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Julia Murray makes first SX podium

The daughter of downhill legend Dave Murray and freestyle world champion Stephanie Sloan, Whistler's Julia Murray went on to find a sport that combines a little of both her parents' talents.
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Strong Team Julia Murray squats and Ashleigh McIvor spots during dryland training in 2008.

The daughter of downhill legend Dave Murray and freestyle world champion Stephanie Sloan, Whistler's Julia Murray went on to find a sport that combines a little of both her parents' talents. Ski cross demands the speed and fearlessness of a downhill skier as well as the technical skills and comfort in rough terrain of a mogul skier.

Last weekend at Meiringen-Hasliberg, Switzerland, the second-to-last event of the season, Murray earned her first World Cup podium in ski cross, going from rookie in 2007-08 to rank among the world's best in 2008-09. She finished third, behind Katharina Gutensohn of Austria and World Cup leader Ophelie David of France, while edging out teammate Kelsey Serwa to stand on her first World Cup podium.

With regular appearances in the top-10, it was only a matter of time before Murray would land on a World Cup ski cross podium. Before the bronze, she had fourth, fifth, seventh, ninth and 10 th place finishes on the tour. She has finished out of the top-30 in just one race.

In Switzerland, she placed second in the qualifying runs, then won her first three heats to compete in the semi-final against teammates Serwa and Aleisha Cline. Murray won that heat as well, moving on to the finals, while Cline went to the small finals to place seventh overall.

Ophelie David took the hole shot in the final race, with Serwa in second place and Murray fourth. Serwa got knocked off line by Gutensohn, who went on to edge out David for first place. Murray held onto third.

"I just feel comfortable on this hill, I had my best World Cup result here last year and the hill just suits my style," said Murray. "I'm excited to now have a World Cup podium, hopefully there's a lot more of these to come."

Whistler's Ashleigh McIvor, ranked third this season, had a disappointing day. Gutensohn, not making any friends on the tour, clipped McIvor's ski while attempting a pass and McIvor went down. The team lodged a protest, but Gutensohn moved on and McIvor settled for 10 th place.

Danielle Poleschuk separated her shoulder after a crash in the quarter finals, but finished 15 th on the day, giving Canada five skiers in the top-15. It's not known whether she will race again this season.

On the men's side, Chris DelBosco placed second for the third time this season, finishing between Andreas Steffen of Switzerland and Xavier Kuhn of the U.S. after some aggressive skiing from the back of the pack. That put DelBosco within 44 points of the World Cup title.

Whistler's Dave Barr, having his best season, also made the finals and finished fourth after an inside move by Kuhn.

Also for Canada, Brady Leman was 12 th , Stanley Hayer 14 th , Cam Culbert 15 th and Nick Zoricic 25 th .

Snowboarders net three medals in Spain

Canadian snowboarders came away with three medals from this past weekend's World Cup competitions at La Molina, Spain, the second-to-last event on the calendar this season to earn points and Olympic quota spots.

Quebec's Jasey-Jay Anderson, who found a new level of consistency in the second half of the season, picked up his second gold medal and third podium of the season in the parallel giant slalom. It was his 54 th career podium appearance, and Canada's 18 th medal of 2008-09.

"It was a really nice race for me," said Anderson. "Three of my last four runs have been very good and I am very pleased with that. When you push the limits and you give 100 per cent, that is when you know that you earned the victory.

"The track was really hard in the morning and then softened up as the day progressed. I love it soft because that is when you can really let it all go riding.

"Usually, I struggle in the semi-finals, and I don't know why. Today I had my two best runs in the semis. In the finals I made a small mistake in the first run and got eaten up. In the second run I knew I had to catch up time, which I did in the steep section where it is possible to really attack while some competitors are riding conservatively."

Matthew Morison placed eighth on the men's side, with Michael Lambert missing the top-16, finishing in 18 th place.

On the women's side Caroline Calvé of Quebec was the top racer, in seventh place. She was the only Canadian to qualify for the finals.

In snowboardcross, Canada picked up a pair of bronze medals, with Dominique Maltais finding her form again on the women's side and Francois Boivin having another good weekend for the men.

"Finally," said Maltais. "It was a difficult season with my two broken wrists. I knew I was riding pretty well in the last couple of races and that I was improving. Today, I knew that the podium was there. I needed that result, it was good for the confidence to be in the big final again after missing it quite a few times."

