INUVIK - A team of seven Fort Simpson cadets returned home with bronze medals after a challenging weekend in Inuvik.

The cadets from 2860 Royal Canadian Army Cadets Corps including Master Cpl. Jennifer Gast, Master Cpl. Aaron Leader, Cpl. Ernest Tsetso, Cpl. Leanne Ocko, Sgt. Tyrone Stipdonk, Lance-Cpl. Michael Gast and Lance-Cpl. Robert Harold competed in the Western Arctic Area Skills Competition from Jan. 23 to 24. The annual competition challenges cadets in four events centered around skills that are developed in the army and air cadet programs.

A team of Fort Simpson cadets compete in the skills competition in Inuvik. The cadets include, from left, front row: Jennifer Gast; middle row: Tyrone Stipdonk, Michael Gast and Ernest Tsetso; back row; Aaron Leader, Robert Harold and Leanne Ocko. - Andrew Rankin/NNSL photo

A total of five teams participated in the competition including Inuvik, which took first place and Whitehorse Army Cadets, which took second. Other competitors included Norman Wells and Whitehorse Air Cadets.

The Fort Simpson team gave their strongest performance in marksmanship, their first event. During the event each cadet shot five rounds with an air rifle at a target 30 metres away. Scores were based on the size of the groupings.

The team owed its second place finish in the event to the corps' extensive marksmanship practice, said Jennifer Gast.

"We shoot a lot," she said.

The most challenging event was drill, said Gast, who led the team in the event.

"It's really intense because everyone is watching," she said.

"It was really quiet and I had to remember what I had to say."

During drill the teams must follow a pre-set series of movements with precision and skill. To memorize the exact wording of the necessary 32 commands Gast read them every morning and night in the lead up to the competition.

The team performed better than in their practices but only placed fourth. Gast was singled out for praise by Warrant Officer Eric Green, one of the event judges.

"He said it was outstanding considering I was a master corporal and the other people were sergeants and warrants,' said Gast.

From Ernest Tsetso's perspective one of the team's best performances came in volleyball.

The Fort Simpson team won five of their 10 games, an improvement in what has previously been one of the team's weaker events. In their final game Fort Simpson was tied 14-14 with the Whitehorse Air Cadets.

"It was intense," said Tsetso.

Leanne Ocko scored the winning point placing the team third in the event. The team also placed third in the leadership event after pulling a toboggan laden with gear 100 metres, setting up a tent and a stove and boiling a pot of water all in 9.5 minutes.

"I think they did very well," said Officer Cadet Nathalie Lavoie, the team's coach.

The competition in the Western Arctic area has become stiffer over the past few years, Lavoie said. Last year a team from the village composed of different cadets won first place at the competition. Aaron Leader and Tyrone Stipdonk were the only members of this year's team who'd competed before. Two of the team's members are in the first year of cadets.

The team was chosen from the 27 members of the corps based on attitude, attendance, skills, dress and deportment. The corps tries to ensure as many different cadets as possible get to travel to competitions, Lavoie said.

The team began practising as soon as students returned to school after the holidays. The cadets put in four practices during the first week of January and six in the second week before breaking for exams.

The next competition for the corps will be the Regional Cadet Marksmanship Competition in April.