March 18th, 2015, Charlottetown – Jared Vriends of Pleasant Grove and Carly Connell of Charlottetown are competing in Toronto at the Canadian Junior Short Track Open Championships #2 this week. The national level event is being held for the first time and is open to the top 14 to 19 year old short track speed skaters from across Canada.
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Connell will compete in a field of of 55 female skaters, while Vriends will be among 60 of the country’s top junior men. The Island pair is coming off some strong results at the Canada Games in Prince George B.C., including a top ten finish for Connell in her 1000m distance. Vriends had a top twenty finish in his 1000m event in B.C., while also earning his qualifying times for the Toronto event. Connell had pre-qualified by earning a spot in the Canadian Junior Championships in January.
Racing gets underway Thursday morning, with the 1500 metre and 500 metre distances, which continue through the first three days. The 1000m event will go on Sunday, along with a second 1500m event for the top 16 ranked skaters after the first three distances.
Competitors at the Toronto event will earn points based on their placements toward the Canadian Junior ranking list, which will help to qualify them for national level events next season. Both Connell and Vriends have three seasons remaining in their Junior age eligibility.
To see the Toronto Speed Skating Club’s webcast of the full event, click here. For more information on the event, visit www.speedskating.ca/events/junior-2.