Whistler's Maëlle Ricker got bumped from the finals, but made up for it by winning the small finals and placing fifth.

Lindsey Jacobellis took the win on the women's side, followed by Sandra Frei of Switzerland.

Markus Schairer of Austria won the men's event, followed by Nick Baumgartner of the U.S.

"It was about time for a podium," said Boivin. "Over the whole season I was always among the best 10 riders but always made a stupid mistake or had just bad luck."

There were no podiums for Canada in halfpipe. Justin Lamoureux of Squamish came closest, finishing in seventh place, while Dominique Vallée was 11 th for the women. Alexandra Duckworth, Sarah Conrad and Mercedes Nicoll cracked the top-20 in 15 th , 16 th and 18 th respectively.

Harvey third in XC marathon

Alex Harvey may be a rookie with the national cross-country ski team, but he's skiing like a seasoned pro. This past weekend he placed third in the 50 km classic mass start race at Trondheim, Norway - basically the same event his father Pierre Harvey won in 1988, as well as an event that favours older, more experienced skiers.

Harvey worked to keep a consistent speed from start to finish, and crossed the finish line in 2:03:12, averaging almost 25 km/h. It came down to a sprint at the end, with Russian Maxim Vylegzhanin finishing just 1.5 seconds behind the Canadian.

"It feels amazing," Harvey said. "I know I'm in really good shape and thought I could get into the top-15 today, but never thought a podium was possible. The longer distance races are usually won by the older guys, so to do it at 20 years old is really amazing.

"(This season) has been surprise after surprise. I know I can do well in every distance because I have been training and doing the same event as a junior. But for me, the word of the year really is 'surprise.'"

Devon Kershaw placed seventh for Canada.

On the women's side, in the 30 km distance, Sara Renner was 18 th . The team is heading to the World Cup Finals in Sweden March 18-20.

Ski team goes out on a sad note

The Canadian Alpine Ski Team wrapped up its season last week at the World Cup finals in Are, Sweden. To take part you had to rank in the top-25 in the world in a discipline.

In the opening women's downhill, Kelly VanderBeek placed 15 th , while Emily Brydon was 14 th and finished her season in 15 th place.

Lindsey Vonn of the U.S. won the race, the downhill crystal globe, and the overall women's title for the second straight year.

Erik Guay was two-tenths of a second from a podium in the men's downhill to place fifth, followed by John Kucera in seventh, and Manuel Osborne-Paradis in 11 th . Whistler's Robbie Dixon was 16 th .

In the super G, Whistler's Britt Janyk led the team in 15 th place, followed by Emily Brydon in 16 th and Kelly VanderBeek in 19 th .

In the men's super G, Erik Guay was ninth and John Kucera 27 th .

In giant slalom, Jean-Philippe Roy and Erik Guay did not finish the race on the men's side, while no Canadian women qualified to race.

In the final slalom, Whistler's Michael Janyk was 16 th . Again, no women qualified to race.

It was a disappointing end to the season, with the team winning just seven World Cup medals - half as many as they planned for. By way of comparison, the team earned 14 medals in the 2007 season, and 12 medals in 2008.

The team did meet its goal of two medals in the World Championships, including a gold medal in downhill for John Kucera and a bronze for Michael Janyk in slalom.

The women's team, which contributed nine medals last season, was completely shut out this year.

Following Are, veteran slalom skier Thomas Grandi announced that he was retiring, after coming out of retirement at the start of the season to have a shot at racing at home in 2010.

Grandi has had a tough season, and only finished a second run in two out of 15 races. His best result was a 17 th place in January.

Next up for the Canadian Alpine Ski Team is a training camp in Whistler using the actual Olympic runs.

Speed skaters on the podium

Although the team has been hit hard by injuries, Canadian speed skaters picked up eight medals this past weekend at the Richmond Skating Oval, which was hosting a World Cup and Olympic test event.

Denny Morrison was on the podium twice, winning bronze in the men's 1,500-metre and silver in the men's 1,000. Christine Nesbitt won bronze in the women's 1,500-metre and gold in the women's 1,000-metre. Kristina Groves was third in the women's 3,000-metre and in the 5,000-metre. Clara Hughes won silver in the women's 1,500 metre. The women's pursuit team won gold, with Kristina Groves, Christine Nesbitt and Brittany Schussler carrying the baton.