Yellowknife's teams and athletes shine

Hanna Lowing prepares for the start of her race at the NWT Speed Skating Championships at the Multiplex on March 12.

There are the traditional resolutions to lose weight or quit smoking, but there are others that might have made a pledge to become more active this new year, and what better way to do that than get involved in sports.

Before we embark on a new year, it's time to look back over the highlights and the people that inspired us with their dedication and spirit for sport.

January proved to be a successful month for Yellowknife's sno-cross rider Brandon Bradbury charged to a fourth-place finish during the Manitoba stop of the Ultimate Canadian MotorSports Association circuit. Starting off second to last off the line, Bradbury fought back to earn his near-podium performance.

Top of her game

Yellowknife's Irene Vasa proved she was on top of her game when she took the championship title at the Racquet Club's inaugural women's squash tournament. She defeated Gail Nesbitt in the final two games to none.

Vasa took the final from Nesbitt, as well as their round-robin match by the same score. Nesbitt said the best player prevailed.

"I met Irene in my pool as well and she beat me 2-0, as well," Nesbitt said. "It would have been nice to get at least one game, but she was the better player."

Raining baskets

Once again basketball players from around the NWT converged in the city for the annual NWT Power Corporation Junior and Senior Cager tournaments.

Competition for last year's junior tournament was stiff with banners going to teams from Yellowknife and schools in the communities.

St. Joe's school took two banners, winning the Grade 8 boys and Grade 6 girls divisions. Range Lake School took the other Yellowknife banner in the Grade 6 boys division.

The senior tournament was a different story with Yellowknife dominating the finals in all four divisions. Sir John and St. Patrick High schools came out equal in their rivalries, winning two banners each. The Catholic school won the U-15 girls and U-19 boys divisions while the public school dominated the U-15 boys and U-19 girls divisions.

Volleyball curse broken

Weledeh School broke what its volleyball players described as its annual curse on the school's junior Spike It tournament teams. Weledeh won both the Grades 7 and 8 boys and girls divisions in the annual territorial championship for the first time. Yellowknife dominated the tournament, sweeping the tournament with Range Lake and St. Joe's winning the Grade 6 boys and girls divisions respectively.

Yellowknife nearly took all the banners - all but two - in the senior instalment of Spike It. St. Pat's won the U-15 A and AA girls banners as well as the U19 AA girls banner. Sir John won the U19 AA boys division while Ecole Allain St-Cyr claimed the boys U-15 AA division.

Fine strokes

The Polar Bear Swim Club broke records this past year and have the medals to prove it.

The club stormed the Alberta Senior Provincial Championships in Medicine Hat. Four of the club's swimmers went down for the competition and Casey Mooney set a new club record in the 15 to 17-year-old girls 200-metre individual medley with a time of two minutes and 31.17 seconds.

Head coach Jane Mooney was pleased with the outcome as the team didn't have much time to prepare.

Bronson Dolynny stole the show with a record six gold medals and a bronze medal in the Alberta Age Group Trials in Sherwood Park, Alta. The talented swimmer dominated his age group, 11-12 division, and won the overall title at the meet.

"I would say it's the best one I've ever had," Dolynny said about his winning weekend.

Dashing through the snow

Jesse Cockney made his name well known at last year's Canada Winter Games in Halifax. The Yellowknife-born skier had a series of good results in the cross-country skiing division. His first podium finish came on Feb. 21 with a bronze-medal performance in the men's 10-km free event. A gold medal was to follow on Feb. 22 as he claimed victory in the men's 1-km sprint race.

Yellowknife speed skater, Michael Gilday had a busy year. He took home gold in a relay win at the World Championships in England. Gilday was part of the Canadian men's 500-metre relay team and can now add world champion to his list of achievements.

In the next week, Gilday won bronze with the Canadian short-track entry at the World Team Championships in Warsaw, Poland.

The NWT Speed Skating Championships in Yellowknife held in March saw more than 100 skaters from six communities take part.

Yellowknife skaters had a strong presence on the podium with five top spots, 10 second-place finishes, and six bronze placings.

Stars on ice

Tehnille Gard, an 18-year-old Yellowknife resident, proved she has a promising career ahead of her as she shut out Calgary's Mount Royal College in the Alberta's colleges women's hockey final. In net for the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, she led her team to a three-game sweep to clinch the title.

The Yellowknife Community Foundation in partnership with the Yellowknife Gold Dusters announced the Randy McBride Hockey Project, a scholarship that provides students in financial need help to pursue higher levels of hockey.

Yellowknife's Keegan Hnatiw earned the most valuable player award in the A division of the annual First Air Hockey Tournament back in April. Hnatiw's performance throughout the tournament lifted the team to another championship victory, defeating Yellowknife's Ace Enterprise 5-2. The Ollerhead Elks earned the city its only championship win of the tournament after defeating Northbest Distributors Ol' Packers 7-4 in the C division.

Dan Daniels, Gold Dusters captain, said the idea for the fund came from seeing so many talented kids playing hockey, but few opportunities to go further.

Yellowknife's hockey stars were immortalized with five of the city's best players jerseys hung at the Multiplex. Peter Bergman was on hand to watch his number 26 jersey being honoured. The former Calgary Hitman and Kamloops Blazer started his career in the North.

