The Texas A&M Triathlon team finished the TAMU Time Trial with five of the top-10 men finishers and three of the top-four women finishers at Lick Creek Park on Sunday, March 5.
On Sunday, the team hosted triathletes from five teams in the South Midwest Collegiate Triathlon Conference, including racers from the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas at San Antonio. Health junior Kaitlin Bowman, race coordinator for A&M, said she was proud of the team for hosting such a competitive race that was free for the athletes.
The first finisher for the Aggies on Sunday was accounting graduate Michael Kasper, team treasurer. Kasper finished third overall with a time of 58:45, according to race officials.
“[Kasper] is a tank,” health senior and team president Liam Ballon.
Kasper said although he hasn’t competed in a triathlon in five months, he was happy to have met the expectations he had coming into the race.
The second Aggie to finish was computer science senior Dylan Harden with fifth place overall with a time of 1:00:51. Harden said the swim portion being timed earlier in the week created a different dynamic than a typical race, which made the race feel slower.
“Definitely made some mistakes, but excited to correct those moving forward,” Harden said.
Bowman placed 20th overall with a time of 1:10:44 and was the second woman to finish the race. Bowman said although the race was much harder than she expected, she was happy with the results.
“When I turned around and I saw everybody coming behind me, I just couldn’t have been happier,” Bowman said.
Bowman said she feels like the team’s performance on Sunday was a result of how hard they have practiced this season.
Although there were some hiccups during the biking portion, Ballon said he felt like he performed well and was happy with his race.
“You figure it out, and you keep moving on,” Ballon said. “Overall, pretty good race.”
The team will next compete in the Luck of the Irish Tri on March 19 in The Colony. For more information, visit TamuTriathlon.com or follow the team @aggie_tri on Instagram.
Logan Tamplin is a recreation, parks & tourism science junior and contributed this article from the course JOUR 359, Reporting Sports, to The Battalion.