Triathlon competes at Collegiate Triathlon Central Regional Qualifier

Naperville, Ill. – Labor Day marked Concordia Wisconsin's second race of the season at the Collegiate Triathlon Central Regional Qualifier, but the first Draft Legal race of the year. The event featured NCAA Division I and II programs, along with several Division III schools as well.

THE BASICS
Location: Naperville, Ill.
Race Distance: 570-meter swim, 20K bike, 5K run
Falcon Results:
Meghan Klement: 9:55 swim/lapped out on the third loop of the bike.
Rebecca Gutzmann: 12:13 swim/lapped out on the second lap of the bike
Allison Kochheiser: 12:28 swim/lapped out on the second lap of the bike
Alicia Hook: 13:22 swim/lapped out on the second lap of the bike
Danielle Morgan: 13:53 swim/lapped out on the first lap of the bike
Mary Karsten: 13:55 swim/lapped out on the first lap of the bike

QUOTING HEAD COACH ANDREW SHANKS
"I'm proud of how hard this team fought today," head coach Andrew Shanks expressed. "We knew it'd be a tough battle with the two NCAA Division I schools in the mix and the triathletes came ready to compete. They gave their best and that's all I can ask of them. We're only three weeks into the program and we still have a lot to learn, but every day they are taking steps in the right direction."

RACE NOTES
Draft Legal races are different in that the bike course is typically a four loop course that is 5K each loop. If the leaders are lapping the competition (passing a competitor on their second lap while they are still on the first) then they are not allowed to finish the race and are officially scored as a DNF (Did Not Finish).

HOW IT HAPPENED
- Arizona State's Katie Gorczyca (from the Colorado Springs Elite Triathlon Academy) and Charlotte Ahrens (two-time German National Champion as a junior and on the German National Team) led out of the water side by side with 8:28 swim times, and the two had a 50 second lead on Delaney Buckner, also from Arizona State and over a minute on everyone else.
- The two leaders continued to separate themselves on the bike and recorded a race-best split of 31:48 (23.4 mph). The third fastest bike split was 35:33 (20.9 mph) a full 3:45 slower than the two leaders. Kathryn
- Corczyca went on to run a 17:54 5K to win the race in a total time of 58 minutes 57 seconds. Charlotte Ahrens finished second with a time of 1:00:03 and third place went to Ashley Cheff from Daemen.

BEYOND THE RESULTS
- Of the 28 women that started the race, there were 15 finishers, as all others were lapped out. CUW's Annie Karsten and Mary Karsten, along with Allison Kochhesier went on to participate in the Open 5K run that was part of the festivities.

NEXT ON THE SCHEDULE
The Falcons return to competition on Sunday, September 18 in Iowa at the Cyman race hosted by Iowa State in Bondurant, Iowa. This will be an Age Group Sprint Distance Triathlon. As well, CUW is volunteering at Ironman Wisconsin on September 11 on the run course.