Yukon skiers dropped three spots, from third to sixth, in the aggregate national standings over the weekend.

This drop was despite the team's strong performance at the 2011 Haywood Ski Nationals in Canmore, Alta., from March 12-19.

"The results show good depth on the team, with strong performances by our skiers in almost every category,” said Alain Masson, head coach of Cross Country Yukon.

Sixty-eight clubs from across North America were represented at this year's event.

The Yukon won six medals throughout the week, the latest of which came Saturday off Dahria Beatty's bronze medal in the junior women's 20-kilometre free technique race, 1 minute, 0.8 seconds behind gold medalist and hometown favourite Annika Hicks. Yukoner Heidi Brook finished eighth with a time of 1:04:08.8.

That bronze was Beatty's third medal at nationals.

She and Kendra Murray teamed up to win gold in the challenge female team sprint in 12:49.2, roughly 10 seconds ahead of second-place finishers Anne-Marie Comeau and Alexia Rancourt of Mont-Ste-Anne, Que., who finished in 12:59.24.

Beatty also earned a silver medal in the junior women's event on day two, fine results for the 17 year old, who Masson explained was competing in an older age category, from junior girls (17-18) to junior women (19-20).

The Yukon started the event strong, with Janelle Greer and Emily Nishikawa also combining to win gold in the open female team sprint in 17:45.8, 2.13 seconds ahead of silver medalists Amanda Ammar and Hicks, both of Canmore, Alta.

Day two proved the Yukon's best day, with Murray winning a bronze in the junior girls five-kilometre skate ski event and Nishikawa's silver-medal performance – a national championship behind only U.S. skier Chelsea Holmes – in the 10-km skate ski.

It was Nishikawa's second straight multiple-medal event, after winning gold, silver and bronze medals at the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax, N.S., in February.

Nishikawa's top 10 finish Saturday was good enough to give her the number two spot in the meet's aggregate rankings, behind national ski team member Brittany Webster.

Both Masson and Claude Chabot, executive director of the Whitehorse Cross Country Ski Club, agreed that this year's nationals marked a breakthrough for Murray, who won two medals and was the top Yukoner during the sprint events.

"This seems to be her meet,” Chabot said.

"She's always been a good skier, but this definitely is a breakout performance for her.”

Murray finished fourth in the junior girls 1-km classic last week and sixth in the 7.5-km race this weekend, moving her to fifth place in the aggregate standings for the five-race series.

"I haven't done this well at the nationals before so it's pretty exciting, and I wasn't really expecting this,” Murray said.

She said her result in the sprint race was especially surprising.

"I got out pretty fast and was right with them. And then the front two just dropped me a little bit and I was almost catching up to the third person in the finish chute but didn't quite make it,” Murray said.

"I'm happy with that. I've never done this well in sprint, so I'm pretty happy. I don't really know what my expectations were, because I usually race up (an age group); this is the first year that I've been racing in my own category, so I wasn't sure how well I'd do.”

Masson agreed.

"She had a really good race,” he said. "In sprinting she has never gone beyond semi-finals before, so it's her best result ever in sprinting by a long shot.”

She said her success has come from a combination of hard training and competing in her own age group.

"I think it's a little bit of both…two weeks ago I competed at Canada Games, so that was a good race preparation before nationals. Just everything is falling together,” Murray said.

The Yukon men had less luck in both the nationals and the Canada Games.

Cross Country Yukon attributed the drop in the aggregate rankings to "various illnesses that have decimated the Yukon team recently.”

The top Yukoner in the senior men's 50-km race on Saturday was David Greer, who finished in 22nd position.

Greer combined with teammate John Parry for a seventh-place finish in the open male free sprint relay (1.2-km laps each) with a time of 15:29.71 last week.