03.20.09 - Serwa and Hayer return to the Podium at the World Cup Finals

La Plagne , FRA (March 20, 2009)

It was an amazing finish to an amazing season for Ski Cross rookie of the year, Kelsey Serwa (Kelowna, BC) as she finished the season with a return to the podium taking 2nd place at the World Cup Finals and 3rd place overall in the World Cup Standings. Stanley Hayer, who has been battling injury for much of the season, dug deep and put together a fantastic result to close out his year, taking home his second World Cup podium of the season, with a 3rd today in La Plagne, France.

In an unfortunate result of seeding, Canadians, Kelsey Serwa (Kelowna, BC), Julia Murray (Whistler, BC) and Ashleigh McIvor (Whistler, BC) found themselves competing against one another in the women's quarterfinal heat along with Katrin Ofner of Austria.

McIvor and Ofner charged out of the start and fought for the hole shot, with Serwa and Murray falling into 3rd and 4th. The battle for the lead continued until the halfway point where McIvor caught a rut that forced her wide on a turn opening the door for teammate Serwa to move into 2nd spot where she would remain and move to the next heat. McIvor would finish the day in 9th spot and Murray would finish in 13th.

In the semifinal heat, Serwa got off to a bad start and had to battle from 4th place. Difficult course conditions made for a high attrition rate in today's race and Serwa was able to capitalize when ¾ of the way down the course the 2nd place and 3rd place competitors got tangled and fell, Serwa was able to walk into 2nd place and a berth in the final heat.

The final heat saw Serwa face off against, Opheile David (FRA), Emilie Serain (SUI), and Alexandra Grouvogle (GER). Serwa exploded out of the start and just missed stealing the hole shot from David. Tucking into second spot, Serwa got to work successfully defending her position to the finish, taking second on the day behind David.

Today's 2nd place finish was a fitting bookend to a season filled with consistently solid results that started at the first race of the season in St. Johann, Austria where she took 3rd place. Serwa was named "Female Rookie of the Year" by the FIS and by her peers and today's result solidified Serwa's position of 3rd overall for the 2009 World Cup season.

Aleisha Cline (Whistler, BC) continued her streak of solid performance placing 5th today after a crash with competitor Katharina Gutensohn of Austria, in the semifinal heats removed her from the big final. In the small final heat, Cline had a great start and won the battle for the hole shot where she proceeded to cruise to the finish winning the heat and taking 5th on the day.

In men's action, Stanley Hayer (Calgary, AB) overcame an injury that has plagued him for much of the season to stand on a World Cup podium for the second time this season. Looking strong in his early heats, Hayer moved through placing 2nd in the first heat and winning the quarterfinal round.

In the semifinal heat, Hayer faced off against teammate Davey Barr (Whistler, BC), Thomas Kraus (CZE) and Hiroomi Takizawa (JPN). Out of the start Hayer settled into place behind the leader Kraus and managed to defend against advances from Takizawa that saw him almost passed. Hayer was able to maintain his spot and finished the heat in 2nd. Barr got off to a rough start and was never able to move from 4th spot. Barr moved on to the small finals where he finished 1st and placed 5th on the day.

Hayer met Kraus, Lars Lewen (SUI) and Armin Neiderer (SUI) in the final heat. Hayer got off to a tough start and was sitting patiently in 4th spot waiting to make a move. ½ way down the course Lewen and Neiderer tangled causing Lewen to have to swing wide and miss a gate, moving Hayer to 3rd spot where he would finish the day.

"it was a hard day, and to be honest, I was a little scared in every heat, the conditions were tough, fast and the snow was inconsistent." Said Hayer after the run.

"Stan really dug deep today, it was great to see some fight in him for the end of the season." Eric Archer, Head Coach.

Chris DelBosco (Sudbury, ONT) hit a bit of a stumbling block on his quest for the overall title today after looking strong by winning his first 2 heats, DelBosco jumped the gun in the semifinal heat and it was enough to throw him off his rhythm. Out of the gate DelBosco was in 4th place and fought hard to recover but was unable to gain any ground resulting in an unfortunate meeting with a net, he would finish 8th on the day after a 4th place finish in the small final.

This race capped off an amazing season for DelBosco, winning the World Cup test event and Cypress Mountain, and showing consistence throughout the whole year, he finished 112 point out of first place and 39 points ahead of third to take 2nd place overall for the season.

Brady Leman (Calgary, AB) had an unfortunate accident in his first heat that saw him get twisted around in a tangle with another competitor off a step down feature that resulted in Leman breaking his Tibia. He is in the hospital in France and is doing well.

Dave Duncan (Golden, BC), Cam Culbert (North Bay, ONT) and Brian Bennett (Qesnel, BC) all failed to make it past the fist round in their heats.

The Canadian Ski Cross Team were proud to accept the Nation Cup for Freestyle, the combined successes of Ski Cross, Moguls and Aerials propelled the Canadian Team to the #1 Nation in the world!

RESULTS

WOMEN

1 DAVID Ophelie FRA
2 SERWA Kelsey CAN
3 SERAIN Emilie SUI
4 GRAUVOGL Alexandra GER
5 CLINE Aleisha CAN
6 GUTENSOHN Katharina AUT
7 OFNER Katrin AUT
8 KVINLOG Gro NOR

9 MCIVOR Ashleigh CAN (QF2-G4)
13 MURRAY Julia CAN

MEN

1 KRAUS Tomas CZE
2 NIEDERER Armin SUI
3 HAYER Stanley CAN
4 LEWEN Lars SWE
5 BARR Davey CAN
6 ELIASSON Tommy SWE
7 TAKIZAWA Hiroomi JPN
8 DELBOSCO Christopher CAN

22 LEMAN Brady CAN
24 BENNETT Brian CAN
29 DUNCAN David CAN
30 CULBERT Cam CAN