The 27th annual Avia Wildflower Triathlon took place over the weekend of May 2nd and 3rd, a mere two weeks after the USAT Collegiate Nationals, bringing with it one of the most challenging courses the Tritons would race this season.  Over twenty Tritons made the 6+ hour road trip to Lake San Antonio to represent UCSD in both the long-course and collegiate Olympic distance competitions. Much thanks to the Triathlon Club of San Diego who let us set up camp with them several days earlier allowing for a relatively stress free arrival. 

As the team arrived on Friday, the weather was of particular concern to the long-course participants, it rained on and off most of the day, leaving the roads wet and the race conditions relatively unknown.  As the sun rose Saturday morning the crowd of almost 20,000 gathered at the boat ramp to watch some of the finest athletes in triathlon prepare to take on the infamous 70.3 distance race, while the team prepared to cheer on UCSD Assistant Coach, Chris Burnham, in his bid for triathlon glory.  The race lived up to the hype as well-known pro and US Olympian, Andy Potts, went under four hours to claim the overall victory and our Coach Burnham fought through the pain of his recent bicycle crash (only one week ago!) to claim seventh in his age group with a time of 4:44:38!

The weather Sunday morning promised an exciting race with the rain disappearing and the sun coming out to shine on the Tritons who were sure to perform above all expectations in the collegiate competition.  The finest athletes from many west coast (and beyond) schools had arrived to provide a very deep and challenging field and ensured an exciting race for everyone to watch. 

The Triton women again brought their game faces to the race and dominated the field in what has become typical fashion.  Lisa Fong was the second out of the water with a scorching swim split of 19:25, Sarah Kavaler and Darlene Hunt went 1-2 on the very hilly and challenging bike course with 1:16:20 and 1:18:17 splits, respectively, and Allison Johnson conquered the almost entirely uphill run course with her second fastest run split of 40:51.  The women placed five team members in the top eight overall, a tremendous showing for the two-time national champion women! 

The Triton men, not to be outdone, also had also shown up to race.  Timothy Ray was third out of the water at 18:42 followed closely by Robert Krohn who was fourth out of the water at 19:14.  The men held strong during the period between T1 and T2 with Tim Ray and Marc Schommer both posting top-ten bike splits at 1:09:54 and 1:10:53 respectively on a course which featured a 300 foot climb straight out of transition.   Team captain Sante Koturri ran a blistering 10k claiming the fourth fastest run split in a mere 36:28.  The Triton men placed two in the top ten overall, Tim Ray – 4th and Marc Schommer – 8th, followed by Michael Libutti, Robert Krohn, and Sante Koturri, all placing in the top 20, 14th, 15th, and 17th respectively. 

The collegiate team competition was decided by adding the times of the three fastest men and women from each school and then comparing the cumulative time across the field.  The UCSD Tritons, with their dominating performance, took first place overall and beat the closest competition, Cal Poly, by over 30 minutes, CONGRATULATIONS! 

Finally, congratulations and thanks to all the Tritons who made the trip north to compete in one of the largest, and most difficult, triathlons put together.  To race in an event of this caliber, on a course this difficult and challenging, is an accomplishment all on its own.  The teamwork displayed by everyone working together along with the camaraderie, encouragement, and support for our fellow athletes is something we are all proud of and what makes an event like this so successful and worthwhile.

Article by: Lucas Keenan
Photos by: Chris Burnham

See the video summary of the men's race: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYKST_1jHnE

See the video summary of the women's race: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrTAq1EBc_I

Full results