Tristan Woodfine and Ellen Pennock Win Opening Race of Teck National Junior Series in Manitoba
ST-MALO, Man.—Ontario’s Tristan Woodfine and Alberta’s Ellen Pennock captured their first-ever national titles at the opening event of 2011 Teck National Junior Triathlon Series in St-Malo. Manitoba on Sunday.
The 18-year-old Woodfine took advantage of a strong 750-metre swim where he came out of the water with a group of 12 athletes who executed their tactics to near perfection on the 20-kilometre bike course to set up Woodfine’s golden run. The Cobden, Ontario resident took a deep breath, surged and closed a five-second gap on two Quebec athletes in the first kilometre of the run. Woodfine never looked back, winning the race with a time of 55 minutes 18 seconds.
“It is my first win and a great start to the year after a rough season last year,” said Woodfine at the finish line. “I put lots of time in the pool this winter and it paid off right away in the swim today. I think that was the difference for me today being able to keep up with a strong group that came out of the water together. I’m really happy.”
Woodfine was sandwiched on the podium between two Quebec athletes. Francis Lefebvre was the next best finisher, who finished 28 seconds off the pace to grab the silver medal at 55:46. Marc-Antoine Christin finished on the heels of his provincial teammate in third with a bronze-medal time of 55:48.
Meanwhile, Calgary’s Ellen Pennock also captured her first-ever National Junior Series title in the women’s race.
Known for her strength as a swimmer, the 18-year-old Pennock took advantage of a brilliant run to shatter the field by over a minute. Pennock, who won the bronze medal at the 2010 Junior National Championships, posted a golden time of 1:01:18.
“My swim was good, but I had a really good run after a bad transition where I was able to pass quite a few people,” said Pennock, who also won the silver medal at last year’s Eastern Canadian Championships. “This is my first win and I couldn’t be happier.”
Pennock was joined on the podium by Victoria’s 18-year-old Christine Ridenour who represented Canada at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore last year. Ridenour clocked a silver-medal time of 1:02:29. Saskatoon’s Gabrielle Edwards rounded out the women’s podium in third at 1:02:52.
The Teck National Junior Series is the nation’s premier development race circuit, which allows athletes and coaches the appropriate focal points fortraining and monitoring athlete progression. The annual three-race series is used by Triathlon Canada for World Junior Team and Canada Games selections.
Canada’s top junior triathletes will now head to Penticton, B.C. the second stop of the tour set for July 16.
Triathlon Canada is the governing body for triathlon in the country. Recognized as an Olympic medal sport since 2000, Triathlon Canada’s mandate is to promote, foster, organize and develop the sport of triathlon, and its related disciplines, in Canada. For more information on Triathlon Canada, please visit us at www.triathloncanada.com on the Internet.
For more information on the St-Malo, Manitoba stop of the Teck National Junior Series, please visit the race website at www.triathlon.mb.ca/.
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