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TriStars Series Final ends in beautiful Brecon

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Welsh Triathlon TriStars Series reached its climax last Sunday 28th September in Brecon

Written by Roy Healey

The final TriStars race of the season took part in the beautiful town of Brecon, based in the local leisure centre which was surrounded by the imposing Black Mountains. The day started off a little misty with a heavy morning dew which caused us to reduce the bike laps from 2km to 1km loops in the interest of athlete safety. The bike route was deceptive, it looked like a nice flat track but in reality it was a tough loop even with the removal of the hill sections with little or no time to recover. After the early morning mist the sun eventually burnt through in time for the arrival of the athletes.

As this was the last race of the season the atmosphere was even more relaxed than usual with athletes and parents enjoying themselves. On completion of registration the athletes were taken through a course familiarisation to ensure everyone was happy and that they were ready to race.

The T1 athletes started the day with the girls entering the pool first to complete their allotted lengths followed by the boys, as always both girls and boys categories were well contested, with Naomi Nowell leading the girls out of the pool followed closely by Eden Rae Davies and Freya Thapa. Out on the bike section Eden pressed home her advantage having an excellent bike section with Freya closing in on Naomi all the time. By time they hit the track Eden had pulled out a significant lead with the battle for second being closely fought by Naomi and Freya. Eden crossed the line winning in a time of 19:45 with the battle for 2nd place going to Naomi in a time of 21:01 closely followed in 3rd place by Freya in 21:20, with Catrin Aur Evans coming in 4th in a time of 22:40 followed by Ettie Coonick who had an unfortunate mechanical on the bike in 26:56. 

The T1 boys didn't disappoint either with the field being split in to two waves with Ollie Price, Archie Peers Buxton, William Grant, and Luke Williams hitting the water first, with all four boys working hard throughout, with Luke Williams posting a fantastic time on the bike section of 7:04 only to be bettered by the race winner and series winner Ioan Hedd Oldfield. The second wave exited the pool with Jac Owen Hughes gaining a significant advantage over the rest of the boys, however it was all settled on the bike section with the unstoppable Ioan Hedd Oldfield setting a blistering time of 6:28 on the bike giving him a clear run for home on the track finishing with a time of 16:47, with Jac Owen Hughes, Ceiro Evans, and William Stone fighting for 2nd and 3rd, in the end it was the run that decided it with Ceiro finishing the stronger and pipping Jac 18:41 for 2nd place in a time of 17:58 closely followed by Will Stone 18:58, Ollie 19:30, Luke 19:41, Will Grant 19:48 and Archie 21:14.

The T2 girls like the boys were split in to two waves, with Katelyn Henry and Holly Bradbrook starting the girls race closely followed by the next wave of Tia Froom, Shannon Rae Haird, Ella Haf Oldfield, and Kate Pugh and what a race it turned out to be! Kate exited the pool first closely followed by Ella, Shannon and Tia but it was Ella who soon looked to take control out on the bike with a stunning ride clocking 12:05 over one minute quicker than hear nearest rival, however Kate was not to be beaten and put in a superb run to pip Ella for first place in a time of 25:07 with Ella coming in at 25:29, with Shannon cementing 3rd place in a time of 27:47 followed by Holly 32:03, Tia 33:12 and Katelyn 34:30.

Whilst the girls were fighting it out on the track the T2 boys had entered the fray with the first wave of two being led out by Isaac Nowell and Alex Layzell, this was soon to change on the bike course with William Harding putting in an excellent effort to overhaul the boys and take a lead on to the track finishing with a time of 23:49. The second wave was again led out by Osian Perrin who was followed by Alexander Fowler, Greg Hopkins, Liam Rickard and Kavan Heppenstall. With the bike section well under way Liam Rickard seemed to be relishing the ride passing all but Osian on the bike with the fastest bike split of 11:26. Once on the track though Osian had that little extra crossing the line in a time of 23:29 beating Alex by 20 seconds in to 2nd place with Liam Rickard picking up 3rd in a time of 24:25 which was reward for his effort on the bike, these were followed home by; Greg Hopkins 26:19, Ceirion Jones 27:34, Alexander 27:51, Isaac 29:13, Alex 29:30, Rowan Jones 29:35, and Caio Williams 32:16.

So the final race for the T3 girls got under way and once again Abbie Williams was seen exiting the pool first pushed by Mali Jones only a handful of seconds behind with Layla Gibbons and Ffion Bibby following. On the bike Abbie put in a huge effort and extended her lead on Mali to over 2 minutes. With first place seemingly wrapped up it came down to a fight for 2nd and 3rd, Mali consolidated 2nd place with Layla edging out Ffion with a strong run to pick up 3rd place. Abbie crossed the line in a magnificent time of 34:08, Mali was 2nd in 38:29 with Layla crossing the line 41:43, followed by Ffion in 42:45.

The boys had the honours of closing the series with the first wave being led out by Jack Boniface, Elis Pryse, Kieran Morris, Tomos Jones and Daniel Crosby closely followed by wave two consisting of Nathaniel Harries and Ifan Oldfield who had been neck and neck all season. The bike section once again tested the boys to the limit with Kieran setting the fastest time of 16:23 closely followed by Ifan 16:26 with both boys almost a minute plus quicker than their rivals, however the race wasn't over there as both Elis and Jack put in strong runs to finish 1st and 2nd respectively with Ifan coming in 3rd in a time of 34:05 behind Elis 33:03 and Jack 33:55. Nathaniel 36:05, Kieran 36:16, Daniel 42:40 and Tomos 45:21 completed the boys race.

The event was run in excellent conditions with all athletes doing their clubs, coaches and parents proud. Congratulations to all athletes who have competed over the series we look forward to seeing you all in 2015!

Welsh Triathlon would like to thank all the TriStars race organisers, the volunteers, officials, athletes and parents for making the TriStars Series 2014 a fantastic series!

Brecon Race Results 2014:

T1 Girls                                                          T1 Boys

1st Eden Rae Davies                                      1st Ioan Hedd Oldfield

2nd Naomi Nowell                                           2nd Ceiro Evans

3rd Freya Thapa                                             3rd Jac Owen Hughes

T2 Girls                                                          T2 Boys

1st Kate Pugh                                                 1st Osian Perrin

2nd Ella Haf Oldfield                                       2nd William Harding

3rd Shannon Rae Haird                                  3rd Liam Rickard

T3 Girls                                                          T3 Boys

1st Abbie Williams                                          1st Elis Pryse

2nd Mali Jones                                                2nd Jack Boniface

3rd Layla Gibbons                                          3rd Ifan Oldfield

TriStars Series Results 2014:

T1 Girls                                                          T1 Boys

1st Eden Rae Davies                                      1st Ioan Hedd Oldfield

2nd Freya Thapa                                            2nd Harrison Coppen

3rd Ettie Coonick                                            3rd William Stone

T2 Girls                                                          T2 Boys

1st Kate Pugh                                                 1st Osian Perrin

2nd Molly Reardon                                         2nd Joseph James Reardon

3rd Ella Haf Oldfield                                       3rd Ioan Evans

T3 Girls                                                          T3 Boys

1st Abbie Williams                                          1st Ifan Oldfield

2nd Ellie McCormick                                       2nd Nathaniel Harries

3rd Mali Jones                                                3rd Ben Bartlett

To download the complete TriStars Series Final results please click here

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