USAT Age Group Nationals Set For This Weekend

A record field out of 5,700 registered athletes will converge on Milwaukee, Wisc., this weekend for the 2014 USA Triathlon Age Group National Championships, held on the shores of Lake Michigan at the Milwaukee Art Museum and Discovery World.

Read the preview from USA Triathlon below:

Race-day action will feature the Olympic-Distance National Championships on Saturday, Aug. 9 and the Sprint National Championships on Aug. 10. Races are slated to begin at 7:30 a.m. CT each day, and a live video stream and live blog will be available at Usatriathlon.org.

The Olympic-distance event, which has been held annually since 1983, consists of a 1,500-meter swim, 40-kilometer bike and 10-kilometer run course. Sprint Nationals is comprised of a 750m swim, a 20k bike and a 5k run. Athletes ages 14 to 90 will compete for titles in their respective age groups, and nearly 500 athletes are registered to compete back-to-back days in both events.

In 2013, USA Triathlon Age Group Nationals was one of the largest triathlons in the country. Highlighting this year’s expected field are 35 defending champions, including overall Olympic-Distance Nationals winners Heather Lendway (St. Paul, Minn.) and Colin Riley (Cincinnati, Ohio). In all, 20 Olympic-distance winners and 15 sprint champions are returning to Milwaukee with hopes of topping the podium again this year:

Returning Olympic-Distance National Champions
2013 Age Group: Name (Hometown), 2013 Time
F17-19: Taylor Fogg (Colorado Springs, Colo.), 2:13:23
M17-19: Connor Weaver (Parker, Colo.), 1:53:08
M20-24: Steve Mantell (Fort Collins, Colo.), 1:53:02
F25-29: Heather Lendway (St. Paul, Minn.), 2:05:37
M25-29: Colin Riley (Cincinnati, Ohio),1:52:54
F30-34: Kirsten Sass (McKenzie, Tenn.), 2:10:35
M30-34: James Burke (Middleton, Wis.), 1:54:44
M35-39: Mark Harms (Madison, Wis.), 1;54:37
F40-44: Susanne Davis (Carlsbad, Calif.), 2:09:32
M40-44: Shane Arters (San Mateo, Calif.), 1:57:51
F45-49: Steph Popelar (Parker, Colo.), 2:11:44
M45-49: Doug Clark (Mendham, N.J.), 1:55:04
F50-54: Kelly Dippold (Overland Park, Kan.), 2:13:02
F55-59: Carol Gephart (Strafford, N.H.), 2:19:49
M55-59: Dave Irion (Naperville, Ill.), 2:02:48
F60-64: Karen McKeachie (Ann Arbor, Mich.), 2:29:11
M70-74: David McNeely (Glen Arm, Md.), 2:34:00
F75-79: Sharon Roggenbuck (Hillsborough, N.C.), 4:08:36
M75-79: Roger Brockenbrough (Pittsburgh, Pa.), 3:20:39
M80-84: Bob Scott (Naperville, Fla.), 3:07:08

Returning Sprint National Champions
2013 Age Group: Name (Hometown), 2013 Time
F25-29: Desiree Thomas (Broadview Heights, Ohio), 1:09:00
F35-39: Cindi Bannink (Madison, Wis.), 1:08:53
M35-39: Jeff Fejfar (Olive Branch, Miss.), 1:01:57
F40-44: Chris Wickard (Crown Point, Ind.), 1:08:54
M40-44: Dave Slavinski (Point Pleasant, N.J.), 1:01:24
F45-49: Kerry Simmons (Lake Mary, Fla.), 1:10:15
M45-49: Brian Francis (Ann Arbor, Mich.), 1:02:50
F50-54: Leslie Knibb (Washington, D.C.), 1:11:56
F60-64: Karen McKeachie (Ann Arbor, Mich.), 1:18:24
M60-64: Philip Friedman (Erie, Pa.), 1:08:43
F65-69: Lynda Lubelczyk (Manchester, N.H.), 1:24:14
M65-69: Barry Rowe (Louisville, Ky.), 1:14:43
F75-79: Sheila Isaacs (Shoreham, N.Y.), 1:52:02
M75-79: Donald Ardell (St. Petersburg, Fla.), 1:24:03
M85-89: Robert Powers (White Bear Lake, Minn.), 2:36:00

Roggenbuck also won an Olympic-distance age-group world title in the female 75-79 division at the 2013 ITU World Championships in London. In the sprint world championship event, Lubelczyk and Carol Hassell (F60-64, West Palm Beach, Fla.) won world titles for the U.S. in their respective divisions.

This weekend’s competitors hail from all 50 states and the District of Columbia after meeting qualification standards at USA Triathlon Sanctioned Qualifying Events throughout the 2013 season. International athletes from a number of countries, including Brazil, Germany, Mexico and Russia, are also on the start list. To be eligible for national titles and awards, athletes must be U.S. citizens or U.S. nationals.

In addition to the bragging rights of claiming a national title, athletes will be competing for coveted spots to represent the U.S. at the 2015 ITU World Championships in nearby Chicago, Illinois, which will be held in September 2015. The top 25 finishers in each age group in both the Olympic-distance and sprint events in Milwaukee will qualify for a Team USA slot.

Team USA is comprised of amateur athletes who represent the United States at each ITU world championship event. The 2014 ITU World Championships, which age-groupers qualified for in Milwaukee last year, will take place Aug. 27-Sept. 1 in Edmonton, Alberta.

New this year, Milwaukee will also host elite and junior elite triathletes as part of the USA Triathlon Super Sprint Series. Athletes will complete two continuous circuits of the same course, including a 325m swim, 4k bike and 1.5k run. The women are slated to start at 1:45 p.m. CT, and the men will start at 2:55 p.m. CT and will also be live streamed. Visit Usatriathlon.org/ss14milwaukee for more information.

The Milwaukee-area community is encouraged to come out and support the competitors and experience the excitement of multisport. Admission is free to all spectators.