THUNDER BAY – Andy Shields who lives and trains in Thunder Bay with the National Development Centre blew away his competition in the Haywood Noram World Junior Trials 20km pursuit race at the Lappe Nordic Ski Centre on Thursday.
Andy dominated the race and topped his next best competitor by 50 seconds. Shields said after the race, “I have been dreaming of this for months. I am so happy that I will be representing Canada on the world stage.”
This will be Andy’s second trip to the World Junior Championships which will be held in Oteppa, Estonia from January 25th-31st . Andy stated, “My coach and the wax techs provided me with such great skis today. My skis were amazing and the best I have ever had in my racing career!”
NDC Head Coach Eric Bailey said he was very happy with how the team skied today and noted the conditions were very interesting as it was very cold out. He was very happy with the outcome of the day and stated, “The organizing committee was superb and the trails are in such great condition.”
The NDC is looking strong for the rest of the weekend. Michael Somppi also had an amazing race and finished in 3rd spot in the U23 men in the 30km pursuit. He has set himself up nicely and is a solid contender to make the U23 Canadian Team.
Racing continues on Saturday with the Teck Classic sprints.