Jones, Lagerstrom Race Victorious Milwaukee Super Sprint

Erin Jones and Eric Lagerstrom raced to top finishes at the 2015 Super Sprint Series event, held in conjunction with USA Triathlon Age Group National Championships on Aug. 8, capping off an action-packed day of racing on the grounds of the Milwaukee Art Museum and Discovery World.

Read the recap from USA Triathlon below:

The Super Sprint event returned to Milwaukee for the second year, featuring two continuous circuits of a 325-meter swim, 4-kilometer bike and 1.5-kilometer run course with a $10,000 prize purse up for grabs.

Jones (USA) was first out of transition and maintained position with the lead pack throughout the race, breaking away at the finish to earn the win in 35 minutes, 46 seconds. Junior Elite All-American Avery Evenson (USA) finished one second behind in 35:47. Taylor Spivey (USA) rounded out the podium with a time of 35:55.

“The swim was pretty fast. Half of us were wearing wetsuits and half of us weren’t, so I liked that it was kind of even like that. The bike was just flat and hard and the run was the same,” said Jones, who competed at the ITU World Triathlon Olympic Qualification Event in Rio de Janeiro last week.

“That was the most fun triathlon I’ve ever done in my life; it was awesome,” Evenson said. “I had some technical difficulties around T2, but that happened to everyone. You just got to come back from your mistakes. And the nice thing about this race is that you have time to come back.”

In the men’s race, a pack of four quickly formed in the beginning and led throughout each circuit. During the last lap of the bike, Lagerstrom (USA) and Ben Kanute (USA) gained an 8-second lead on Darr Smith (USA) and John Rasmussen (CAN). It came down to the run, where Lagerstrom out-kicked his competitors, topping the podium in 32:44 and earning $1,500 of the prize purse. Kanute took second in 33:00 and Smith finished third in 33:11.

“The one thing I was a bit unprepared for was the wetsuit swim. Every time I’ve been to a super sprint they say we’re not doing wetsuits, so I didn’t even bring one. Then I spent the whole first ride trying to catch this guy,” said 2013 USA Triathlon Elite Sprint National Champion Lagerstrom, who competed in the Pan American Games last month in Toronto.

“I knew Eric was running fast; I knew a lot of those guys were running fast. It was just trying to keep track of everybody, trying to save as much energy as possible, and he just had quick legs today,” said Kanute, who posted a ninth-place finish earlier this season in a World Triathlon Series race – the best for any U.S. man this season.

USA Triathlon Super Sprint Series Milwaukee
325m swim, 4k bike, 1.5k run x2

Women
1. Erin Jones (USA) 35:46
2. Avery Evenson (USA) 35:47
3. Taylor Spivey (USA) 35:55
4. Julie Stupp (USA) 36:30
5. Johanna Gartman (USA) 36:37
6. Calah Schlabach (USA) 36:55
7. Nicole Truxes (USA) 37:20
8. Sara McLarty (USA)  37:27
9. Joanna Brown (CAN), 37:38
10. Megan Foley (USA) 37:49

Men
1. Eric Lagerstrom (USA) 32:44
2. Ben Kanute (USA) 33:00
3. Darr Smith (USA) 33:11
4. John Rasmussen (CAN), 33:25
5. Alexander Hinton (CAN), 34:07
6. Alex Libin (USA) 34:17
7. John O’Neill (USA) 34:24
8. Dillon Nobbs (USA) 35:21
9. David Thompson (USA) 35:24
10. Robbie Deckard (USA) 35:29

Complete results.