Cranbrook’s Sherret wins World Junior ski cross title
India Sherret proved the future is bright for the Canadian ski cross team.
The Cranbrook, B. C., product, who is a member of the Canadian Next Gen Development team and also competes with the Alberta ski cross squad, won the women’s world junior championship on Wednesday.
“I had a great day,” said Sherret in a statement. “I’m so happy for our entire team. We’ve had a lot of success over the past two weeks winning three national championships in Canada, Switzerland and Italy.
“To win the world junior championships is huge and it says a lot about our program and the next wave of ski cross athletes in Canada.”
Marielle Thompson won the World Junior title in 2013 and used that to springboard all the way to the top last season: a gold medal at the Sochi Olympics.
“It’s great to see the younger athletes having success on the world stage and it’s a very positive stepping stone in the right direction for India and the program,” she said in a statement. “I’m very happy for her and her teammates.”
Sherret finished seventh in qualifying after a few mistakes, but she righted the ship in the next few rounds and was in top form in the final.
Canmore’s Kris Mahler finished fourth on the men’s side, but he was actually leading the big final until the second last turn when he slid out on his hip and went off course.
“I’ve been skiing really well over the last few weeks and winning third at the Canadian championships really gave me a confidence boost coming into these last races.” Mahler said in a statement.
“The entire team skied great today,” said Canadian ski cross head coach of development Sead Causevic in a statement. “India and Kris’ performances today were incredible. I’m very proud of the efforts put forward by our athletes.”