Canadian Sport School Victoria Cyclists Bring Home Amazing 18 Medals from 2018 Canadian Junior Track Championships

Canadian Sport Institute Pacific – Three Canadian Sport School Victoria (CSS Victoria) student-athletes will need to be bringing home additional luggage to carry all the medals they won at this month’s 2018 Canadian Junior Track Championships in Milton, Ontario.  Cyclists Sarah van Dam, Riley Pickrell and Casey Garrison won a spectacular 18 medals over the three days of competition: 13 Gold, 3 Silver and 2 Bronze.

 

Van Dam won seven national titles in Junior Women while Pickrell took six titles in Junior Men, which included a Canadian record in the Team Sprint event.  Competing in a combination of individual and team events, van Dam also finished with two Silver and one Bronze, Pickrell had one Silver and one Bronze and Casey Garrison had one Gold, one Silver and one Bronze medal.

 

All three athletes are in grade 11 and all are in their second year at the Canadian Sport School Victoria, with each attending a different high school: van Dam attends Oak Bay High, Pickrell is at Claremont and Garrison is a student at Reynolds.  The Canadian Sport School is a program created and implemented by Canadian Sport Institute Pacific.

 

“These three cyclists epitomize the pursuit of excellence that we encourage at CSS amongst our student-athletes,” says Canadian Sport School Lead, Jenn Joyce. “Their dedication to their athletic training as well as their academics, has enabled them rise to the occasion and perform on the national stage. We are all so proud of their work ethic and the process that they have gone through this year.”

 

With these results, both van Dam and Pickrell have hit the required standards to compete at the UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championships.  Former CSS Victoria student-athlete Erin Attwell competed at this event in both 2016 and 2017, which will make 2018 the third consecutive year at least one student from Canadian Sport School Victoria has competed at the World Championships.

 

 “Our highlight from the weekend was definitely winning the Madison together,” wrote Casey Garrison and Sarah van Dam.  “We didn’t have any expectations, but… we saw each other go beyond our limits because we weren’t only racing for ourselves, we were racing for each other.  Being in a program like Canadian Sport School has allowed us to manage and create balance in our lives even when we have to miss school for competitions and training. We’ve also seen noticeable improvements on and off the bike with the cross training that we get through CSS.”

 

Riley Pickrell agreed: “Track Nationals was an overwhelming success, not only due to the medals I won but because of how hard those medals were to win.  I rode my heart out every time I got on my bike and I am as proud of my silver and bronze as I am my golds.  Moving up in categories from an Under 17 athlete to a Junior (under 19) is quite the leap.  In Junior everybody can race well, and race fast; you have to be on your ‘A’ game.  Canadian Sport School helped a lot with that.  I was stronger and more explosive than my competitors which I can attest to the Strength and Conditioning we do at CSS.  What was the biggest crossover from CSS to my sport, however, were the leadership qualities. They were an advantage I felt my partner and I had in the Madison (two man relay race) which helped us come out on top.”

The 2018 UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championships take place August 15-19 in Aigle, Switzerland.

 
2018 Canadian Junior Track Championships Results:

 

Find out more about Canadian Sport School at: http://www.canadiansportschool.com

Find out more about Canadian Sport Institute Pacific at: http://csipacific.ca

 

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For More Information, contact: 

Jennifer Joyce

Coach, Canadian Sport School

Canadian Sport Institute Pacific

250.220.2574

778.231.5592

 

 

 

Noah Wheelock

Manager, Communications

Canadian Sport Institute Pacific

250.220.2534

250.813.3474

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About Canadian Sport School

 

The Canadian Sport School is an important initiative of the Canadian Sport Institute, delivered in partnership with the PacificSport Centres. With campuses located in Victoria, Kelowna and Prince George this program provides athletic and academic support for secondary student athletes who are balancing their educational and high performance training demands.

 

The Canadian Sport School helps to alleviate the pressures experienced by high performance secondary school athletes and ensure that our future Olympians and National Team members have all the skills and resources needed to continue to progress as high performance athletes, while excelling both on the playing field and in the classroom.

About CSI Pacific: Powering Performance. Inspiring Excellence.

Offering world-class Olympic and Paralympic training environments in Vancouver, Whistler and Victoria, CSI Pacific (www.csipacific.ca) is committed to Powering Performance. Inspiring Excellence.

Working with national sport organizations and fueled by our national and provincial partners such as Sport Canada, viaSport, Own the Podium, Canadian Olympic Committee, Canadian Paralympic Committee and the Coaches Association of Canada, we are driven by our mantra to Collaborate. Serve. Innovate.

Our team of sport scientists and medical experts provide leading edge programs and services to athletes and coaches to ensure they have every advantage to win medals for Canada.