Male Triathlete of the Year
"Some of the world's greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible." ~ Doug Larson
Winning by a landslide, what a year it’s been for our Male Triathlete of the Year!
• Racing 2 hard Ironmans in 1 month, Boulder and Mont-Tremblant
• Traversing 17 miles of our beautiful channel (filled with hungry wildlife) to raise funds to bring clean water to those who need it.
• A very challenging Xterra World Championships in Maui
Our Male Triathlete of the Year is Jason “Lil Kip” Smith
Female Triathlete of the Year
Her short first name is equally hard to pronounce as her lengthy last name.
Her selfies on training runs and rides invent new colors in the color spectrum.
Instagram dwarves hide in trees, shrubs ahead of her or behind her just to get the right camera angle for a glimpse at her training.
Her OMs in Yoga class beckon unicorns to traverse rainbow bridges.
A fierce competitor in the ways of Gaucho Triathlon, beer pong, flip cup, and gaucho ball.
70.3 Worlds Qualifier in 2015 at Vineman 70.3 with a 2nd place podium
70.3 Worlds Qualifier for 2016 at Silverman 70.3 with a 1st place finish
A very soon to be IM Arizona finisher.
Your female triathlete of the year is Elke “PizzaGiggle” Piertsegaele
Most Improved Male Triathlete of the Year
Often mistaken for a Blues Brother while wearing shades or Roseanne’s husband in 90s sitcom, our MIMT registered for his first IM Arizona. Quite the challenge as the swim leg was our 2015 Most Improved Male Triathlete least favorite portion of Tris. Nevertheless, our MIMT took his proud running waddle to the water, focused on his weakest discipline, and swam the double loop at nearly every Nite Moves to prepare for his first Ironman in Tempe.
Our 2015 Most Improved Male Triathlete of the Year is Jon “Insane in the Membrane” Goodman
Most Improved Female Triathlete of the Year
Hitting the races with her BFF has been quite common place for this SB accountant. Destroying competition at Ventura, Goleta, and Carp, then participating regularly in monthly Time-Trials and Criterions (thanks to her other half’s crank inclinations), our 2015 Most Improved Female Triathlete has been a fixture to the local podiums collecting substantial amounts of hardware that make Mr. T check his double entry accounting.
Our 2015 Most Improved Female Triathlete is Alyssa “All about Numbers” Walter
Badass of the Year
Our 2015 Badass raced his first Ironman at the 2014 Ironman Maryland finishing fifteenth overall. Beside racing a sub 10 Kona qualifying IM, our BA raises a wolf, is an amateur cook, moonlights as a ninja, and has been coaching talented gauchos (2 of which are age group champions) for over 10 years. The dry side of the big island more than welcomed our 2015 badass to the Ironman World Championships in Kona where he finished 12th in his age group!
Our 2015 Badass of the Year is Mateo “Secret Superhero” Mercur
Team Spirit
Was a close vote for our 2015 Team Spirit award. But our recipient seemed to be the most deserving. It’s no question that our 2015 Team Spirit recipient bleeds blue, not dodger blue, but club blue, and maybe even gold. Quite uncharacteristic for someone who’s passed the LSATs, become a board certified lawyer. Always an encourager to new people, pushing himself to new heights, and proudly sporting club colors wherever traveled.
There’s no objection, your Honor, that our 2015 Team Spirit Recipient is SB Tri’s Irish Lad. Patrick O’Hara got me 2.1 million dollars.
Male Race of the Year
What can we say about our Male Race of the Year winner? After placing 11th in a deep field of a total of 180 highly ranked national AG in Milwaukee last year, our male race of the year winner brought it to Chi-town for the 2015 ITU World Triathlon Grand Final. He averaged a 1:20/100m pace on the swim, 27 mph bike speed, and a 6:12 run pace. The mind of an engineer, appetite of a caveman, work ethic of Killer B, and drinking skills of a Gaucho,
Our 2015 Male Race of the Year Winner is Kyle “Papa” Visin. 2nd year in a row
Female Race of the Year
After a devastating race-morning cancellation at IM Lake Tahoe in 2014 due to the King Fire, our Female Race of the Year recipient’s resolve remained unfettered, starting a fire within her soul that would not be contained, not even by pants, yes pants, hipsters. Our Female Race of the Year recipient considers long pants, suffocating and a prison for the legs. There was no chaining up those legs this last August, when our Female RoTY recipient arose 4th out of the water, passed an age grouper on the bike and finished as 3rd place podium in a challenging, at altitude IM Tahoe.
Our Female Race of the Year recipient is Carly “No Pants” Grunwald
Female Rookie of the Year
While not a stranger to sprint triathlons, our female rookie of the year pushed the limits of her comfort zone, and beyond her own health issues by finishing her first 70.3, sub 6 hours. Some may accuse our female rookie for being a sadist for signing up for her first 70.3. Others might see her as a masochist, having license to shoot people with their consent in her day job. Her enthusiasm for the sport and willingness to take it to the next level make her our FToY.
Our 2015 Female Rookie of the Year is Chelsea Mitchell
Male Rookie of the Year
Always fashionably dressed, our male rookie of the year is often mistaken as the roid-loving homerun hitter or more aptly the classic east-coast latin detective that don’t take crap from nobody on Law and Order. Our male rookie embraced the sport this year, racing his first SB Long Course, while aspiring for even greater things like passing the board and still taking crap from nobody. Yet another shark in the waters.
Our Male Rookie of the Year is Sam “You talkin’ to me” Sosa
Crash of the Year
As she was rolled into the ambulance with 3 broken ribs and a punctured lung, she was adamant about not moving the vehicle an inch unless her bike was transported with her. No bike left behind. Our 2015 Crash of the Year recipient has won nearly every award issued to an SB Tri Club member, from Rookie of the Year to Badass to Triathlete of the Year. She can add yet another.
Our Crash of Year winner is, and just in time, Rosie “No bike left behind” Thompson
Cheers once again for making it a great 2015 and being SB Tri! We are SB Tri!