Squamishs Ma毛lle Ricker capped a successful season by capturing the Canadian snowboardcross championship on the weekend.
Ricker, the current world and Olympic champion in the discipline, cruised to victory at the national championships on Sunday (March 31) at Big White. Ricker, who placed third in this year's overall World Cup points standings, had comfortable leads in each of her races and finished well ahead of Kelowna's Tess Critchlow to win the title. Zoe Bergemann of Acton, Ont., placed third.
Earlier, the 17-year-old Critchlow had edged Bergemann in the final to capture the Canadian junior title.
The best parts of the nationals this past week was watching the Para World Cups and seeing the juniors battle it out on Friday, Ricker said. I was so impressed by the level of the younger riders and the knowledge they have already in making quick decisions in race situations. I'm really looking forward to next year.
Ricker, the 2010 Olympic champion, has already qualified to represent Canada at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.
