TEMPE, Ariz. — Two Lenoir-Rhyne Bears were among nearly 300 triathletes who raced in Tempe, Arizona, on Saturday, Nov. 13 for the 2021 USA Triathlon Age Group Draft-Legal National Championships. The event, held in conjunction with the Women's Collegiate National Championship at Tempe Town Lake, also served as a qualifier for the 2022 World Triathlon Sprint Distance Championship held in Montreal, Canada in June
Freshman Asher Lauderdale, the first member of the LR Men's Triathlon Squad, emerged from the 750-meter swim in 3rd place and leveraged a strong 20-kilometer bike to move into 2nd place as he headed onto the 5km run course. Asher had just enough to post his best run off the bike this fall and held on for a 9th place overall finish and 4nd in his category. Lauderdale also qualified for the canceled Age Group World Championship that were slated for Bermuda in October 2021. "Asher was extremely disappointed when Bermuda was canceled, so getting him qualified to race World Championships in 2022 was a high priority for his plans," remarked Head Coach Bryant Howard. "He executed a terrific race against a quality field and ended the fall season on a high note."
In the women's race, sophomore transfer Paige Ewald used her improvement in the swim to cover the 750-meter course in a lifetime best and carried that momentum onto the bike course where she was able to link up with a strong pack of cyclists for the technical bike course. Ewald, who ran Cross Country and Track at her previous school, entered the bike-to-run transition needing to improve her position if she wanted to qualify for Team USA and she leveraged her run legs to do just that as she moved all the way to 7th overall and 2nd in her category with one of the best run splits of the day. This is the second Age Group World Championship for Paige who also qualified for the canceled Bermuda race in 2021. Added Coach Howard, "Paige has been working on her swim and it really paid off today. That swim set the stage for everything today and made it possible for her to use her run strength to capture the best triathlon result of her young career."
The draft-legal format, which encourages athletes to ride in packs and work together on the bike course, is similar to the elite style of World Triathlon racing and is gaining popularity at the age-group level. This is the third time that the city of Tempe has hosted the Draft-Legal National Championships. The first year was 2018, 2019 and then the 2020 event was canceled due to COVID-19.
