After 9 races held throughout the country, the “Best of the Best” gathered in La Quinta, California on December 6th for the HITS Triathlon Championships.

Eight Greene County Tri-Kids plus three mothers qualified, to join over 1,100 other qualifiers for this prestigious event, and they turned in an impressive performance as everyone on the team placed somewhere within the Top 7 in their Age Group.

The excellent showing was a result of all of the hard work put in by the kids over the last 5 years. In 2015 alone, the team had 79 workouts plus 11 “optional” workouts and, on average, each Tri-Kid attended 85.8 workouts and completed over 403 miles of swimming, biking and running during their training. In addition, they participated in 4 triathlons and 3, 5K runs this year.

Race day in La Quinta presented a new challenge however as, at the 7:00 AM race start time, the desert temperatures were 48 degrees and the water temperature in Lake Cahuilla was a frosty 53 degrees but the Tri-Kids remained undaunted, despite some tears of nervousness from several team members. When the starting gun went off, the Tri-Kids were not going to be denied on their journey to complete a half mile, open water, swim, a 12 mile bike ride and a three mile run. The cold, tough, conditions resulted in many competitors not finishing the race… but every Tri-Kid finished!

Leading the team was Kursten Aiken who finished 2nd in the Girls 11-12 Age group. Not far behind in their respective Age Groups were: Melody Davis (4th), Dasiania Bell (4th), Ysaias Sumpter (5th), Kzon Dennis (5th), Kirsten Reese (5th), Kosi Sumpter (5th) and Arkiyus Wright (7th). Coach Steven Sumpter also completed the race in an impressive time of 1:53:24.

Shortly after this race, the three mothers participated in the Open Division race for beginner triathletes. The race included a 100 yard swim, 3 mile bike and 1 mile run and the mothers also “knocked it out of the park”. The mothers attended an average of 56 workouts during the year, completed 161 miles of training and completed a qualifying triathlon in May. Their hard work paid off as Shanta Mathis finished 2nd, Kenisha Davis 3rd and Rhonda Sumpter 4th in their respective age groups. A major highlight was watching the sons and daughters run the entire mile distance with their mothers and offering them encouragement.

Coach Bill McIlwaine said “I couldn’t be prouder of our team! This has to be one of the best teams ever from Greene County. Swimming beside Kursten, Dasiania and Kirsten I could see the determination in their faces. Dasiania’s nerves in particular, and the cold water, were leading her to hyperventilate and struggle over the first 200 yards of the race but she stuck with it and eventually got in the groove”. When asked what happened to get her back on track, Dasiania said “I just gave myself a good talking to and said c’mon you can do this, settle down and remember what you’ve learned at practice.” Arkiyus Wright was another Tri-Kid who had a few tears of apprehension running down his face, just moments before race start, but when the gun went off he dove right into the cold water and had a great swim. When asked why he didn’t hesitate once the gun went off, Wright stated “I couldn’t let my teammates down.” Some great life lessons for success.

The trip was a once in a lifetime experience for the entire team as most of them had never flown before. In addition to the triathlon, the team toured UCLA and were fortunate to witness the “buzz” immediately before a UCLA/Kentucky basketball game at Pawley Pavilion, they hiked BigHorn mountain in Rancho Mirage, played lots of tennis and went to Venice Beach where Kzon Dennis was chosen to perform and where they took many photos of the Pacific Ocean.

All in all, the Tri-Kids clearly demonstrated their capabilities when given an opportunity to excel. A goal that seemed impossible 5 years ago, when they could not even swim, was accomplished through hard work, persistence and determination. Well done Tri-Kids!!!