Former Toronto Maple Leafs Darryl Sittler and former Montreal Canadien Yvan Cournoyer were in Yellowknife Sept. 17 for the Champions for Children raising money for KidSport. The hockey legends answered questions and signed autographs for their fans.

Both of St. Pat's girls and boys hockey teams won last year's Challenge Cup over rivals Sir John Franklin. The boys won in a blow-out victory over Sir John Franklin, while the girls won with 6-3 victory on Nov. 16.

Champs hit the mat

Dedication and perseverance earned Elianta Jaillet and Noah Hache medal finishes in the Edmonton International Judo Championships at West Edmonton Mall in April. Jaillet earned a gold medal in the U-11 girls 33-kg division and Hache took home silver in the U-13 girls 57-kg division.

Running for gold

While it was supposed to be a training exercise, for Julianna Neudorf the outcome was a welcomed surprise. Neudorf placed first, more than a minute faster than her fellow runners, in the 15-16 girls 3,000-metre race at the Peace Country Classic in Grande Prairie on May 14.

Neudorf said she tried to keep as consistent a pace as she possibly could.

"I tried to keep the same time on each lap and then pick it up on the last lap," Neudorf said.

Fifty-eight people and seven teams laced up their shoes and took part in the Dillon Duathlon, a Yellowknife multi-sport event, May 29. Lore-ann Krysko took first place in the women's open with a time of 1:29:02, and Rauri Carthew finished first in the men's division with a time of 1:20:03.

In an unlikely outcome, Ruari Carthew and Mike Argue crossed the finish line together in the Prelude Lake Relay a YK Multisport Club event held in June. The two runners came in with a time of two hours, 18 minutes and five seconds.

On the links

Joanne Mackinnon won the Canadian North Ladies Open, with a 36-hole score of 198. The tournament took place June 25 at the Yellowknife Golf Course, and saw 31 players battle it out for first place.

Batting for glory

Pederson's Team beat out Weaver and Devore by a score of 14-10 to claim victory in the Stars division in the Fritz Theil Park Tournament. The slow-pitch tournament was once again hosted by the Elks Stars of Destiny

- its ninth season.

The Labatt Raiders and Sugar and Spice are this year's territorial slo-pitch champions after winning the titles in their respective divisions at the NWT Men's and Women's Slo-Pitch Championships July 24. The Raiders defeated the Sticky Gloves by a score of 14-7 to cop the men's crown, while Sugar and Spice mercied the Cunning Runts, 20-8 to win the women's trophy.

Aiming for 30

Tennis wiz Bernie Bennett won his 29th tennis title after his win at the NWT Open in Yellowknife. Bennett bounced back from a quadricep injury earlier in the year leaving him uncertain if his tennis career would continue.

"This match featured many long rallies of high-calibre play, especially considering the windy playing conditions," Bennet said of his record win in June.

Silver in Athens

Yellowknife's Chris Strus made his hometown proud when he won the silver medal in the 4x50 relay for swimming at the Special Olympics held in Athens in June. This was Strus's first showing at the Special Olympics, a performance his parents were proud of.

Top cyclist

Yellowknife's Denise Ramsden and the rest of Team Juvederm Specialized-Mazda took part in the Tour de Toona in Pennsylvania during July. While the team didn't win Ramsden was the top cyclist for her team in the women's pro general classification section of the four-stage race, finishing in 14th place overall in a time of 10 hours, 13 minutes and 37 seconds, just over five minutes behind the winner.

Ramsden, however, was the top U-23 women's rider in the competition, finishing ahead of Manitoba's Leah Kirchmann by 28 seconds.

Hot stick

Yugo Sato was the winner again after he defeated Garrett Edjericon in the final of the men's eight ball pyramid at After 8 Billiards' eight-ball tournament. Frank Beaulieu finished in third place.

Leslie Goit won the women's-only tournament, after her victory over Linda Todd in the final. Evelyn Ray rounded out third place.

Ice bowl

The opening of the field house saw the birth of the Yellowknife Arena Football league and the inaugural Ice Bowl. Four teams Dec. 1-3 and 40 players participated in the inaugural tournament and hopes are to see that number expand to 12 next year. The Bayside Tigers won the tournament in what was described as a blow out as they

ransacked Boom Shakalaka 55-19.

Super feet

City soccer players showed their prowess on the pitch when they dominated the Junior Super Soccer tournament at the end of April. Yellowknife won all six divisions in the boys and girls 12 and 14 A and B divisions. William McDonald won the 12-A boys division while Range Lake North took the boys B banner. William McDonald also won the 12-A girls division while St. Joe's Red won the B division. St. Joes and Mildred Hall completed the sweep with wins in the 14A boys and girls divisions respectively.

The story was similar for the senior tournament with Yellowknife winning five of the eight divisions.

Ecole Allain St. Cyr took the U15 A boys division and St. Pat's Green won the AA division. St. Pat's Green also won the U-15 AA girls division. Sir John Gold and St. Pat's split the U19 AA division. The Catholic school took the girls banner and the public school claimed the boys division.