03.24.09 - Kelsey Serwa & Dave Duncan Crowned this years Canadian Champions

Canada Olympic Park
Calgary, AB (March 23rd, 2009)

In a season of titles and achievements Kelsey Serwa (Kelowna, BC) can add Canadian Champion to the list after her win at this year's Canadian Championships at Canada Olympic Park, Calgary. Dave Duncan (Golden, BC) made a fantastic move from 3rd to 1st in the final stretch to claim his first Canadian Championship title.

After a heavy spring snow fall forced the cancellation of training on Sunday, the Canadian Championships went off without a hitch under blue bird skies on Monday, thanks to the hard work of the grooming crew at Canada Olympic park that worked through the night to resurrect the course.

Capitalizing on the perfect conditions and fresh off a 2nd place finish at the World Cup Finals, Kelsey Serwa (Kelowna, BC) followed up her phenomenal year on the FIS World Cup tour, where she placed 3rd overall for the season and was named "Rookie of the Year", with a great showing at the Canadian Championships. Serwa had some tough competition as she faced off against teammates Ashleigh McIvor, the reigning World Champion, and Julia Murray, 3rd place skier at Mieringen, SUI World Cup and Andra Nedelcu of Romania.

The final heat came down to Serwa, McIvor, Murray and Nedelcu (ROM). After some jockeying for position out of the start Serwa took the lead and held it to the finish with Murray finishing in 2nd, McIvor in 3rd and Nedelcu in 4th.

On the Men's side, the final heat consisted of four Canadian team members. Dave Duncan (Golden, BC), Davey Barr (Whistler, BC), Nick Zorcic (Toronto, ONT) and Brian Bennett (Quesnel, BC) all faced off in the start. Out of the gate Zorcic took the hole shot and led for ¾ quarters of the course. Zorcic was unable to fend off an advance from Barr, the #7th ranked skier in the World, who drafted Zorcic and was able to sling shot past over a step up feature. It looked as though Barr would take the win, however, across the bottom flats Duncan, also using the draft, was able to gain enough momentum and rocket past both Zorcic and Barr to capture 1st place at the line and become the Canadian Champion for the 2009 season.

For Duncan, a team member for 2 years, the title of "Canadian Champion" is his second after he was crowned the "Spanish National Champion" in the 2008 season with his win in Sierra Nevada, SPA. 

The Canadian Ski Cross Team would like to thank the efforts of all the staff at Canada Olympic Park, WinSport Canada and event volunteers. We would also like to thank, Cadence Superfine Coffee, Ski Cellar and Bow Cycle for their support of sport and community.

This concludes the events of the 2009 winter season and the Team would like to thank all the supporters and partners of the team, Carscallen Leitch, Fortress Energy, Cold-FX and Platinum Naturals. We would also like to thank the suppliers and manufacturers of the team equipment, Descente, Auclair Gloves, Atomic skis, Rossignol Skis, Stockli Skis, Gabel poles, Leki Poles and Scott poles. We would also like to thank Uvex & Alpina for keeping our bean's safe.

Stay tuned over the summer months for all the updates about the team and breaking news on the evolution of the sport. Thank you all for tuning in!

 

Results

Men 

  1. Dave Duncan, Golden BC
  2. Davey Barr, Whistler BC
  3. Nick Zoricic, Toronto, ON
  4. Brian Bennett, Quesnel, BC
  5. Chris Del Bosco, Sudbury, ON
  6. Cameron Culbert, North Bay, ON
  7. Justin Johnson, USA
  8. Stan Rey Whistler, BC

 

Women

  1. Kelsey Serwa - Kelowna, BC
  2. Julia Murray - Whistler, BC
  3. Ashleigh McIvor - Whistler, BC
  4. Ruxandra Nedelcu - North Vancouver, BC (Skis for Romania)
  5. Marielle Thompson - Whistler, BC
  6. Bria Darlington - Whistler, BC
  7. Miranda Cosman - Calgary, AB
  8. Olivia Perry - Whistler, BC