12.21.09 - REIGNING WORLD CHAMPION, ASHLEIGH MCIVOR CARRIES THE CANADIAN TEAM WITH A SILVER MEDAL AT THE FIRST WORLD CUP RACE IN SAN CANDIDO, ITALY

Innichen/San Candido, Italy (December 21, 2009) – Ashleigh McIvor (Whistler, BC) was the top Canadian Ski Cross athlete today when she placed 2nd in the 2009/2010 season opening World Cup today Innichen/San Candido, Italy.

In what was described by team head coach, Eric Archer as “a wake up call of a race” the overall performance of the team was marked by bad luck and a series of compounding errors by the athletes that resulted in an uncharacteristic performance by the strong Canadian squad.

In the women’s heats Ashleigh McIvor (Whistler, BC) and Kelsey Serwa (Kelowna, BC) squared off against one another. After a strong start Serwa was able to find the hole shot and McIvor slipped into 2nd spot where they successfully defended their positions to the finish and advanced to the next heat.

Out of the gate McIvor found the hole shot and managed to defend the position to the finish winning the heat and moving to the semifinals. Serwa and Poleschuk battled it out against Sophie Fjellvang-Soelling (DAN) for second spot but were unable to gain any leverage on the Dane and finished the day with Serwa in 12th and Poleschuk in 16th.

After a tight race in the Semifinals that saw Fjellvang-Soelling and McIvor again one and two both advanced to the finals where they faced off against World Cup Ranked #1 Ophellie David (FRA) and Anna Holmlund (SWE). Holmlund, who had been taking the hole shot all day, continued her streak and broke out in first, McIvor who had also been starting well, settled into second spot with relative ease after a tangle between David and Fjellvang-Soelling.

In a tight finish that came down to ½ a ski length, McIvor settled for second place on the day.  Nursing an injury going into today’s race, McIvor kept her training to a minimum, only training the day before and no training runs on race day.

“I was confident going in and knew that barring any bad luck I had every chance of making the finals and ultimately the podium. The day went well all things considered, I sprained my SI joint at training camp so it was really important that I follow a routine that I was comfortable with,” said McIvor. “Following a plan gave me a lot of confidence going into today. I’m always looking to have fun when I ski; I just find that makes me ski better!”

It was a tough day in the Men’s race with only Davey Barr (Squamish, BC), Stanley Hayer (Calgary, AB) and Nik Zoricic (Toronto, ONT) qualifying and all failing to make it our of the first round of heats.

“The men got beat today and they know that.” Said Eric Archer, Canadian Ski Cross Team head coach, “but the first race of the season is always like that, training/racing against your team mates and racing against other nations are two completely different things and we just need to get this one behind us to set the bar of expectation. I suspect we will see a very different out come tomorrow”

When asked about the mood of the team Archer said, “ they’re fine, they see it for what it is and know that it’s just a wake up call, they’re not bummed just fired up!”

Next race is tomorrow again from Innichen/San Candido, Italy.

RESULTS:

WOMEN

1 HOLMLUND Anna SWE
2 MCIVOR Ashleigh CAN
3 DAVID Ophelie FRA
4 FJELLVANG-SOELLING Sophie DAN
5 SERAIN Emilie SUI
6 LUEDI Sanna SUI
7 SMITH Fanny SUI
8 KVINLOG GENLID Gro NOR

12 SERWA Kelsey CAN
16 POLESCHUK Danielle CAN
18 MURRAY Julia CAN
35 CLINE Aleisha CAN

MEN

1 SCHMID Michael SUI
2 KUHN Xavier FRA
3 PUCKETT Casey USA
4 GROENVOLD Audun NOR
5 KRAUS Tomas CZE
6 ELIASSON Tommy SWE
7 NIEDERER Armin SUI
8 ZANGERL Thomas AUT

21 BARR Davey CAN
22 ZORICIC Nick CAN
24 HAYER Stanley CAN
33 DUNCAN David CAN
39 DELBOSCO Christopher CAN
63 CULBERT Cam CAN
64 BENNETT Brian CAN

Brady Leman did not start due to injury.

For more information contact:

Andrew Squires
Canadian Ski Cross Team
Director of Marketing and Communications
Ph. - (403) 397 9943
Email - asquires@ski-cross.ca
Website - www.ski-cross.ca