Triathletes travel to Florida for annual Clermont Draft-Legal Challenge
3/2/2023 5:34:00 AM | Triathlon
Several members of Liberty University’s triathlon team are in Clermont, Fla., for this weekend’s annual Clermont Draft-Legal Challenge, the final event of their season before the April 14-16 USA Triathlon National Championships in Lake Lanier, Ga.
Liberty has several men’s triathletes entered into Saturday’s and Sunday’s 90-man development races (MDR), including graduates Drew Thibault and Giovanni Bianco, seniors David McCurdy, Jack Pizor, and Hayden Russell, junior John Bagans, sophomore Connor Readman, and freshmen Kyle Sennett and Brayden Schwartz.
On the women’s side, which has exactly twice as many competitors, the Lady Flames will be represented by junior Mackenzie Foy and sophomore Elizabeth Brower, among others.
“Clermont is a really fast race, it’s a sprint,” Lady Flames sophomore Bella Lang said. “It’s a really fun race. It’s actually my favorite one last year when I joined the team and it just gives us a great launching point for nationals and helps us really get into the racing season.”
Liberty Head Coach Heather Gollnick said the weather in Lynchburg, Va., has been unusually warm, giving her team members more opportunity to work on their transitions between their cycling and running legs of races.
“We’ve been super blessed this semester,” Gollnick said. “We’ve had some fantastic weather which is great for triathletes who really like to bike outside, run outside. We are blessed to have an indoor training studio, (but) they’ve been able to get in some 3-4-hour rides outside … which is good. They’re so excited to be able to travel to Florida and compete and then to Georgia for our national championships. We have a lot of fast guys and fast girls that are really pushing each other and trying to take it to the next level.”
Video by Patrick Strawn/Club Sports Director of Video & Media