GREENVILLE, S.C. — More than 500 run-bike-run specialists crossed the finish line Sunday at the USA Triathlon Duathlon National Championships in Greenville, South Carolina, as athletes competed for national titles and World Championship spots in two distances.
The Non-Drafting Standard-Distance National Championships kicked off the day, with athletes covering an 8.45-kilometer run, 39-kilometer bike and 4.5-kilometer run on a rainy morning at Lakeside Park.
Patrick Parish (Minneapolis, Minn.) was the overall men’s champion. The 34-year-old broke the tape with a time of 1 hour, 43 minutes, 23 seconds. Thirty-six-year-old Meghan Fillnow (Charlotte, N.C.) took the women’s overall championship, winning with a time of 1:57:54.
Ryan Giuliano (35, Oakwood Hills, Ill.), who finished third in Saturday’s Draft-Legal Sprint Duathlon National Championships, was the leader after the first run, but Parish used a strong bike ride to give himself the lead heading into the final run. Parish’s second run was just enough to edge hard-charging Lee Piercy (Folsom, Calif.), who finished four seconds behind in 1:43:27, winning the age 45-49 title.
Giuliano took third place, winning the 35-39 title.
“I had a bad race here last year. So, just winning my wave, I was like, ‘Alright, that’s good.’ But, I saw this guy (Piercy) at the U-turn at the second run and I knew he was in the second wave, and I was like ‘that can’t be right. He’s way too close,’” Parish said. “But, I was more worried about Ryan Giuliano, who was running me down. I used to run against him in high school in Illinois, and I’m pretty sure he was faster than me back then. So, I was like, ‘I know this guy can run and he was looking pretty good,’ so I was like ‘it’s not over till it’s over.’”
Similar to the men’s race, it was racers in the mid 30s and mid 40s age groups who competed for the overall title on the women’s side. Women’s 45-49 champion Deanna Newman (Birmingham, Ala.) posted the second fastest first run split, two seconds behind Fillnow. Women's 40-44 champion Kirsten Sass (McKenzie, Tenn.) averaged 23.3 mph on the bike, but it wasn’t enough to close on Fillnow, who took a 44-second advantage into the second run and easily sealed the deal on her national championship.
Newman went on to finish second, while Sass took third.
“There’s some really fast girls out there like Kirsten and Deanna. I used to be teammates with Deanna, so I know she’s really legit,” said Fillnow, who was a Division I tennis player at Davidson College. “We had some really good competition, so I was just trying to push it.”
Six athletes successfully defended their age-group national titles from 2018 in the standard distance, including Sass and Lockett Wood (M80-84, Lyons, Colo.), who both aged-up a category, and David Engstrom (M50-54, Beaverton, Ore.), Steph Popelar (F50-54, Elizabeth, Colo.), Kirsten Chapman (F55-59, Edmond, Okla.) and Sharon Roggenbuck (F80-84Hillsborough, N.C.).
The racing action continued Sunday afternoon with the Non-Drafting Sprint-Distance National Championships. The race course was altered to a super-sprint distance to avoid an afternoon thunderstorm. Competing in the rain on the shortened 2k run, 6k bike and 1.35k run course, Todd Buckingham and Cassidy Hickey won the overall men’s and women’s national championships.
Buckingham covered the course in 21:56, earning the men’s 30-34 title in addition to the overall. Jacob Capin (Newark, Del.) placed second in 22:33, while Giuliano, competing in his third race of the weekend, took third. Giuliano was one of 23 athletes who competed in all three races at the Duathlon National Championships.
Sass was another one of those “tripler” athletes, placing fourth in the non-draft sprint race behind a pair of teenagers (Hickey and third-place finisher, 16-year-old Hope Frost) and standard-distance champion Fillnow, who placed second behind Hickey.
Hickey led the fast race from the onset, and Frost hung close behind after the first run. Fillnow made up ground on the bike, but wasn’t able to catch Hickey, who cruised to the national title in a time of 24:57. Fillnow finished in 25:56 and Frost took third in 26:05.
“I just love it (seeing these young girls compete for national titles). We need to see more young people out there racing, especially young girls. To see those girls out there killing it like that is so awesome,” Sass said. “I really hope they stick with it. It will be really awesome to watch them and see what they do. I can say ‘I raced them back when.’”
Nine athletes successfully defended their age-group national titles from 2018 in the non-drafting sprint race, including Hickey and Sass and Patton Sims (M15-19, Sterlington, La.), Celia Dubey (F45-59, Tarpon Springs, Fla.), Jocelyn Shilling (F55-59, Saylorsburg, Pa.), Larry Mayse (M70-74, Milton, Ga.), Donald Ardell (M80-84, Gulfport, Fla.), Wayne Fong (M85-89, Chatsworth, Calif.) and Ulf Oesterle (PC Open, East Syracuse, N.Y.).
For all three races, top finishers in each age group earned the opportunity to represent Team USA in duathlon at the 2020 ITU Multisport World Championships in Almere, the Netherlands.
For complete details on Team USA, comprised of the top amateur multisport athletes who represent the U.S. at each ITU Age Group World Championship event, visit usatriathlon.org/teamusa.
For complete information, results and coverage from the 2018 USA Triathlon Duathlon National Championships, visit www.usatriathlon.org/du2019.
