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Gaby Earns USAT AOY HM!

Monday, 04 March 2019 23:10

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — USA Triathlon today announced its roster of 2018 Age-Group Triathletes of the Year, as selected by USA Triathlon’s Age Group Committee. Headlining the talented group are Justin Lippert (Middletown, N.J.) and Missy LeStrange (Visalia, Calif.), who were named men’s and women’s Overall Age-Group Triathletes of the Year, respectively.

Lippert had a breakout 2018 season in which he became a three-time overall national champion. He swept the men’s sprint- and Olympic-distance titles at the USA Triathlon Age Group National Championships in Cleveland, and three months later grabbed the overall USA Triathlon Long Course National Championships victory in Miami. Lippert also founded Full Send Triathlon, a team of like-minded young athletes from across the country, during the 2018 season — an accomplishment he counts as the highlight of his season.

“When I reflect back on 2018, it’s the meaningful connections I made within the community that I remember the most,” Lippert said. “My hope is that people can look at this as inspiration for themselves to raise the bar on being their best. I’m just an average kid doing above-average things. Don’t settle for mediocrity, and everything is possible.”

LeStrange was the 2017 Grand Masters Triathlete of the Year, but this is her first time being named Overall Triathlete of the Year. Her season highlights included four age-group world titles (F65-69) in the span of six weeks: the ITU Age Group Triathlon World Championships sprint- and standard-distance races in Gold Coast, Australia; the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in South Africa; and the IRONMAN World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. LeStrange also collected top honors this year in the Grand Masters category.  READ MORE

ED. Awards and ranking systems are inherently controversial. We respect USAT's pics, but we do plan to challenge one of their selections (Gaby's HM) in a future post.Stay tuned for that.