A Mighty Finish at the MightyMan Champs

Post date: Oct 7, 2010 2:54:39 PM

MightyMan Sprint Triathlon Team Summary

Compilation of Writing By: Aaron Perelman, Nick Walulik, & Amanda Nauman

Like a phoenix born from the ashes of old, the morning of October 2^nd gave birth to the fiery champion inside us all. Each early morning yawn showed the simmering desire to strut the swagger swimming stoically inside each and every Stevens triathlete. Thirteen Stevens athletes came to Montauk, New York for the MightyMan Sprint, the NECTC Championships. The Stevens Triathlon Club proved to be one of the top competitors when honored with the second place prize for completing the season as the second best team in the Northeast behind West Point.

The tri club put Stevens, a small Division III school, on the map of recognition after topping major Division 1 schools like Penn State, Syracuse, and Bucknell. It is safe to say we dominated all the major competition this year. After last year’s 5^th place finish behind Columbia, Boston University, Army, and Syracuse, the team did everything in their power to get to the podium this year. Successful in that accomplishment, we impressed ourselves and our competition, who continuously had to ask us, “Where IS Stevens?” Everyone knows who we are after this year’s amazing season, that’s for sure.

Amanda Nauman had another spectacular finish to end the season. She was the second woman to cross the finish line behind a West Point competitor. Her time was a speedy 1:06.56. Amanda would have been first on the podium for the woman’s overall points series, but due to complicated NECTC rules regarding NCAA athlete eligibility, she could not compete in the individual point series. This was Amanda’s last season competing with the NECTC, but everyone know she has a bright future ahead with triathlons.

Jamie Brabston and Gabrielle Czernik also had great races at Montauk. All season Jamie and Gabrielle battled to place higher than each other as they always seemed to cross the finish line within seconds of each other. On this day Jamie got the best of the inter-team rivalry finishing with a time of 1:14.47. Gabrielle had the 12^th fastest swim of the day and finished with a time of 1:15.03. Jamie and Gabrielle’s respective 6^th and 7^th place finishes landed the women’s team crucial points for the overall Stevens score.

The men really stepped up to help keep Stevens in the second place spot as a team in the conference. Evan Wilson and Nick Walulik were the men’s top finishers. Nick Walulik was second off the bike in transition, but could not hold off the light feet of Evan only a couple tenths of a mile from the line. With Evan’s first place swim and blistering fast 17:16 5K run, he finished 6^th with a time of 1:03.28. Nick had the 4^th fastest bike split of the day and finished 8^th overall in a time of 1:03.54.

Matthew Smith, Luke Niezelski and Aaron Perelman were the next Stevens athletes to finish the race. They finished in 13^th, 19^th and 26^th respectively with times of 1:04.36, 1:06.43 and 1:07.53. A few highlights for these guys included Luke’s 3^rd place swim finish and Matt’s 7^th place swim finish, in typical Stevens fashion. On the flip side, Aaron accidentally swam off course as the buoys were not marked well, but ended up sprinting the run just under 18 minutes and making up lost ground. Overall, this was a good race for these three men. These finishes really helped solidify Stevens in the Second place spot as a team.

Rounding out the day Stevens had Aaron Williams, William Gerboth, Orlando Martinez, Nicole Ogrosso and Kimberly McCaffrey. After a tenth place swim finish, Aaron finished 31^st with a time of 1:09.40. Will and Orlando finished 42nd and 57th respectively. Nicole also had a strong race, finishing in 72^nd overall with a time of 1:20.52. Kimberly finished not far behind with a time of 1:23.12. Nicole and Kim’s places on the women’s side were 19^th and 22^nd, adding significant points to the women’s team.

The Stevens triathletes are very proud of our accomplishments this year. With individual wins at multiple races, individual point series podium finishes, and a second place team finish in the entire NECTC, the Stevens Triathlon team really achieved above and beyond its goals this year. We now hope to bring this momentum to nationals in the spring.