Battiata Captures AG Title at Nats

The USA Triathlon Age Group National Championship was held in Burlington, VT on Saturday, August 20, 2011.  Several Team Sport Factory athletes made the trek up to Burlington to put up their best fight against some of the fastest short course athletes in the country.  The race consisted of a 1500m swim, 40k bike, and 10k run.

Leading the charge was 24 year old Anna Battiata, a first year member of The Sport Factory’s Elite Team.  With a finishing time of 2:10:06 (20:44 swim, 1:07:44 bike, and 39:38 run), Anna captured the national title for her age group (20-24) and finished 4^th overall in the women’s field.

Anna had this to say about her preparation: “I felt stronger and faster in my workouts leading up to this race than I felt before any other races this season, so I expected to have a really good race.  I tried not to have any expectations placement-wise because I didn’t really know exactly what to expect, so I planned to just go and race as hard as I could.”

Conditions in Burlington were ideal for the 1900 athletes competing in the olympic distance race on Saturday, with temps only heating up to mid-seventies.  The stage was set and Anna was ready, but had to overcome some challenges during her own race. “I had a strong swim, there are some fast swimmers in my age group and I tried to keep up as best I could.  I was 5th out of the water and then focused on closing the gaps on the bike.  I had caught all but the first girl by the turn around and then my chain came off, so I had to stop and put it back on.  By that point two girls had passed me.  I had a quick mental struggle because i thought I may have blown it, but I just refocused to catch those girls.  I was first coming out of T2 and just tried to have a strong run.  The run course was flat after one big uphill at the beginning and I was feeling good the whole way.  My dad was able to go up to Burlington with me for the weekend and it was great to have him there supporting me. I was happy to meet some more Sport Factory teammates after the race as well!”

Photo: Burlington Free Press

Because Anna’s age group was the first female wave to race, she was also the first female to cross the finish. “It was such a cool feeling!  I was running down the chute and everyone was banging on it and cheering —  it was just so cool.”  

We think she will get used to that scenario. In a relatively short period of time, Anna has risen to the top of most local races and has now shown she can be a threat on the national level.  Anna says, “I’ve been racing for about a year and a half now, and have been training with Matt Russ since this past April right before Collegiate Nationals.  I have learned SO much from Matt…about training, racing, exercise physiology, nutrition and sports nutrition, it seems like I learn something new everyday.  Matt is really good at motivating me, even from a distance.  A lot of times in my hard work outs I find that one of my motivators is having a solid work out that I can send to Matt.  I am really grateful for the scholarship athlete program and I think working with Matt has been a key to my improvements over the course of this season.”

Moving forward, Anna hopes to get in a good base season in Atlanta working with Matt, and obtain her pro license to race  some ITU or draft-legal races next season.  She is also considering the 5150 race in SC in October to finish off this season.

Other Team Sport Factory athletes at  USAT Age Group Nationals:

• Brian Duffy, 18, finished 2^nd in his AG. Brian is coached by Sam Morgan.
• Keenan Sharpe, coached by Brett Daniels, raced the olympic Distance race and had a good showing 2:36:17
• Rob Barrett, also coached by Brett Daniels, raced Sprint Nationals and came in 4th M45-49, qualifying him for Worlds in New Zealand.
• Carl Eichert, coached by Chris Zimmer, finished in 2:06 and 32nd AG.
• Georgette Rae, also coached by Chris Zimmer, finished in 2:57.
• Byron Milton, coached by Matt Russ, set a new olympic distance PR and took three minutes off of his 2010 time.
• Kristen Weuste, co-coached by Matt Russ and Eric Limkeman, had a very challenging season health-wise and it was great to see her race hard, finish in 2:22, and qualify for Team USA in New Zealand!
• Nick Sykes finished in 2:21.47. Nick is coached by Eric Limkemann.
• Ryan Whitley, also coached by Eric Limkemann, set a new PR in 2:14.41.
• Brandon Bankieris, coached by Jennifer Henry, set a PR of 2:13.
• Special thanks to Brady Thomas for transporting the team bikes to Vermont and going the extra mile for supporting the team. Brady is not only The Sport Factory’s Intern Extraordinaire, but he is also an up-and-coming triathlete himself!