SKI CROSS:

Del Bosco, Serwa 4th in agonizing day for Canadian ski cross team

March 6, 2011

MEIRINGEN-HASLIBERG, Switzerland — Canada just missed out on the podium on both the men’s and women’s sides of the battle Sunday in World Cup ski cross races at Meiringen-Hasliberg.

In the men’s race, Chris Del Bosco’s podium streak came to an end as he finished fourth, trailing race winner Jouni Pellinen of Finland, Austria’s Mario Matt and third-place finisher Daniel Bohnacker of Germany.

Canada’s Dave Duncan was 11th, Nick Zoricic 14th and Brian Bennett 18th.

On the women’s side, Anna Holmlund of Sweden took the win, with Swiss racer Katrin Mueller second, France’s Ophelie David third and Canada’s Kelsey Serwa fourth.

Danielle Poleschuk of Canada was 10th, Marielle Thompson 12th and Catriona Blair 27th.

Canada’s ski cross team was held off the podium for the first time this season. After recording at least one top-three finish at the World Championships, the Winter X Games and all six World Cup events in which the team has competed — it skipped the World Cup races in Grasgehren, Germany, to attend the X Games — Canada came agonizing close to extending the streak.

However, Del Bosco, of Sudbury, Ont., and Serwa, of Kelowna, B.C., didn’t start well in the men’s and women’s finals and they weren’t able to make up enough ground on a tight and technical course.

“I got a little bit hung up at the start. I was trying to play catch-up,” said Del Bosco, who saw his personal streak of five consecutive podiums come to an end. “It’s tough. I’m happy that I made the final again and had a shot but it just didn’t work out this time.”

Del Bosco won all three of his heats en route to the final four.

“Zoricic skied really well in his first heat to move on,” said Eric Archer, Canada’s head coach. “He had a great chance in the second heat but the guy in front covered his move. Somebody’s got to move on. That’s the way it goes sometimes.”

Austria’s Matt has all but wrapped up the overall title with 679 points, while Del Bosco is second with 435 points.

On the women’s side, Poleschuk and Thompson were eliminated at the quarterfinal stage. Serwa rode two second-place finishes to battle through to the final four but couldn’t recover from a tough start.

“I expected bigger things but sometimes that’s how it goes,” said Archer. “We need to put this one behind us and move on.”

Serwa remains in the hunt for the overall World Cup ski cross title with 450 points, behind Holmlund (472) and Germany’s Heidi Zacher (517).

Next up for the Canadian team is a stop in Branas, Sweden, next weekend. Those races are due to be broadcast on CBC on March 13 at 2 p.m. local time.

— Canada Ski Cross contributed to this report

Meiringen-Hasliberg women’s World Cup ski cross results

Meiringen-Hasliberg men’s World Cup ski cross results