Growing up Andrew played lacrosse and soccer which he enjoyed, but something about cycling just seemed a little different. At first he just raced for fun, but things took a more serious turn when he turned 15 and went into high school. Going into high school, he choose to stop playing lacrosse to focus on competitive cycling. His parents treated it the same as any high school sport, travelling hours away to race in the VAHS mountain bike league, and at times across the country to compete in road and cyclocross events where he competed against some of the top junior racers in the country. At this point, he competed in road, mountain bike and cyclocross, with cyclocross being his passion.
Growing up Andrew played lacrosse and soccer which he enjoyed, but something about cycling just seemed a little different. At first he just raced for fun, but things took a more serious turn when he turned 15 and went into high school. Going into high school, he choose to stop playing lacrosse to focus on competitive cycling. His parents treated it the same as any high school sport, travelling hours away to race in the VAHS mountain bike league, and at times across the country to compete in road and cyclocross events where he competed against some of the top junior racers in the country. At this point, he competed in road, mountain bike and cyclocross, with cyclocross being his passion.
In 2018, as a first-year junior, he traveled to his first UCI cyclocross race at Kings CX in Cincinnati. He went there with the goal of getting 1 UCI point to improve his start positions for follow-on races and to see how he would compare to the other juniors in the U.S. The weather was rainy and in the first corner he slid out and found himself in last place by 30 seconds. Andrew thought, "well this is a great way to start my first UCI race,” and went on from there with the goal to just have some fun and see how far up the field he could make it. He started moving up throughout the race until he found myself on the leaders’ wheel. He took the lead on the last lap, winning the first UCI race of his career. From this point on, he had the mindset that he can be competitive in this sport.
After a solid year of racing, he got selected to the World Championships team as a first-year junior. Everything was dialed the next year, completing all the goals he had set for himself to include: winning the Pan-American Championship, National Championship, and finally finishing the season with a top 10 at the Cyclocross World Championship in Dubendorf Switzerland.
As with everyone, COVID had a big impact on everything and he missed his first-year U23 experience. But he kept his head down, and even with the missed year of racing, continued to improve. He just finished his second year as a U23 which culminated at the World Championships in Fayetteville, which was what he considered to be one of the coolest experiences he’d ever had. Looking forward, his goals are to keep pushing and progressing in whatever discipline he’s competing in, developing a strong network of cycling friends and mentors, and building a future for himself in the cycling industry.
