Intrepid Iqaluit dart throwers hit the bulls-eye

KIRSTEN MURPHY

Iqaluit’s outstanding performance at the fifth annual Elks and Royal Purple National Dart championship in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, is still causing a buzz in the basement clubhouse.

“We were on a roll,” said an understandably proud Alden Williams who placed third in the men’s singles and the men’s four-person competition May 23 to 25. Now back home, Williams and his teammates continue with their rigorous, fast-paced practices.

Maggy Carter won Nunavut’s first national dart title in 2000. The following year, Nunavut won medals in the men’s singles and ladies’ doubles.

This year, to everyone’s delight, Nunavut placed in the top three in seven of eight events.

Nunavut’s star player was Colin Bennett, who played on all first-place Nunavut teams.

“We just clicked,” said Chris Freda, who partnered with Bennett in the men’s double.

Freda said he’s never shaken as much as he did when the cameras were rolling, not even during last year’s municipal strike. He and his teammates are already looking forward to next year’s tournament in British Columbia.

“It would be nice to repeat all those wins,” Freda said.

Each winner received a jacket, a trophy, and plaques with maps of Canada with Nunavut conspicuously absent.