The Stevens Triathlon Club's National team rose before the sun, cycled to transition, and prepared for exciting day that lay ahead. This year's Collegiate National Championships were in Tempe, Arizona on April 5. The ladies kicked off the race at what was supposed to be 7:30 am, both in wave 1, and the men followed suit in the first 3 waves starting at 10:30, 10:45, and 11:00 am respectively.
Megan Lisbon and Annie Fodor represented the ducks on the girl's side. Both competitors competed in last year's race, also in Tempe. Megan, El Presidente, finished with a 2:25.25, in 151st place out of 451 girls. This is a large improvement over her time last year: 2:40.57. Annie finished with a 2:37.40, which put her in 291st place. Her time last year was a 2:39.39, which means she also improved. These time drops were probably due to their AMAZING cheering section, which should have won awards.
Luke Niezelski,
Joe Huyett,
Jack Rees, and
Henry Hernandez competed on the men's side. Luke, Joe, and Henry returned for their last race with the ducks, while this is the debut season for Jack. Luke got 291st place out of 715 men with a 2:10.48. Last year, he went a 2:09.24. Joe got 194th place with a 2:05.45, compared to last year's 2:02.34. Henry got 565th with a 2:30.41, which is an improvement on last year's 2:33.25. Finally, Jack finished in 473rd with a 2:21.54, a great time for someone so new to the sport.
Competing in Tempe was a fun and exciting way to finish the season, and many people's collegiate careers.
Â