Squamish's Olympic gold medal winner Ma毛lle Ricker successfully defended her title as Canadian female snowboardcross champion at the 2010 national competition in Quebec on Saturday (April 3), wrapping up a flawless season.
The win on Mt. Tremblant gave Ricker a perfect season with gold medal wins at the 2010 Olympic Games, the World Cup and now at the Canada Snowboard Nationals.
"I'm pretty happy. It was a really fun race with the crazy spring, actually more like summer conditions," Ricker said of the warm Quebec weather.
"It's been lots of fun to ride with all the young girls and a good get together for Canada snowboardcross."
Comox native Carle Brenneman finished in third while Americans Jacqueline Hernandez and Chloe Banning finished in second and fourth respectively.
Vernon native Kevin Hill took the men's Canadian championship while Caledon Ont. based Jake Holden scooped second place. The men's third and fourth place finishers were Americans Robert Minghini and JJ Tomlinson.
Despite not making the cut for the Olympic team, Hill said it felt good to finish the season with a win.
"It feels pretty good to win the last race of the season, it just tops the whole season off."
Canadian Olympic team members Rob Fagan finished at the Nationals in seventh place, while Francois Boivin finished in eighth. Mike Robertson crashed in the quarterfinals and did not qualify to compete further while Drew Neilson did not start in Saturday's race.
The Mt. Tremblant competition concludes the 13th annual Canada Snowboard Tour, which hosted 11 competitions in four provinces.
