Frotten, Laverdure claim international medals A pair of Yukon athletes put on some inspiring performances abroad last weekend. By Marcel Vander Wier on May 22, 2015

A pair of Yukon athletes put on some inspiring performances abroad last weekend.

T53 wheelchair racer Jessica Frotten added four medals to her early-season haul in Arizona with another memorable performance on the track.

Meanwhile, freestyle wrestler Brittanee Laverdure claimed a silver medal at the Olympia International Tournament in Greece.

Frotten, 27, competed at the Desert Challenge Games in Tempe, Ariz., last weekend, winning five medals with top-three finishes in each of her events.

Her weekend results were as follows: 100-metre dash (20.06), 200-m dash (34.78), 400-m dash (1:06.66), 800-m run (2:21.12), and 1,500-m run (4:15.90).

Her 200-m dash was good enough for gold. The Whitehorse native earned silver in both the 100-m and 400-m dashes, and added bronze medal wins in the 800- and 1,500-m runs.

Her time in the 1,500 was a personal best despite the fact she lost track of the number of laps she had completed, causing her to let up early.

“I totally screwed it up at the end, but I really liked it. There was some girls going my speed and I was drafting, playing the game, and then it all fell apart,” Frotten explained. “It could have been under four minutes ... I’m kind of mad at myself for that.”

A heavy thunderstorm blew over the track on the first night of competition, wreaking havoc on the schedule and throwing Frotten off her stride.

“I would’ve liked to hit some more personal bests,” she said from Regina. “But that storm really threw my game off that first night.”

Delays and rain during her 800-m race did cause some issues,

Earlier this month, Frotten won five medals in Victoria in her first competition of the season with the Saskatoon Cyclones.

Her Arizona times were slightly behind her results from the Dogwood Track and Field Meet, save for her 1,500-m run.

“The consistency is nice,” she said. “Of course, I want to be faster, but it’s good to see that I am consistent.”

Now, Frotten’s season shifts to European soil, as she will spend the next three weeks in Switzerland.

She has tweaked her wheelchair this week, which is “pretty much a spaceship,” adding fresh rubber to her wheels.

Meanwhile, Laverdure was one of two Canadian wrestlers in the 53-kg category in Greece.

The other was Brianne Barry, who bested Laverdure in March for a position on the Pan Am Games team.

Laverdure rapped off wins against Barry, Honduras wrestler B. Bailey Gomez, and Moldova wrestler Natalia Budu, before dropping the gold medal final 8-4 to Mexico’s Yen Escoto.

Laverdure hopes to compete in the German Grand Prix tomorrow in Dormagen, Germany, as long as her body gives her the green light.

The 33-year-old Watson Lake native told the Star she tweaked her knee recently, but hopes it is fine in time for her next tournament.