Race Coverage

Gophs Rock at College Nationals...

Wednesday, 10 April 2019 23:10

By Garrett Williams

This past weekend the Gophers sent twenty of their finest to Tempe, Arizona for USAT Collegiate Nationals. The weekend of racing was a huge success, with the women finishing 12th (tied for their highest ever) and the men 33rd, combining for 19th overall out of 97 of the best teams in the nation.

Racing began Friday morning with the men’s Draft Legal race. Andy Hardt and Nico Mendivil led the way for the Gophers, putting in great efforts in an ultra-competitive race. The women were next, with Mélanie Mahoney and Heather Taylor repping the maroon and gold. Both had fantastic races, with Mélanie finishing an impressive 25th. Saturday was the big day for the team, featuring both the Olympic distance race in the morning and the mixed...

team relay in the afternoon. For the men, Josh Reece was the top Gopher, finishing in a quick 2:15:06, with Zach Dahlseng right behind him in 2:17:45 and Nico rounding out the top three in 2:20:06. On the women’s side, Rachel Zilinskas led the way, coming first out of the water and finishing in an incredible 6th place in 2:20:06. Sophie Rabino was next and also helped rack up some big points for the team, finishing in 2:30:35. Rounding out the top three was Christina Orth, finishing in 2:39:54. While most were done racing for the weekend, the MTR team made up of Zach, Rachel, Josh, and Sophie had only a short break before they raced again in the afternoon. With strong swim legs, the relay team finished a stellar 13th, adding some big points to the team total. After the awards ceremony Saturday night, the team headed back to Minnesota on Sunday and enjoyed a week of recovery. The Gophers opens up the summer season May 19, heading to Missouri for the St. Louis Sprint Triathlon.

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