Malibu had more than its fair share of triathlon action taking place this weekend as it played host to the USAT Collegiate Club National Championships as well as the Super League Triathlon final and the Malibu Tri. About 400 collegiate athletes from more than 20 club teams competed in the Olympic-distance race, which saw some epic duels. In only her second triathlon, Marissa Saenger, of University of Califiornia-San Diego, won the women’s title, with Kathryn Kennedy, from Cal-Berkeley, in second, and Paralympian Grace Norman—fresh off her silver-medal winning performance in the PTS5 category at the Tokyo Paralympics—taking third.
Just seven seconds separated the top two men with Cal-Berkeley’s Bear Schickel edging out Garrett Mayeaux, of Parker University, to take the top honors. It was a day of domination for Cal-Berkeley, with four men inside the top five. Ryan Lund finished third.
The men’s race gets under way at the USAT Collegiate Club Nationals, held at Zuma Beach, in Malibu, California.
Athletes from Arizona State University cheer on their teammates.
Collegiate Club Nationals involved a 41K bike leg, as well as a 1,500m swim and 10K run.
Athletes were delighted to get back to racing the Club Nationals. The event had been scheduled for April in Tempe, Arizona, but pushed to September due to COVID.
About 400 collegiate athletes took part in the Club Nationals race from more than 20 different teams.
Racing was fast and furious with the top-five men all finishing the Olympic distance course in under 1 hour 57 minutes.
Marissa Saenger, a grad student at University of California-San Diego, won the women’s race in 2:10.51. It was only her second triathlon.
Bear Schickel, of Cal-Berkeley, won the men’s race by just seven seconds, finishing in 1:55.18. He also raced at 70.3 Worlds in St. George, Utah, last weekend.
Athletes from University of California-San Diego celebrate their races.