Collegiate Nationals Part III

Despite the very best effort from each and every Golden Bear, Cal could not top the well- balanced team from Annapolis and relinquished the national champion title to the Naval Academy. There were some truly heroic performances from our team members that must be applauded. Robyn Shaffer and Daniella Mehech were both sick within the week leading up to the race, but gutted it out to finish 8th and 9th respectively; Mike Jafari had a break through performance in the 5th wave, maneuvering through the slower athletes to a top 10 finish overall; and our president, Kevin Haas, racing after the epic three day drive in a Penske truck to deliver the team’s bike in Lubbock from Berkeley. Not to mention the fact that our sprint racers in the race before the Olympic had transformed into the best cheerleaders ever! They had painted their bodies and arranged themselves to spell “Go Tri Bears” on their chest and “California” on their back. They positioned themselves on top of the last climb on the course and cheered with the same enthusiasm for all athletes, regardless of school affiliation. Post – race they also had their scarlet letter “branded” to them as the Texas sun tanned the rest of their bodies except where the letter was painted on. I don’t care what the “official” results said, but UC Berkeley definitely showed why we should have won the spirit award. Not to mention the fact that the entire team donned a “Muhammed Alinesque” custom Cal robes during the whole weekend. The special treat of the day was a surprise visit from two great friends: our ex-president Christi Leong and Dwight Upshaw, who drove from Boulder to watch Cal Triathlon race at Nationals. They are truly wonderful people and bleed blue and gold. They, too, stationed themselves at the top of that hill. I could not have been more proud to be a bear! It was a very satisfying runner-up title, (the 5th in the past 6 collegiate nationals with the sole exception being the national championship title last year) knowing that each and every team member left it all out on the race course. The men retained the national title, while the women garnered 4th place.

It truly was a bitter sweet day for me. I was so happy with how the team performed, but I was sad that it was going to be my last race wearing the blue and gold. I have been a member of the Cal Triathlon team since 2004 and it will be the tri team that will forever define my college experience. It has truly been an honor to have you guys in my life. I love all of you guys! Big thanks to each and every one of my teammates for their undying support, love and encouragement. We owe a lot to our wonderful coach, Andy Schmitz, who once again tapped into the full potential of the team, which allowed us to produce at a level that we thought was not possible. From his visualization session to his words of encouragement and motivation, Andy made the team believe we would all race as champions.

Andy and the rest of the team will reload for next year and will hopefully bring back that national title to Berkeley. I also truly hope my good friend, Steve Sexton, will return to collegiate racing and help UC Berkeley make that dream a reality. He truly is a champion and the team surely missed his abilities and leadership in Lubbock. His addition would have made things real interesting for that overall duel with Navy and the team title! I have no doubt that Kenny will vie for the individual male honors and whether it is him or Steve, Cal will keep that title in house. On the women’s side, Daniella and Robyn will be right in the hunt for individual honors and lead a very strong women’s contingent in 2010. Roll on you bears and you stay classy!