LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
Deh Cho athletes did a podium sweep at the Arctic Winter Games.

Stan Bertrand of Fort Liard competes in the snowboarding rail jam March 18 at the 2014 Arctic Winter Games in Fairbanks, Alaska. Bertrand placed seventh in the event and was also seventh in the slalom a day earlier. - Casey Lessard/NNSL photo

Athletes from each of the three communities represented from the region won ulus during the week-long competition in Fairbanks, Alaska. As members of the junior male basketball team, Devan Horassi and Kevin Roche of Fort Simpson brought home gold ulus. Alinda Edda of Fort Liard earned a silver ulu in both Arctic air and slalom, while Spencer Bonnetrouge of Fort Providence got a bronze in junior boys badminton doubles while playing alongside Dylan Allen of Yellowknife.

"I feel awesome about it," Edda said, about her two ulu wins.

Edda, 17, said she's been congratulated a lot on her ulu performances, especially from family and friends in Fort Liard.

"They're pretty proud of me," she said about her family.

Of the four events she competed in, including slopestyle, rail jam, slalom and Arctic air, Edda said Arctic air, which requires snowboarders to do a trick, is her favourite. During her three runs that won her an ulu, Edda did front and back grabs.

"I just like jumping off the hill," she said.

Edda will add her ulus to her collection. She won one silver and three bronze ulus in 2012 at the Arctic Winter Games in Whitehorse.

"It was a lot of fun," Edda said about the games in Fairbanks.

She enjoyed competing against other athletes, meeting new people and watching some of the other sports, including soccer.

In basketball, the junior male team had a 3-1 record in the round robin, winning against Greenland, Nunavut and Yukon, but losing their last game against Alaska. The NWT team went on to win their playoff game 93-71 against Yukon.

The gold ulu game on March 22 pitted the NWT against Alaska again. The NWT won the game 88-77 to take the gold.

Reannda Cli and Janelle Bruneau were on hand for the final game. The Fort Simpson junior snowshoe athletes tried to go to as many of the games as possible, catching three, to cheer on Horassi and Roche, also from Fort Simpson.

"We tried to cheer the loudest for them," Cli said.

This was Cli's first time to the games and the first time she had done snowshoeing competitively, apart from the Arctic Winter Games trials.

"I thought they were really fun," the 17-year-old said about the games.

The games were an opportunity to meet new people and to push to become better athletes, she said. Cli and Bruneau both competed in six races, a team relay, a 5 km and 7.5 km and three sprints at 100, 400 and 1,500 meters.

Cli said she was looking forward to the sprints, but enjoyed the 7.5 km race more because the course was fun and the weather was good that day.

Although the sprint day was windy and snowy, Bruneau said she preferred them because the sprint courses were flat. The longer distances had lots of hills.

Although she didn't win an ulu, Cli said she was pleased with her races and did better than she expected.

"It was a really fun experience going with Reannda," said Bruneau.

Bruneau also competed in the 2012 games, but said she liked being able to share the Fairbanks experience with her friend, Cli. The games were extra special for Bruneau because she turned 17 while in Alaska. She was on the starting line for the sprints when her birthday was announced before the race.

"It made me so happy," she said.

The Deh Cho was also represented at the games by Stan Bertrand of Fort Liard in snowboarding, Mikaela Vandell and Nathaniel Minoza of Fort Providence in table tennis and Christina Bonnetrouge of Fort Providence in badminton.

Team NWT won 86 ulus overall including 25 gold, 27 silver and 34 bronze.