While neither Sugden nor Parker hold any records, their still confident in their chance on the weekend.

Parker, who calls himself a 'transformed hockey player', has never traveled to a skating competition outside of the Yukon before, said he'd be disappointed if the team didn't bring home a few medals. All four of the masters skaters are within 10 per cent of the current North American record. But both Parker and Sugden admit short-track speed skating is an unpredictable sport, and anything can happen.

'It's going to be fun, just the whole experience of high level competition,' said Sugden. 'If we can pull off some personal bests ... that's sort of the mental challenge for me. Also, it's kind of a social event.'

Parker said he's also aiming for personal bests, despite the tough competition in his division.

'I'm going to go out on a limb and say I'd like to place top three in my division,' he smiled.

The masters have been training three times a week throughout the season and trying to keep up with the younger skaters at local competitions, which has been a big help according to Parker.

'For the last few weeks, they've been coming out and pushing us, god bless them,' he said.

Both Parker and Sugden the most important thing is all four men really keep each other going.

'The club is kind of geared toward the kids, as it should be,' explained Parker. 'So we kind of coach each other.'

After the North American championships, the Yukon squad will travel to Ottawa for the Canadian Age Class Championship. Henry will be the only member competing in that event, as there is no masters class.

'I hope to get some personal bests at Canadians,' said Henry, who walked away with four gold medals at the Arctic Winter Games earlier this month. 'I'm also trying to get 47 in the 500-metre.'

Henry admitted some of his competitors in Ottawa will be quite a bit faster than him, mostly those from Quebec. He's not expecting to break any records, unlike AWG. He placed around 10th to 16th in events at the last Canadian championships, so he hopes to improve those standings.

'Troy should be in the upper half,' said Elliot. 'It would be nice if he could sneak in the top 10. Even top 15 I think is a reasonable goal for him.'

The third set of national team trials will also be held during the Ottawa event, which means Henry and the rest of the Yukon team will have a chance to watch some of the best skaters in the country.

'They do that so the younger skaters can watch these trials,' said Elliot. 'It will be some of the best skating in the world because we (Canada) have some of the best skaters in the world.'

After the Canadian championships, speed skating is more or less over for the year. Elliot said in early may, the skaters will start a dry land, cycling-based training program. YASA is bringing up Isabelle Doucet, who skated in the Nagano Olympics and now coaches in Quebec, for the program.

Space is available for other athletes interested in the training. If you're interested, you can call the YASA.