Four athletes from our Manitoba Triathlon Centre (MTC) traveled to Wisconsin at the start of June to compete in the Pleasant Prairie USAT Cup Triathlon.
Against America’s top junior triathletes, our Manitobans had great races and solid results, including a silver medal.
Natalie Fournier raced to 24th in the Junior Elite Female event, while Blake Harris, Cole Buxton, and Ben Szwajcer raced in the Junior Elite Male category, finishing 2nd, 18th, and 44th respectively. But there’s far more to the story than those results, as this race served an important part of our programs build towards the 2021 Canada Summer Games in Niagara Ontario this August.
Blake’s podium performance came largely off the back of a full-scale demolition of the bike course. Blake recorded all-time best numbers for both 5s and 10min power on the bike, while attacking away from the field and building a huge lead into T2. But it was following up that on-bike effort with a 16:22 5k that really impressed Coach Gary Pallett.
Cole and Natalie have both been working their way back from injuries through the winter. Time away from the run meant more time to build strength in other areas. They both posted strong results that show they’re on schedule for great performances this summer, while Ben’s overall strength and consistency were once again on display.
All in all, it was a successful weekend in Wisconsin. Now our program athletes will continue to train relentlessly as they aim to represent Manitoba at the Canada Games this August.
