March 20, 2011 (Falun, Sweden) – Alas parting is such sweet sorrow, and so it was today in Falun, as the FIS World Cup season came to an end. By day’s end Canadian Nordic fans can take pride that the nation placed two men – Devon Kerhsaw and Alex Harvey – in the top 10 overall in the FIS overall WCup standings. It marked a stellar accomplishment for the Canadian team and program.

Kershaw garnered 605 season points to place 8th overall, while Harvey finished in 10th with 552 season-long points. It was a day of celebrations for the Canadians who recently won Nordic Worlds gold for the first time only two weeks earlier in Oslo.

“The last time a Canadian male was in the top ten overall was my dad – Pierre Harvey – and that was a long time ago. Two athletes in the top ten is amazing and shows we have been consistent and competitive in all areas. We are really excited about that,” said the 22-year-old Alex Harvey in a Cross-Country Canada release. The only other nation that had two skiers in the top ten was Sweden.

The final day was cast in Norwegian colours as current king, Petter Northug, won the WCup mini tour while teammate, 20 year-old Finn Haagen Krogh, winner of the Scandinavian Cup this winter, finished second overall and won the 15km Handicap race with the fastest time of 37:06.3.

Krogh nipped overall WCup winner Dario Cologna (SUI) in a gutsy sprint to the line with the Swiss star settling for 3rd overall in the mini tour, knowing he secured the coveted crystal globe as the FIS overall WCup and Distance Cup winner.

Maurice Manificat (FRA) was second on the day and Lucas Bauer (CZE) was third while Bauer was also third overall in the distance standings. Canada’s Ivan Babikov finished a strong 10th in the 15km Handicap race just ahead of Northug in 11th to end up 16th overall in the mini tour.

Harvey skied to a 14th place finish (11th overall) while Graham Nishikawa (CAN) was 27th (37th overall), Kris Freeman took 29th (24th overall) and Devon Kerhsaw was 36th (27th overall), while Lars Flora was 30th (41st overall). American sprinter Andy Newell did not start the final race.

Northug ended the season second to Switzerland’s Cologna in the overall and distance standings while Sweden’s Daniel Rickardsson claimed third overall. Following Kershaw in 8th and Harvey in 10th is American Freeman in 27th. The trio finished 14th, 19th and 25th respectively in the distance standings, and all made the illustrious WCup Red Group as well – that’s four North Americans overall in the Red Group including Kikkan Randall.

The sprint title was decided after the Stockholm WCup on Mar. 16, and Emil Joensson (SWE) was declared the winner with Norway’s Ole Viga Hattestad in 2nd and Sweden’s Jesper Modin 3rd. Newell was the top North American in 8th overall with Harvey 10th and Kershaw 18th.

Following the race Cologna – who takes his second crystal globe – said he was pleased with his season. “All in all I had a very good season in that I won my second overall World Cup win. Today I had a good race and felt strong, and I thought I could beat Krogh in the sprint, but he was stronger today.”

Canadian XC Head Coach Justin Wadsworth summed it up. “Solid day for both Alex and Ivan. When it all shook out this afternoon here in Falun, Sweden, we came out with two men in the top 10 of the overall World Cup (only Sweden did that – Norway didn’t even have two in there!), and one women’s podium [Crawford-Gaiazova Team Sprint].

“Four individual podiums for Devon with one victory. One individual podium for Alex, and of course a World Championship gold [Team Sprint] for the boys in Oslo. It was a good year for sure, but what’s really exciting is what we will do in the future!!”

Handicap results HERE.
Mini Tour results HERE.
Overall Sprint Standings HERE.
Overall Distance Standings HERE.
Overall WCup Standings HERE.