In a sport where team times are rarely emphasized, Oregon’s Club triathlon team members had to count on one another to finish in the top five in the Wildflower Triathlon on May 1.
The Ducks traveled south to compete in the tournament on Lake San Antonio, located just outside of San Luis Obispo, Calif. Twenty-one triathletes represented Oregon in the SeaGate Collegiate Championships.
Oregon, competing in its first Olympic-distance triathlon, finished in fifth place with an overall time of 16 hours, 50.10 minutes. Montana, with an overall time of 14:43.59, claimed first place ahead of California, Cal Poly and UC San Diego.
“Montana came out of nowhere and did really well,” triathlon Team Coordinator Tana Bryn said. “No one expected them to do so well. Their snowy conditions make it hard for them to train, but obviously that didn’t hold them back.”
On the men’s side, Jay Williams, Daniel Butler and David Matthews were Oregon’s top finishers. Williams finished with a time of 2:36.24. His time, along with Butler’s and Matthews’, was combined with Oregon’s top three women’s times to give Oregon a top-five finish at one of the team’s most important races of the year.
Kristina Rand, Sarah Mollet and Alison Weber paced the Oregon women and each of their scores counted toward Oregon’s team score.
“I was really impressed by everyone’s scores, especially because we have so many new athletes,” Mollet said. “It’s a big physical challenge and just a great test for the body.”
Each triathlete participated in a 1500-meter swim, a 40-kilometer bike ride and a 6.2-mile run.
“Everyone was really pleased with the race,” Bryn said. “Everyone was really out there to help everyone else out.”
To prepare for their trip to California, the Ducks competed in the Beaver Freezer on April 3 in Corvallis. Each team member competed on an individual basis with no team score.
Oregon will compete in the Lebanon Sprint Triathlon this weekend. The course will be significantly shorter, as the triathletes will participate in a 500-yard swim, a 12.5-mile bike ride and a 3.1-mile run.
Oregon will finish out the year by entering the Northwest Club Championships, held at Blue Lake, near Troutdale, on June 6.

Play ball
Play begins today at the US Lacrosse Men’s Division Intercollegiate Associates National Championships, at the Anheuser-Busch Sports Centre in St. Louis.
Oregon will battle No. 9 Boston College, the winner of the Pioneer Collegiate Lacrosse League, at 7 a.m. The winner will play either No. 1 UC Santa Barbara or No. 17 Texas on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m.
The loser of the match between the Ducks and Eagles will play the loser of the Gaucho-Longhorn matchup on Wednesday as well.