Contact: Taiah Gallisath, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, 630-637-5302
Results
TEMPE, Arizona. (Nov. 14, 2021) – In a battle against the dry heat and a slightly new course, the North Central College women's triathlon team came away with a third-place team finish, two student-athletes on the podium, and the Freshman of the Year honor at the USA Triathlon Collegiate National Championship in Tempe, Arizona.
A field of veterans was no match for newcomer Hailey Poe who stole the lead early in the race as she was the first to break from the water completing the 750-meter swim in 10 minutes and 51 seconds, nearly 10 seconds ahead of the next competitor. Poe extended her lead in the 20-kilometer bike leaving quite the gap between her and the remaining lead pack as she turned in a 39 minute and three-second leg. Poe broke into the five-kilometer run with ease, clocking a 20 minute and 37-second run to finish as the individual champion in a time of one hour twelve minutes, and one point five seconds. Poe was also named the 2021 Freshman of the Year.
"She did great, she led it from start to finish. She did a great job with a smile on her face. She earned it and she deserved it." said head coach Jenny Garrison.
The next Cardinal across the finish line was fifth-year, Annika Cotner in a time of one hour, 13 minutes, and 42.3 seconds. Cotner broke from the water in 11th place in a time of 11 minutes and 47 seconds, finding herself in a good position in the opening lap of the bike as she trailed the lead pack. Shortly into lap two, a sharp turn and rough gravel stole Cotner's momentum in a crash that sent her further into a chase position. Despite going down, Cotner quickly made up ground, turning in a 38 minute 39-second bike split, and was sixth heading into the run. Cotner clocked a 21 minute and 26-second split to move into third, where she ultimately finished. Cotner climbed the podium for the second and final time of her collegiate career.
"I think the crash put a fire in her even more. It shakes you up. There's a lot of adrenaline after a bike crash, after that happens you get really shaky and it's hard to dial that back in. So honestly she did an amazing job getting right back into it, I'm pretty impressed," said Garrison. "That just speaks so much to her drive. It's pretty amazing. She got third in the end, maybe she could have gotten second. I think that definitely was in the cards for her but I think she should be thrilled, she's back on the podium."
Natalie Grolmes (1:21:36.3) and Jena Livesay (1:21:39.3) finished together in 17th and 18th, respectively, to round out the Cardinals' four scoring positions–a new adjustment compared to previous year's three scored individuals. Cora Isaacson (1:22:04.3) was just behind her teammates, finishing 20th overall. Abigail Anderson (1:27:08.7) and Taylin Lemke (1:28:39.4) finished 30th and 34th, respectively.
"I think that we had some great individual performances. We have a couple of freshmen that honestly had the best bikes of the season. Taylin and Abby had an amazing bike, I was really impressed with how they hung on today. It was a great learning experience for them. I'm really glad that they got this chance to do that and learned from today for the future."
North Central finished third overall behind Trine University's first-place finish and Millikin University in second.
The Cardinals have seen so much growth in their young team over the 2021 season and are excited to take advantage of this Nationals experience next year.
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