Triathlon successful at TriRock Lake Geneva

WILLIAMS BAY, Wis. – Saturday marked the final race of the regular season for the Concordia Wisconsin Triathlon team Falcons at the TriRock Triathlon and the results were the best of the season thus far. In all five student-athletes finished it the top-5, with Meghan Klement winning her age division.

THE BASICS
Location: Williams Bay, Wis.
Race Distance: 500 meter swim/13.1 mile bike/3.1 mile run
Falcon Results: written as Swim time/T1/Bike time/T2/Run time = Total time and Age Group placement.
Mary Karsten: 11:23/2:30/44:23/1:10/24:22 = 1:23:49 for 2nd (and 10th overall female)
Rebecca Gutzmann: 10:32/2:36/46:42/1:17/24:51 = 1:26:01 for 3rd
Meghan Klement: 8:26/2:36/47:41/1:42/28:34 = 1:29:01 for 1st
Danielle Morgan: 11:32/2:19/48:20/1:48/26:02 = 1:30:04 for 4th
Alicia Hook: 11:28/2:31/50:24/2:09/29:37 = 1:36:10 for 8th
Anne Karsten: 13:17/4:12/49:05/1:50/27:54 = 1:36:19 for 9th
Allison Kochheiser: 10:31/2:36/50:07/3:20/31:54 = 1:38:31 for 2nd
Olivia Allen: 15:35/3:21/54:25/2:50/42:07 = 1:58:19 for 13th

QUOTING HEAD COACH ANDREW SHANKS
"I'm super stoked about how the race went today," head coach Andrew Shanks stated. "I had a good feeling going in and was pumped for race day. The mood of the team was the best it's been and the race environment was awesome. There was a lot of family and fan support out on the course as well, which is great to see. It was just a great day, it wasn't a single action, but the whole of the team that stepped up and had breakthroughs. I'm so proud of the Falcons who each overcame their individual struggles during the day to have a great race. It's a nice way to end the regular season and set us up for the month ahead of prep for Nationals."

HOW IT HAPPENED
-The race was a wave and time trial start, which means racers were grouped with people of similar ages. The athletes entered the water one at a time every three seconds because the race organizers choose how to start the race based on safety for the competitors.
- The Swim: Klement led out of the water (both for her age group and the team) and two minutes behind was the duo of Gutzmann and Kochhesier, followed a minute later by the trio of Mary Karsten, Morgan and Hook. As well, Anne Karsten and Allen followed them, both with solid swim performances.
- The Bike: Mary Karsten was able to move her way up the group during the bike leg, having the second fastest split in her age group. Klement fought hard to stay on and finish close behind, but Klement also posted the fastest bike split in her age group. Gutzmann wasn't far behind in her bike time. There was a very fast downhill portion of the loop that led into transition and everyone kept it wheel side down.
- The Run: The course started with a sharp uphill and was a rolling course. Mary Karsten took off and held onto the CUW lead and was second in her age group. Gutzmann was a minute behind on the bike and ran a very similar split to Mary Karsten, but wasn't able to make up time as she was able to hold off her own teammate for third in their age group. Both Anne Karsten and Allen had huge improvements over last week on their run splits.

ADDITIONAL QUOTE
"I would like to thank our Athletic Trainers who have helped keep the team healthy," Shanks expressed. "This includes Jenny who was working with the team prior to taking first in her age group in the sprint race. Your selflessness isn't going unnoticed and we thank you. Also a huge thank you to all the friends, family and supporters that came out to cheer on the team this weekend."

NEXT ON THE SCHEDULE
- The Falcons return to competition on Saturday, November 5th for the Women's Collegiate Triathlon National Championships and Draft Legal Triathlon National Championships.