Thank you to everyone who made this season such a success! For those of you unable to attend the meeting here is a rundown of the award recipents and what they managed to achieve this past season!
Inducted into the Santa Barbara Triathlon Hall of Fame - Stuart Sato
Stuart has supported the SB Triathlon, the SB Tri Club, and all the local triathletes as long as we can remember. Since helping to restart the SBTC he has done it all, including acting as the President, VP, Treasurer, and Webmaster. Thanks for sharing; we couldn’t have done it without you.
Community Outreach Award - Jerrett McFarland
Jerrett perceived the need to add a local race to the Santa Barbara community. He turned his dream into a reality by creating and directing the Goleta Beach Triathlon, which was extremely popular in its inaugural season. The race impacted the triathlon community at large and we wish him success for many years to come.
Team Spirit – Michael Simpson
In the past few seasons Mike has shown unwavering dedication to the SB Tri Club. He has played the role of club recruiter, promoter, and sponsor negotiator (Specialized) in spite of the fact that he doesn’t even live in Santa Barbara! He is forever present and never misses a club event, but what really put him over the top was when he became the clubs “Ironstalker” posting live updates whenever our member traveled to big races!
Crash of the Year – Jason Smith
Breaking a collar bone once in a season would be enough for most people, yet Jason managed to impress us all with “The Double”. He still managed to chicken wing his way through the course at Wildflower and put forth an impressive late season assault earning his professional license.
Comeback of the Year – Patty Bryant
After battling breast cancer and being treated with chemotherapy, Patty came back to take 3rd place at Wildflower Long Course, 7th at Ironman St. George and finished the season with a podium spot at Santa Barbara Long Course. Her determination, focus and dedication is inspirational.
Sweep of the Year – Dave Groom
The fact that Dave dominates almost every race he sets his sights on is impressive but nothing out of the ordinary. The fact that he completed the WILDFLOWER SWEEP this year with his win in the Olympic distance race is extraordinary. To our knowledge no other athlete has ever place 1st in all three events during their career.
Honorable Mention – John Herzog
John’s dedication and focus has shown as he has steadily improved his race results over the past few seasons. He took his training to a whole new level this year as he committed to his first Ironman. We are excited to see him take part in this life changing experience in a few short weeks.
Honorable mention – Taj Hudson
Taj aged up this season and decided to take his training to a whole new level. He added structure, focus, and dedication while working harder than ever before. This resulted in a podium spot at Strawberry Fields, a new personal best at Santa Barbara placing 2nd, and a victory at Tinley’s. The best is yet to come as Taj takes on IM Arizona in a few weeks time.
Rookie of the Year – Alex Garcia
Alex dove into triathlon head first in his rookie season. He became fully immersed in the Triathlon Club and donated countless hours to making sure we were all fueled! What’s most impressive are the exceptional races he put forth at The Goleta Beach Triathlon and the Santa Barbara Long Course in his very first year.
Most Improved Athlete of the Year – Carlos Gonzalez
Carlos has shown that with hard work, consistency and focused training comes progression. He set out on a tear this season completing three 70.3 races. He culminated his season posting a 4:44, over 45 minutes faster than his previous best at the Half Ironman distance.
Female Race of the Year – Nicole Sweetland
Years of determination, focus, hard work and consistency paid off with a breakthrough race for Nicole resulting in a podium finish at a very competitive Vineman 70.3.
Male Race of the Year – Josh Schultz
Years of determination, focus and hard work paid off with a breakthrough race for Josh. He was able to capture his first victory in the Santa Barbara Triathlon Long Course.
Female Athlete of the Year – Adrienne Hengels
Adrienne put together a complete and flawless season placing 2nd at Wildflower, 1st at Strawberry Fields and 3rd overall at the Santa Barbara Triathlon. She was able to cap off a perfect season placing 2nd overall in an extremely competitive field at the Los Angles Triathlon. Congratulations Adrienne!
Male Athlete of the Year – Craig Spreadbury
Craig executed a flawless season with top 3 finishes at Ironman 70.3 California, Wildflower, the Ventura Triathlon, and Ironman 70.3 Vineman. He ended a perfect season with a remarkable performance everyone knew he was capable of, a 5th place podium finish at the 70.3 Ironman World Championships in Las Vegas Nevada.