Snowboardcrossers Evan Bichon and Meryeta O'Dine will be putting their Prince George stamp on the World Cup slopes of Austria and Utah over the next seven weeks.
They've been selected for Canada's national team to race in the 'A' block to start the World Cup season.
The World Cup season starts Dec. 16 in Montafon, Austria. Bichon and O'Dine also have a World Cup event in Solitude, Utah marked on their calendars, Jan. 20, 2017.
They were gold medalists at the Canada Winter Games and are targeting positions on Canada's Olympic team for 2018 and 2022. Both raced Europa Cup events over the weekend in Pitzal, Austria.
On Sunday, Bichon just missed the finals in the junior men's race Sunday finishing in a four-way tie for 13th place. The race drew 63 competitors.
Bichon placed 21st out of 83 male competitors in Saturday's race. On Thursday he posted a 33rd-place Europa Cup finish on the heels of a 37th-place finish the day before. All of those races were in Pitzal.
O'Dine, the defending Canadian junior and NorAm series champion, placed ninth out of 44 racers in the junior women's race Saturday in Pitzal.
It was the first race of the season for the 19-year-old O'Dine, who just missed the medal podium in April when she finished fourth at the junior world championships in Slovenia. She finished second at the senior national championships in March in Quebec.
Bichon, an 18-year-old native of Mackenzie, began the current season in August, racing in the Southern Hemisphere in Mt. Hotham, Australia. He finished eighth out of 54 competitors in the Australia/New Zealand national event and was 47th in the Australian finals.
Bichon is part of Canada's national development team and has been racing at the FIS level since 2014. Last season he finished ninth overall at the junior world championships in Slovenia in April. That came a month after he'd won bronze, his first NorAm medal, March 3 in Sugarloaf, Maine.
In February, he placed fourth at the 2016 Youth Olympic Games in Halfjell, Norway.
Other members of the World Cup team with their hometowns are: Men - Chris Robanske (Squamish); Kevin Hill (Vernon); Baptiste Brochu (Saguenay, Que.); and Tyler Jackson (Whitby, Ont.). The alternates are: Indrik Trahan (Trois-Rivieres, Que.); Danny Bourgeois (Rosemere, Que.)and Will Malisch (Toronto)l
The women's team also includes: Tess Critchlow (Kelowna); Zoe Bergermann (Erin, Ont.); Carle Brenneman (Vancouver); Katie Anderson (Jaffray); and Audrey McManiman (Saint-Ambroise-de-Kildare, Que.) Tayler Wilton (Collingwood, Ont.) has a personal spot on the team.
Tabor Mountain will host NorAm Cup men's and women's snowboardcross races, March 9-10. The ski resort 18 kilometres east of Prince George off Highway 16 will also host NorAm ski cross events for men and women, Jan. 14-15.