USA Triathlon Duathlon National Championships
Standard-Distance National Champions
8.45k run, 39k bike, 4.5k run
Male Overall: Patrick Parish (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1:43:23
Female Overall: Meghan Fillnow (Charlotte, N.C.) 1:57:54
Male Masters: Lee Piercy (Folsom, Calif.) 1:43:27
Female Masters: Deanna Newman (Birmingham, Ala.) 1:59:34
Male Grand Masters: Christian Evans (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) 2:00:59
Female Grand Masters: Kirsten Chapman (Edmond, Okla.) 2:15:33
M17-19: Daeton Byars (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) 2:00:07
F17-19: Lauren Garriques (Lake Forest, Ill.) 2:18:59
M20-24: Garrett Jones (Short Hill, N.J.) 1:49:49
F20-24: Marina Smalling, (Austin, Texas) 2:03:02
M25-29: Cory Tretsky (Tega Cay, S.C.) 2:04:32
F25-29: Paige Orcutt (Morrison, Colo.) 2:19:20
M30-34: Patrick Parish (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1:43:23
F30-34: Mallory Schafer (Noblesville, Ind.) 2:13:13
M35-39: Ryan Giuliano (Oakwood Hills, Ill.) 1:44:08
F35-39: Meghan Fillnow (Charlotte, N.C.) 1:57:54
M40-44: Chad Grundy (Rogers, Ark.) 1:48:52
F40-44: Kirsten Sass (McKenzie, Tenn.) 1:59:41
M45-49: Lee Piercy (Folsom, Calif.) 1:43:27
F45-49: Deanna Newman (Birmingham, Ala.) 1:59:34
M50-54: David Engstrom (Beaverton, Ore.) 1:53:17
F50-54: Steph Popelar (Elizabeth, Colo.) 2:06:12
M55-59: James Stafford (Stone Ridge, N.Y.) 1:55:56
F55-59: Kirsten Chapman (Edmond, Okla.) 2:15:33
M60-64: Christian Evans (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) 2:00:59
F60-64: Suzanne Cordes (Alamo, Calif.) 2:17:30
M65-69: Steven Giorgis (Greensboro, Ga.) 2:14:47
F65-69: Anne Mitchell (Bala Cynwyd, Pa.) 2:41:20
M70-74: John Gregory (Roanoke, Va.) 2:22:42
F70-74: Vicki McCloskey (Henniker, N.H.) 2:48:30
M75-79: Tony Marshall (Carlsbad, Calif.) 2:16:09
F75-79: Barbara Bogart (Elizabethton, Tenn.) 4:12:00
M80-84: Lockett Wood (Lyons, Colo.) 3:18:32
F80-84: Sharon Roggenbuck (Hillsborough, N.C.) 3:57:49
Sprint-Distance National Champions
2k run, 6k bike, 1.35k run (shortened due to storm)
Male Overall: Todd Buckingham (Big Rapids, Mich.) 21:56
Female Overall: Cassidy Hickey (Parker, Colo.) 24:57
Male Masters: Peter Skafar (New Port Richey, Fla.) 24:08
Female Masters: Kirsten Sass (McKenzie, Tenn.) 26:21
Male Grand Masters: Anthony Benedict (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) 27:53
Female Grand Masters: Jocelyn Shilling (Saylorsburg, Pa.) 29:19
M15-19: Patton Sims (Sterlington, La.) 22:44
F15-19: Cassidy Hickey (Parker, Colo.) 24:57
M20-24: Brett Saunders (Fairview Park, Ohio) 23:14
F20-24: Abigail Bigelow (Anchorage, Alaska) 41:08
M25-29: Cory Tretsky (Tega Cay, S.C.) 26:18
F25-29: Jocelyn Kaselow (Silver Spring, Md.) 34:25
M30-34: Todd Buckingham (Big Rapids, Mich.) 21:56
F30-34: Julie Cushen (San Francisco, Calif.) 27:54
M35-39: Ryan Giuliano (Oakwood Hills, Ill.) 22:38
F35-39: Meghan Fillnow (Charlotte, N.C.) 25:56
M40-44: Peter Skafar (New Port Richey, Fla.) 24:08
F40-44: Kirsten Sass (McKenzie, Tenn.) 26:21
M45-49: Travis Tindle (Woodstock, Ga.) 24:17
F45-49: Celia Dubey (Tarpon Springs, Fla.) 27:48
M50-54: Glen Thompson (Davidson, N.C.) 24:17
F50-54: Steph Popelar (Elizabeth, Colo.) 28:38
M55-59: Eric Sutherland (New York, N.Y.) 25:47
F55-59: Jocelyn Shilling (Saylorsburg, Pa.) 29:19
M60-64: Anthony Benedict (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) 27:53
F60-64: Bonnie Stoeckl (Pequea, Pa.) 30:50
M65-69: Michael Kearns (Pittsburgh, Pa.) 27:58
F65-69: Betsy Henderson (Roanoke, Va.) 34:11
M70-74: Larry Mayse (Milton, Ga.) 32:04
F70-74: Sharon Gerl (Springfield, Ore.) 34:13
M75-79: Bill Arnerich (Solvang, Calif.) 37:37
F75-79: Lois Leon (Miami, Fla.) 45:55
M80-84: Donald Ardell (Gulfport, Fla.) 39:33
M85-89: Wayne Fong (Chatsworth, Calif.) 1:06:34
PC Open: Ulf Oesterle (East Syracuse, N.Y.) 35:01
About USA Triathlon
USA Triathlon is proud to serve as the National Governing Body for triathlon, as well as duathlon, aquathlon, aquabike, winter triathlon, off-road triathlon and paratriathlon in the United States. Founded in 1982, USA Triathlon sanctions more than 4,300 events and connects with more than 400,000 members each year, making it the largest multisport organization in the world. In addition to its work at the grassroots level with athletes, coaches, and race directors — as well as the USA Triathlon Foundation — USA Triathlon provides leadership and support to elite athletes competing at international events, including International Triathlon Union (ITU) World Championships, Pan American Games and the Olympic and Paralympic Games. USA Triathlon is a proud member of the ITU and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).