The home team has taken a commanding lead in the medal (ulu) standings at the 2024 Arctic Winter Games in Mat-Su Valley, Alaska.

It was another busy day, Day 3, at the Arctics Tuesday.

According to a Team Yukon press release, the girls’ volleyball team won a nail-biter against the N.W.T. A third and final set was needed, and Team Yukon took it 15-12 to take the game 3-2. The girls fell to Alberta North 2-0 in the evening game.

The boys downed the NWT 2-0 then had a rematch against Alberta North, who they defeated 3-2 in their opening match.

The score flipped in the second match and the team fell to Alberta North 3-2.

It was a perfect day on the futsal pitch for Team Yukon. The U18 and U16 girls’ futsal teams both won their Day 3 matches. The U18s beat Nunavut 5-1 and the U16s held on to beat the N.W.T. 1-0. The U16 boys went down to the wire with Alberta North but came out on top 6-5. The U18 boys rounded out the perfect day with a 6-2 win over Nunavut.

On the curling rink, the girls fell to Alaska. That loss placed them fourth after the round robin. They took on Nunavut in the semifinal round and won 11-5. They then lost to Alaska 11-2.

The boys defeated Nunavut 10-2 to end the round-robin. In the semifinals, they played Nunavut again, winning 8-5.

They lost 12-5 to N.W.T. in the evening semifinal.

The girls’ hockey team fell to the NWT 4-2. Kasey McKenna netted both goals.

The 18U boys fell to Alaska 9-0.

The U15 boys dominated Nunavut 10-1 in an evening game. Ronin Teramura led the way with a natural hat trick. Mannix Bingham continued with his hot hand, scoring two. Adding singles for Yukon were Braylen Tessier, Elliot Whalen, Huntley Asquith, Rowan Newbury and Kaelam Raymond.

It was another successful day on the biathlon course for both the skiers and snowshoers. On the skis, Matthew London, gold, Lydia Brown, bronze, Niamh Hupe, silver, and Logan Tirschmann, bronze, found the podium in their respective categories.

The snowshoe medalists were Mason Parry, gold, Gallagher D’Abramo, silver, Tammo Waldron, bronze, and Juniper Bounds, bronze.

Staying on the skis but leaving the rifles behind, the cross country athletes competed in the mass start freestyle for their respective categories. There were some near podium finishes and lots of top 10 results.

The archers hit the target in the mixed team competition. Mya Wilson and Dawson Widney took the gold in the barebow event while Delia Therriault and Dom Watt also earned gold in compound.

Arctic Sports athlete Augustin Greetham earned the gold ulu in the junior kneel jump. There were some near podium misses as well. Kate Koepke placed fourth in the open female two foot high kick and one hand reach.

Badminton continued with singles and doubles matches. Teammates Lia Hale and Winnie Zhang picked up big wins against the N.W.T. and Nunavik. The duo of Myles Terry and Sawyer Tessier had a close contest with Alaska. Riley Cyre and Kara McLean had a convincing win over Alaska and the N.W.T., and the duo of Maceo Grottoli and Johna Irving-Staley were in every match they had.

The snowboarders showed off their moves in the slopestyle competition and found great success. Aven Sutton found gold, as did Stian Langbakk, Danee Marsh, and Seamus MacDonald. Will Stenzig, silver, Eva Benkert, silver, and Leo Spiers-Leung, bronze, joined their teammates on the podium.

Singles matches continued on day two of table tennis. Melody Qiu played for bronze but came up just short, falling 3-1 to her Nunavut opponent. Jack Nguyen also played for bronze and needed all five sets to earn that final podium spot.

In wrestling, Team Yukon came up just short of beating Alberta North in the team event. They also fell to Alaska, putting them in third place in the team event.

The boys’ basketball team defeated Nunavut 99-41.

The girls fell to Alaska in a close one, 59-54.

Myra Kendi brought home Dene Games Snow Snake gold in the junior division. Denise Griffith, competing in open female, took bronze in Snow Snake. The 2024 Games are the first time Dene Games have offered an open female category.

It was a successful slalom day for Yukon’s alpine skiers. Ellyann Dinn found the top of the podium. Zack Ball placed second and Thomas Vollmer earned bronze.

The speed skaters had a busy day on the ice, earning many personal bests. Greg Freeman was the lone skater to make it to a final.

Alaska has opened up a large lead in the medal standings, and was sitting at 57 ulus (19 gold, 20 silver and 18 bronze) as of this morning.

The Yukon sits second with 34 (12 gold, nine silver and 13 bronze).

N.W.T. has closed the gap on the Yukon, with 25 ulus (eight gold, 11 silver and six bronze).

– With files from Team Yukon.