Steven Wright captured his 4th consecutive junior series title, winning the Fireman Triathlon. It has been an absolute pleasure to watch him mature as a triathlete over the past 4 years and we’re hoping to see more of him in the future. Ashley Thrower took her second consecutive series title finishing fourth overall female. She has been racing hard these past few weeks, racing in the Junior Elite Female Championship, the Timberman and the Fireman. Congrats to our deserving Champions and thank you everyone for the most competitive season yet. 5 girls and 4 boys had a mathematical chance at the series title going into the last race of the season and it went right down to the wire. The final standings will be posted shortly. We have changes in store for next season that will make it even more competitive. How good were the juniors this year- at most races their podium was the overall podium including at least 5 overall wins!

If you were hoping to finish at the top of the podium at the Fireman Sprint Tri and you weren’t under 19, you were going to be disappointed. The U19 Women took 1-2-3-4 overall with Abby Levene taking 3rd overall both genders and the U19 men went 1-2-4-5 with Steve Wright taking the overall race title. Thank you again to the race organizers for providing slots at a reduced rate to encourage more participation in the Junior Development Series Finale. We look forward to coming back next year for the finale!

Abby Levene torched the run course making up well over 30 seconds to finish in third place at the Junior Elite National Championships (16 to 19). She rode in the 2nd chase group on the bike, just put her head down and took off. “I heard Steve (Coach Steve Kelley) yelling “30 seconds to the podium!” and I just went”. “It was inspiring to ride by the marines while they were training, lining up for their meals. I thought, if they could go through all that, I could suffer for another 5 minutes.”

Sonja Kent came out of the water alone in 3rd, stuck alone between the leaders and the next group to come out of the water which she had built a big gap from. She pulled up and rode in the lead chase for 2 laps and finished strong in 9th place. Hailey Novis gave the Northeast another strong performance for the women by finishing 9th in the Youth Elite Female division (13 to 15).  Steve Wright took 15th in his final junior elite race with an unbelievable bike split.

Congrats to all of the athletes that raced this weekend! Enjoy the rest of the season and good luck in school! See you at Timberman and Fireman!

The Northeast Junior Skills Camp is scheduled for July 13th through July 16th at Wheaton College in Norton, MA. The skills camp will give junior athletes the chance to take their abilities to the next level learning new and valuable skills. The camp is for ages 13 to 19 and covers in addition to triathlon; nutrition, strength and conditioning, anti-doping policies and the athlete development pipeline. Full details are being posted to www.tri-and-fit.com. If you want more information, contact RADC Matt Valyo using the form from the link.