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Duncan leads Canadians in ski cross Europa Cup opener

Dec. 12, 2010 — Canada Ski Cross 

JERZENS, Austria — X-Games medallist Dave Duncan of Golden, B.C., earned the second Europa Cup podium result of his career Friday as Canada Ski Cross continues to prepare for next week’s opening World Cup race.

Duncan, who finished second at the 2010 X-Games last January, placed third in the opening Europa Cup race of the 2010-11 season at Jerzens, Austria.

“I won’t go as far as to say that I am skiing technically better than I ever have before, but I am in a good place right now,” said Duncan, who qualified for the 2010 Olympics last February only to miss out on the competition after breaking his collarbone during a training run.

Duncan was the only Canadian to make the men’s final, with Nick Zoricic and Brady Leman  eliminated in quarterfinal races.

Ashleigh McIvor made the women's final, ending up fourth. McIvor was third in the qualifying runs. Marielle Thompson, competing in her first ski cross race in Europe, was fifth, followed by Danielle Poleschuk in seventh and Kelsey Serwa eighth.

“It was definitely good for everyone to get an early race under our belts, that’s for sure,” CSX head coach Eric Archer said. “The field was really strong, particularly on the men’s side, which had more than 100 skiers competing in yesterday’s qualifying run. It makes for a really long day but it says a lot about how our sport is capturing the public’s attention.”

Canada Ski Cross begins the World Cup season next weekend in Innichen/San Candido, Italy, with men’s and women's races Saturday and Sunday.  S-Magazine