Darren Campbell
Northern News Services

Whitehorse (Mar 20/00) - No, the NWT didn't match its ulu output of 190 from the 1998 Arctic Winter Games. But you could hardly say their performance in Whitehorse was a failure.

With a final medal total of 108, the NWT still finished second overall to Team Alaska. The American sports powerhouse finished with 174 ulus. At the 1998 games in Yellowknife, Alaska finished second to the NWT with a 184.

However, it was a different Games for the NWT this time around. The division of the NWT and the creation of Nunavut on April 1, 1999, meant the talent pool the NWT had to draw from was diluted. In Whitehorse, Nunavut sent its own team to compete for the first time.

But winning the overall medal count isn't the main goal for any of the teams that compete at the Games. Getting as many Northern kids as possible to compete is the larger goal.

"The goal of these Games is mass participation as compared to, for example, the Canada Games, which is an elite competition," said NWT Chef de Mission Gail Nesbitt.

Still, there were plenty of outstanding performances by NWT teams and individuals in Whitehorse to highlight.

No NWT squad had as much success at the Games as the speed-skating team. NWT skaters won a whopping 33 medals, and gold in every category except the 2,000-metre juvenile female relay. That number sure helped boost the NWT's medal count.

Yellowknife speed-skater Jill Vaydik, who starred in the juvenile female division at the Games, said she faced her toughest competition of the year in Whitehorse.

"This is probably the best competition I've faced this year in terms of the people I'm skating against," said Vaydik.

Another sport that the NWT did very well in was arctic and Dene sports. In arctic sports, the NWT was not as successful as Nunavut's team. But with the multiple ulu winning performances of Tuktoyaktuk's Phillip Jacobson, Matthew Anikina and Irwin Elias and Fort Smith's Meika McDonald, they did just fine.

In other team sports, such as hockey, basketball and indoor soccer, the NWT was able to win medals of all colours. The NWT's pee wee, bantam and midget hockey teams all won silver medals. The NWT's junior female team won a bronze, thanks to a 6-1 win over Nunavut in the bronze medal game.

In indoor soccer, the NWT's junior males won gold with a 2-1 win over Alaska in the final. The NWT just missed out on bronze medals in two other categories as the junior females lost 2-1 to Greenland, while the juvenile boys from Rae-Edzo -- the only non-Yellowknife team to represent the NWT in soccer -- lost to Alberta North 4-3.

In basketball, the NWT junior girls and junior boys teams both won bronze ulus. They beat out Nunavut for the bronze in both cases.

With the 2000 Arctic Winter Games now a memory, NWT athletes and coaches have two years to prepare for the next Games, set to be co-hosted by Iqaluit and Nuuk, Greenland, and two years to prepare to beat out Alaska.