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St. Romain to travel to Finland for U20 world track championships

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Belleville's Nate St. Romain of Nicholson Catholic College has earned a trip to Finland in July.

The OFSAA track and field gold-medalist has been named to the 32-athlete Team Canada roster for the 2018 U20 IAAF world championships, July 10-15 in Tampere, Finland.

St. Romain, who captured the gold medal in the senior boys 400m hurdles at the 2018 OFSAA high school championships earlier this month at York University in Toronto, will represent Canada in the same event in Finland. He is coached by Dave Grant of the Quinte Frontenac Track Club.

St. Romain achieved national standards in his event even before the OFSAA final. In preliminary heats at York, St. Romain was clocked at 53 seconds; he went on to finish first in the province at 52.94 and qualified for Team Canada.

The NCC speedster is considered to be one of several athletes on U20 Team Canada who've had breakout seasons to climb the national and world rankings. Historically, the IAAF U20 Worlds have been a launching pad for several world-class Canadian athletes.

"They've proven to be an integral stepping stone for Canadian athletes to pursue their goals of qualifying, competing and medalling at world championships and Olympic Games,” said Team Canada head coach Joel Skinner in a statement. “Those who achieve personal bests, a spot in the top-eight, or a podium finish in Tampere are most likely to go on to achieve success at the senior level internationally.”

In Finland, Canada looks to increase its medal haul from 2016 (two bronze). That said, Skinner also hopes the athletes will embrace the experience to be better prepared for future international competitions.

"Our goal is to promote and develop a winning culture, but we also realize it's important for athletes to gain a certain comfort level when it comes to training, competing and performing at the highest level,” said Skinner. “We want them to take in the experience so they get a better understanding of what's required to perform at the elite level — now and down the road.”

St. Romain is one of 19 Ontario athletes on the Team Canada roster. The remainder hail from BC (8), Quebec (3), Alberta (1) and New Brunswick (1).

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