NEWS

Trinidad National Title stays in family

By Trinidad and Tobago Triathlon Association | 22 Jul, 2013

The National Triathlon Championships, held in Chagville, Chaguaramas on July 21st had some surprises for the spectators. As usual the competition was fierce with participants from as young as five years of age up to the oldest competitor Bruce Macintosh. As usual, Macintosh opted for the longest distance and completed his race in an impressive 3:47.54

In the same senior category it was London born David Cottle, who took the crown from long time reigning champion Ancil Greene who placed third behind Jason Costello. Cottle finished with a time of 2hrs 21minutes with Costello and Greene on his heels in 2:23.12 and 2:23.40 respectively. Leading from the start, Cottle struggled towards the end, as he was not accustomed to raceing under tropical conditions. Having had a lead of about 5minutes at the start of the bike leg, Costello and Greene slowly but surely reeled him in, but were at the end unable to catch up with the 34 year old finance lawyer from London.

Second place also came as a surprise for Costello, as the 28 year old only last year placed first in the sprint distance just having started with triathlons. Multiple-time National Champion Ancil Green had to settle for third place.

In the women’s race, the competition went well for last year’s champion Jaqueline Jodhan who placed first with a time of 3:18.26 ahead of Kiyomi Rankine. Jodhan, who is actually related to David Cottle, has been involved with triathlon since the beginning of the sport in Trinidad. This is the third time she has taken this trophy home.

The conditions were tricky for the athletes, as rain plagued the morning, making the race a bit slower than expected with athletes taking precautions to not end up in a crash. The big question was of course if Nicholas Mitchell would be getting close to breaking the 1-hour barrier. Due to weather condition, he finished with a time of 1:09.57, a time that’s on the slower end of his ability. As drafting was allowed one could actually see a pack of athletes riding across the course for the better part of the segment. With Aleem Mohammed clocking a 1:11.36 and Joshua Ho a 1:13.45 it shows that a break away is not a simple as it sounds.

In the girls race, it was again past waterpolo player Rene Chin Lee, who reeled in another win with a time of 1:20.22. This marks her second National Title for the year as she not only successfully defended her title from last year, but also became the National Duathlon Junior Champion in April this year. Chelsea Mohammed and Mohini Seejattan placed second and third behind her.

The battle continued down to the youngsters and while Sebastian Bos again dominated the 13-15 years age group with Logan Raymond and Scott Marchack 6 and 8 minutes behind, Between Jordan VanReeken, Lilly Stauble and Emma Chin Lee, Rene’s smaller sister it was significantly closer however Jordan eventually got an edge over Lilly and Emma and placed first with Lilly second and Emma third.

In the 11-12 Age Group it was Jean-Marc Granderson who dominated as usual with a lead of over five minutes over second placed Denylson Lara and third placed Ayomide Gilbert-Semper, the lone girl in the Age-Group Daniyelle Bennet placed 5th overall.

In the 9-10 Age Group Troy Llanos, who placed second in the National Duathlon this time got the better of Stefan Stuven and he finished first with Stefan mere meters behind him asking the last reserves out of Troy to hold him off. Christian Urquhart was also part of that lead pack, but got on the run a bit behind and finished in a strong third place. In the girls it was an equally fierce fight with Brianna Percy eventually getting the better of second placed Shantel Mason and third placed Kaya Rankine Beadle

In the 8 and under it was again newcomer James Castange-Hay, who also won the duathlon placing first in front of Cam’ron Dinoo and Gevano Mohan, while Sherisse Mason placed in front of Jessica Castagne-Hay in the girls race.

It was a rainy, but lively Day with the Federations Sponsors Degree and Gatorade doing sampling for Athletes and Spectators alike. While Blue Waters took care of the dehydration not getting the better of the athletes which have been treated in their Race Kits with further Voucher and Samples from GNC and Subway.