Most of the Tritons made the drive to Irvine on Friday through intermittent rain with hopes that it would subside by the morning. The team split up and stayed at two separate houses where floor space was a hot commodity. Many were anxious as this race was their first triathlon ever, while others found solace downing bowls of ice cream and brownie bites.

Morning came quickly and greeted the team with dry roads but frigid temperatures. With the cars packed full of gear, bikes and athletes, the team made their way to the race site. Upon arriving, tire pressures were checked, bikes assembled and racked, and equipment arranged to allow for maximum speed in transition.

Everyone set out on a warmup run to prepare for the race and were back to toe the line at 7am. The run course was an out and back 5K consisting of rolling hills on concrete and finishing with a half mile on rain soaked grass. Many Tritons proved to be in good running form by posting competitive marks, some even establishing new PRs for the 5K distance.

After a quick transition, the Tritons attacked the very technical and demanding bike course, which consisted of four 3-mile loops with 8 sharp turns per lap and undulating terrain. The course proved to be an early-season test of bike-handling skills and nerve. However, the Tritons proved to be up to the task as many gained positions while on the bike.

The swim, or as some called it, “the splash”, came at the completion of the bike. Due to the size of the UCI pool, this leg of the race was only 250 yards. This boded well for the runners and cyclists of the group, but was a disappointment for the many strong swimmers on the UCSD team.

At the end of the day UCSD Triathlon managed to amass enough athletes at the top of the rankings to take the overall collegiate team victory. On the men’s side, UCSD had 4 guys in the top 10 (3^rd - Marc Schommer - 59:07, 7^th – Sante Kotturi – 1:00:07, 8^th – Michael Libutti – 1:00:16, 9^th – Robert Krohn – 1:00:23) all of which are reasonably new to triathlon, being either in their first or second season. On the women’s side UCSD's Darlene Hunt and Sarah Kavaler went 2^nd and 4^th, respectively. Both of these girls will be exciting to watch in the upcoming season. In addition, the Tritons' Assistant Coach Chris Burnham used his excellent bike handling and solid run to score the overall victory in the men’s race.

The race was a great start to the 2009 collegiate season and a good sign that the UCSD Triathlon Team and their new coaches Mac Brown and Marcus Catano are ready to take on any competitors that come their way.

Article by Marc Schommer

UCSD Men's Results

UCSD Women's Results