Fischer, Cridge prevail at USAT Junior Nationals
Men
Fielding Fischer of Chevy Chase, Maryland led the swim, was caught on the bike, and then sped away with a race-best 15:35 5k to finish in 56:16 to take a 20 seconds margin of victory over Luis Ortiz of Orlando, Florida and 1:19 over 3rd place Drew Shellenberger of Indianapolis, Indiana.
Primed to improve on his 3rd place finish at this championship last year, the 19-year-old Kenyon (Ohio) College sophomore, an NCAA Division 3 swimmer, swam to a 21 seconds lead, was caught by Ortiz and Shellenberger on the draft-legal bike leg, and then unleashed a 15:35 5k run that was 26 seconds faster than Ortiz and 1:20 faster than Shellenberger.
“I ran close to them on the first lap of the run, then I made my move on the second lap,” said Fischer. Contrary to the evidence of his dominating run split, Fischer says that running was only his third best discipline. “I am definitely the best in swimming,” he told Slowtwitch [his freestyle mile PR is 15:41]. “The bike is my second best and the run is 3rd. But once my swim season was over, I worked really hard on my running this summer with my triathlon coach.”
Women
Gillian Cridge of Indianapolis, Indiana swam a 6th-best 10:15 split that gave her a 10 seconds deficit behind the leader, 6 seconds behind rival Paige Horner of Johnston Iowa, and tied with rival Maryhelen Albright of Roanoke, Virginia.
Cridge accelerated into a lead pack of seven women that included Leah Drengenberg (Dixon IL), Liberty Ricca (Colorado Springs CO), Maryhelen Albright (Roanoke VA), Kira Stanley (Acworth GA), Paige Horner (Johnston IA), and Audrey Ernst (South Elgin IL) who built a 30 seconds lead on the rest of the field while utilizing draft-legal tactics.
Cridge put the race into the fridge with a women’s-best 17:25 5k run to finish in 1:01:29 with a 13 seconds margin of victory on Albright and 26 seconds on women’s 3rd place finisher Paige Horner.
Cridge, who attends Cathedral High School in Indianapolis, Indiana, is 16 years old but raced as age 17 as her birthday falls before December 31. She explained that her victory owed something to the draft-legal rules, which she prefers.
"I prefer draft-legal because it requires you to be in control of your bike," she told Slowtwitch. "Racing at nationals is already so competitive, it is just an extra step that requires everyone to be experienced and know what they are doing. The bike pack you are in determines who you get off on the run with – so it determines your race, your finish."
Cridge explained how close quarters pack riding was a key to her victory. "I was 6th out of the water. Then on the run from the swim to the bike, I caught two or three girls and mounted my bike in 4th. Then we seven joined together on the bike leg and worked to get a gap on the rest of the field and we got off with a big lead.
"That was a key part of the way the race was decided. All of us in the lead pack pretty much knew who was behind us. We knew we had to keep a pretty big lead on the chase pack. So we all made sure to work together and not against each other."
USA Triathlon Junior National Championship
West Chester, Ohio
August 4, 2018
S 750m / B 20k / R 5k
Results
Junior Elite Men
1. Fielding Fischer (Chevy Chase MD) 56:16 S 9:06 T1 1:26 B 29:14 T2 00:55 R 15:35
2. Luis Ortiz (Orlando FL) 56:36 S 9:27 T1 1:33 B 28:48 T2 00:49 R 16:01
3. Drew Shellenberger (Indianapolis IN) 57:35 S 9:25 T1 1:38 B 28:51 T2 00:53 R 16:55
Junior Elite Women
1. Gillian Cridge (Indianapolis IN) 1:01:29 T1 1:40 S 10:15 B 31:13 T2 00:56 R 17:25
2. Maryhelen Albright (Roanoke VA) 1:01:42 S 10:15 T1 1:39 B 31:14 T2 00:55 R 17:39
3. Paige Horner (Johnston IA) 1:01:55 S 10:09 T1 1:47 B 31:11 T2 00:54 R 17:54
