There will be no Crystal Globe championship for Squamish's Ma毛lle Ricker, but a late-season push saw her rise to a solid second place overall in the World Cup snowboard cross standings.
Ricker concluded her season on Friday (March 16) in Italy with a fifth-place finish and said her Canadian teammate Dominique Maltais was deserving of the Crystal Globe trophy win.
"I had two goals for the day, to give 110 per cent and to be happy with the outcome whether I won the race and Globe or not," she said. "I thought to myself, 'What would Sarah [Burke] do?' She would have given it her best, and smiled like she always did and she probably would have spun a 1080 on the last jump.'"
Ricker said both the present and the future of the sport in Canada looks bright.
"The stage was set for the perfect finale of the season, having Alexandra [Jekova, of Bulgaria], Dom, and myself qualified one, two and three," she said. "Even in the final run, it came down to the last turn to determine the Crystal Globe. It's these situations that make the sport what it is and why snowboard cross is so fun to watch. I'm proud of Dom for her fantastic season and I'm happy to see the young girls set up alongside of us. The next two years are going to be great."
It was a bounce-back season for Ricker, who had to end last season early after suffering a shoulder injury in 2011.
Another 麻豆社国产resident reached the podium as Katie Tsuyuki finished second at the Snowcrown Canadian Freestyle Snowboarding Championships in Calgary on Saturday (March 17).
Tsuyuki scored a 73.5 in the halfpipe competition, while Whistler's Mercedes Nicoll grabbed first place with a score of 86.5.
For full results and more information on both events, visit www.canadasnowboard.ca.
