There’s a wooden post that sticks out from Aidan Hupe’s bedroom wall. Hanging from it are some of the 14-year-old’s sport accolades, including a number of biathlon medals from Whitehorse, Canmore and Whistler and a handful of school-sport medals.

Sunday night he wrapped two more around the post, adding to his collection.

It was one of the first things he did when he got home Sunday night from Cadet Biathlon Nationals in Val Cartier, Que.

“Before going to bed, it was like midnight,” he said. “I just put [them] right on there.”

Hupe attended his first Cadet Biathlon Nationals last week, a member of the eight-athlete Team North contingent that raced and one of four cadet biathletes from 551 Whitehorse Lions Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron.

Hupe’s first medal came as a surprise.

The day’s racing took place with the mercury hovering just below zero and a light sprinkle of snow fell from the sky.

“It was really good racing conditions,” said Hupe. “The skiing was amazing, but the hills were quite difficult because the elevation was just going up and coming back down.”

Difficult course aside, Hupe skied fast, completing the 4.5-kilometre junior boys’ sprint in 19 minutes and 5.4 seconds.

His shooting was average, hitting just two targets during his first time in the range and three on the second.

“It wasn’t very good shooting,” he said, “but I made up for it with my skiing.”

It was Day 2 of the competition and the team was back at the barracks before they knew the results.

“Our coach put us all in a circle and said, ‘Today we are slowly moving up in the ranks. How do you do that? You win a bronze.’ And then he pointed at me and it was just, it was amazing. I never thought I could medal at nationals.”

RCACS 551 Whitehorse Commanding Officer Jennifer Lafreniere captured the moment in two photos. The first shows a mellow Hupe, standing in front of a white and green school bus. In the second, moments after hearing the news of his medal, he is “flabbergasted.”

“The North doesn’t usually come back with a lot of medals,” said Lafreniere. “We’re so proud of him.”

Day three of racing dawned a little cooler. It was “perfect for me because the climate is colder up here,” said Hupe, who has been on cross-country skis since he was two years old.

The third race was a mass start. Twenty-four junior boys lined up. Thanks to his podium performance the day before, Hupe was in the first row.

“I was extremely nervous,” he said. “I had never done a mass start with that many people before.”

The gun went off and Hupe started skating. “I went really, really hard, but people still managed to pass me,” he said.

But he skied his own race, completing his first loop and shooting just two of the five targets.

“I just did the penalty loops really quickly and there was only one person in front of me,” said Hupe. “After that I hit four, did my one penalty loop and finished.”

He never saw the leader, but collapsed in a pile at the finish.

Alexandria Duchaine, Team North’s cadet coach went up to Hupe after the race to tell him his results: second.

With the silver medal added to his collection, Hupe became the winningest member of Team North at the 2017 Cadet Biathlon Nationals. The group’s other medal came from Melissa Clark and Dylan Tilley in the mixed patrol event on the final day of competition.

Whitehorse’s Aurora Krause, who was racing with a sprained ankle, finished 27th in the girl’s 4.5K sprint and 12th in the open unit female 4.5K relay with Rosie Lang.

In Lang’s other races, she was 18th in the senior girls 6K mass start and 22nd in the senior girls 6K sprint.

Noah Gilbert was Yukon’s other athlete, finishing 17th in the junior boys 4.5K mass start and 12th in the junior boys 4.5K sprint.

RCACS 551 Whitehorse’s Duchaine attended the event as a cadet coach, after competing as an athlete for many years.

“She was asked to be put in this leadership role and she excelled,” said Lafreniere. “This is what our program is about, guiding youth to become leaders and that’s what we do.”

Morgan Yuill attended as a cadet official.

“This is a great foundation,” said Lafreniere. “Next year we’re just going to go from there. Aim high.”