A troupe of paddlers put the Yukon on the map during early competition at the North American Indigenous Games in Regina this week.

Led by 17-year-old Jacy Sam, the canoe/kayak contingent earned five medals, including three gold, a silver and a bronze.

Sam was in on each of the five medals, teaming up with 14-year-old Alice Frost-Hanberg for three, and 15-year-old William Connellan for two more.

Connellan and Sam earned gold in the 1,000- and 6,000-metre mixed U19 races, while Sam went on to earn a third gold with Frost-Hanberg in the 3,000-m U19 female race.

The two girls would add a silver in the 6,000-m race and a bronze in the 1,000-m to cap a very successful canoe competition.

Paddling coach Dan Girouard said his crew of six did outstanding work in the Saskatchewan waters.

“It was a great surprise,” he told the Star today. “I didn’t really know what to expect coming into these Games, because the kids had never competed in a race before.”

While Girouard knew he had some talented paddlers in his group, they had only trained for about 40 hours since the ice came off the Yukon water in late April.

Each of the paddlers was new to the sport when training began, the coach added.

Sam medalled in each of her races.

“She’s a great athlete,” Girouard said. “She picked up the sport right off the bat, and has that drive and determination.”

Chef de mission Charly Kelly said the Yukon is typically strong in individual sports, but weren’t sure what to expect from their paddlers.

“We’re usually strong in archery and rifle shooting ... in the individual sports, we’re generally quite strong,” she said.

Following the early medal haul from the paddlers, the Yukon’s track stars added two more courtesy of Jaylene Kelly and Dana Sellars.

Kelly, 17, earned silver in the 400-m U19 event yesterday, while the 13-year-old Sellars took bronze in the 800-m U14 race earlier today.

Sixteen-year-old Shadunjen Maria Bernadette van Kampen earned the Yukon’s other bronze medal in the rifle shooting prone U19 event yesterday.

Team Yukon consists of 79 members, including elders, mission staff, coaches and athletes.

The athletes and cultural participants range in age from 13 to 19, with Yukoners competing in seven different events.

The 2014 Indigenous Games feature more than 4,000 participants from every jurisdiction in Canada, as well as seven U.S. states.

British Columbia leads the medal standings with 120 medals – including 46 gold.

In second is host Saskatchewan with 106.

Team Yukon will return home late tomorrow night.