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WHITEHORSE - Cadets from Fort Simpson have once again demonstrated their skills in biathlon.

In a performance that closely mirrors a success from two years ago, three members of 2860 Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps Fort Simpson have been chosen to form half of the six-member Northern Region Cadet Biathlon team that will compete at the national level.

Cadet Alicia Norris competes in the sprint race at the Northern Region Cadet Biathlon competition in Whitehorse. Norris is one of three cadets from Fort Simpson who now make up half of the Northern Region Cadet Biathlon team that will compete at the national level. - photo courtesy of Cpt. Cheryl Major

In 2006 three male cadets from the village were chosen for the team. This year the chosen cadets include Warrant Officer Charlene Deneyoua, Master Cpl. Brandon Norris and his sister Cadet Alicia Norris.

"I'm really excited about it," said Brandon, a feeling that the other two cadets echoed.

The three cadets were part of a team of six from the village that competed at the Northern Regional Cadet Biathlon competition in Whitehorse from Dec. 4 to 7 against four other units in the Western Arctic Area. Deneyoua took gold in the senior girls division while Brandon and Alicia both took gold in the junior boys and junior girls divisions respectively.

Another team member, Pte. Alex Roche, took silver in the junior boys division.

Deneyoua and the Norris siblings were chosen for the Northern region team because they had the top race times compared to those of 57 other cadets from across the three territories. The team will be competing at the National Cadet Biathlon Competition in Valcartier, Que., in March.

All three cadets credit their previous biathlon experiences for helping them secure spots on this year's team.

Both Deneyoua and Brandon have been to the regionals multiple times and the nationals once. Deneyoua went to nationals 2005 and Brandon in 2006.

"At the nationals you have a harder competition so you want to push yourself faster," said Deneyoua.

All three cadets also competed in snowshoe biathlon during the Arctic Winter Games last year. Brandon and Alicia use a bit of sibling rivalry to push themselves to go faster.

"I was trying to beat my brother's time," said Alicia about her performance in the long race.

As juniors, the Norris' long race involved skiing 4.8 km with three stops for shooting. Brandon finished with a slightly shorter race time, but Alicia got him back during the sprint race - 3.6 km with two bouts of shooting - by finishing four seconds faster than him.

With the two race times combined Brandon had a total time of 50 minutes and 22 seconds compared to Alicia's 54 minutes and two seconds.

All three cadets agree that they'll be working to improve their race times before the nationals.

The strong performances given by all six members of the Fort Simpson team are a reflection of the hard work that's done in the corps, said Lieut. Diane Porter, the team's coach.

"The cadet corps here in the community is such a positive place to be," she said.

The cadets are great and all the leaders work hard to help each of them achieve their personal bests, said Porter. The cadets are also good at encouraging each other.

The past and current performances by the cadets in biathlon are something the village can be proud of, she said.

"Their youth are strong competitors," said Porter.