Kananaskis Valley (AB), Canada –Local hero Tristan Tafel won his first national title and Marielle Thompson successfully defended her 2011 crown on Saturday as Canada’s top racers put the finishing touches on their season at the 2012 Sport Chek Ski Cross Canadian Championships held at Nakiska ski area in Alberta.

Tafel, of Canmore, Alberta, edged Dave Duncan, of London, Ontario, right at the line in a thrilling men’s final that turned into head to head duel between the two national team racers.

“This means a lot. I’m excited to have done this on my home turf,” said Tafel, whose 2011-12 season included his first career World Cup victory in Bischofswiesen/Goetschen, Germany, on Feb. 25. “Honestly, it was the best year of my life. With that you have ups and downs. I’m just thankful to be given the opportunity. I’m really happy with how everything went.”

Tafel took an early lead in Saturday’s men’s final but had Duncan breathing down his neck the rest of the way down.

“We were four wide going into the first turn. ‘Dunc’ gave me the, ‘Go! Go! Go!’ and I just attacked into the first and second turns,” said Tafel, 22, who was second at the 2011 Canadian national championships. “Then after that I was out in front.

“The last section of the course, Dunc caught the draft on me and started reeling me in. I gave him a little bit of room and we didn’t have any contact. He made an amazing pass on me. It shows how much of a veteran he is. There aren’t many guys on the (World Cup) tour that can pull a pass on the hip. It’s unreal how close it was.”

In the end, however, it was Tafel who crossed the finish line first.

“I took the command back into the finish jump and he was just left of me,” he said. “I looked over at him and I knew that I had the victory. It was pretty sweet.”

World Cup veteran Duncan, who won the Canadian title in 2009, was happy to be part of a tight, exciting race.

“The final was great,” he said. “I went for a pass over the hip and just came up a little short there and then the same thing at the finish line. I got back into my tuck and used his draft – and I think we were maybe a half-foot (apart) at the finish line. At the end of the day it was good, tight skiing and fun for everyone to watch.”

Whistler, British Columbia’s Robert Lepine was third in the men’s final and Mathieu (Matt) Leduc, of Comox, British Columbia, was fourth.

There was plenty of drama in the heats that preceded Saturday’s men’s final. Whistler’s Stan Rey, the other men’s national team member competing on Saturday, was part of a stacked semi-final that also included Duncan and Tafel. Celebrating his 24^th birthday, Rey ended up in the fence after running out of room when he went into a turn shoulder to shoulder with Duncan.

“We all came in three wide coming into the second turn. Dunc and I got pushed pretty low on the turn. I was on the outside and unfortunately I had nowhere to go but the fence,” said Rey, who got a pie in the face from his teammates when he made it to the bottom of the hill. “I still had fun – that’s what it’s all about. They put me in the fence and then they pie me, too. I guess that’s what you call sportsmanship,” added Rey, laughing.

The 2011 men’s national champion, Chris Del Bosco, of Montreal, Quebec, cheered on his teammates from the finish area after his knee swelled up following Friday’s qualification round. Whistler’s Davey Barr opted not to race, while Brian Bennett, of Quesnel, British Columbia, also sat out due to a knee injury.

On the women’s side, Whistler’s Thompson, who this season became the first Canadian to win an individual Crystal Globe as the overall World Cup champion, had a more comfortable time of it in the women’s final, leading from start to finish to keep hold of the title she won in Lake Louise, Alberta, last year. Thompson was the only national team member competing on Saturday and she was too fast for her young opponents, leading from start to finish in both the semifinal and final.

“It was a pretty short day but a good day. I held onto the title – woo!” said Thompson, 19. “I was like, ‘I’m going to the nail the start and go.’

“It was a good finish to the year, that’s for sure,” Thompson added. “It’s been a great season. I’ve just got to keep it going next year.”

Fifteen-year-old India Sherret, of Cranbrook, British Columbia, was second in Saturday’s women’s final and Whistler’s Sarah Lepine was third.

“I went up the chair with a few with them,” Thompson said of some of the younger girls competing Saturday. “It’s nice to talk to them. (National team members) Kelsey (Serwa), Ashleigh (McIvor) and Julia (Murray) all talked to me when I was younger.”

Sherret, who finished eighth at the world juniors in Italy last month, was delighted with her second-place finish.

“The final was actually really good,” Sherret said. “Marielle doubling the rollers kind of screwed me up a bit. Other than that I feel I had a really good race. I’m hoping to pick up my results a little bit. I came second in all the Nor-Ams this year and now at this race, so I’ll maybe try to one-up those a couple of times next year.”

Racers wore ‘Ski4Nik’ stickers on their helmets Saturday in honor of national team member Nik Zoricic, who died on March 10 following a crash at a World Cup race in Grindelwald, Switzerland. It’s been a difficult few weeks for the national team racers, who took time off following the conclusion of the World Cup season and returned to training and racing in Nakiska this week.

“I’m happy the whole team was out here watching if they weren’t racing,” said Eric Archer, Canada’s head coach. “Some of the guys who didn’t race had a good qualifying (on Friday) to kind of get back on the horse. The racing I saw in the final with Duncan and Tafel looked back to normal and it was exciting. Everybody’s got smiles on their faces; it was fun again.

“It was good for Marielle to stay on her feet and keep the national title with the national team,” Archer added, referencing Thompson’s performance. “She’s carrying the flag for all those who were all down here watching (injured racers McIvor, Murray, Serwa, Danielle Poleschuk and Mariannick Therer, among others). Hopefully next year it’s going to be a different story.”

Archer, who spends most of his winter on the road with the World Cup racers, was pleased to have the chance to watch some up and coming racers compete on Saturday.

“For the whole field, the level has come up in the year since last year’s nationals,” Archer said. “The racing was good. It was fun to watch.”

Philippe Bernier, Alpine Canada’s director of events, paid tribute to the volunteers and officials who helped facilitate a successful few days of racing at what was the test event for the 2012 Nakiska Ski Cross World Cup, which will be held from Dec. 6 to 8.

“We are getting a lot more officials and volunteers understanding the sport and enjoying the sport,” Bernier said. “If it wasn‘t for them, we wouldn’t be able to have ski racing. Hopefully they come back for the Nakiska World Cup. I’m really excited about that event – we are going to start the season off on a good note.”