Stone Doubles Up Overall Titles at 2023 USA Triathlon National Championships
by USA Triathlon
MILWAUKEE- Cooler temperatures and a welcome cloud cover arrived on the final day of the 2023 USA Triathlon National Championships in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Racing kicked off at 7:00 am with our Men’s 20-29 age group competing for the Sprint Distance National Championships. Benjamin Stone, who won yesterday’s Olympic Distance Overall, added another Overall title to his weekend in Milwaukee finishing over a minute ahead of second place David Reynolds. On the women’s side, the Overall title was decided by less than one second with Nicole Heininger, who placed eighth in yesterday’s Olympic Distance race, edging out Eli Walz.
In the Age Group Categories, we saw seven back-to-back National Champions, including Kirsten Sass, Steph Popelar, David Reynolds, and Todd Buckingham, who also won their categories in the Olympic Distance.
The afternoon shifted gears to focus on the future of our sport beginning with our Youth Age Group athletes followed by open races where we saw athletes as young as six years old racing along the parent-lined shores of Lake Michigan.
Athlete Quotes:
Nicole Heininger, Madison, Wis.
Overall Female Sprint Distance National Champion
On the win: "It feels really surreal. My strategy was to have fun today. I raced yesterday, so I was just going to have fun today. I enjoyed the sprint distance and the fact that it was just go all out and see what happens.”
On competing at Nationals: "This has been a super fun weekend. I'm super glad I came out to Nationals this year for the first time. The spectator support with the pros being here was amazing. It was kind of hard to not want to take in all the action because it was so exciting with the pros here."
Benjamin Stone, Indianapolis, Ind.
Overall Male Sprint Distance National Champion
On the win and strategy: "Really I was just hoping the run wasn't going to hurt too bad. My legs were really tired after yesterday and I knew there were going to be some fast runners. I just wanted to have a solid swim and a fast bike and see what I could do on the run. The bike was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be with the wind going up over on the bridge."
On winning both Olympic- and Sprint-distance National titles: "I'm really happy with the performance. To go back to back Saturday and Sunday was really nice. I'm really happy about it. I'm happy to join those two (Lippert and Guenter) and go back to back. It shows that you're more versatile than just one distance, that you can do both, you have a top end speed and more endurance."
2023 USA Triathlon Sprint-Distance National Championships (Complete Results)
Overall Female: Nicole Heininger
Overall Male: Benjamin Stone
Masters Female: Kirsten Sass
Masters Male: Colin Cook
Grand Masters Female: Juliana Nievergelt
Grand Masters Male: William Kelly
Non-Binary: Sebastien Dejong
Athena 55 and over: Caroline Faure
Clydesdale 60 and over: Mike Savage
Athena 40-54: Adrienne Fyock
Clydesdale 40-54: Matthew Nichols
Athena 39 and under: Ingrid Lofgren
Clydesdale 39 and under: Brett Winkelman
F15-19: Ava Pfaff
M15-19: Issac Lamprecht
F20-24: Eli Walz
M20-24: Dave Reynolds
F25-29: Marissa Lovell
M25-29: Benjamin Stone
F30-34: Madeleine Blain
M30-34: Todd Buckingham
F35-39: Nicole Heininger
M35-39: Brian Reynolds
F40-44: Kirsten Sass
M40-44: Collin Cook
F45-49: Jessica Holmes
M45-49: Jeffrey Fejfar
F50-54: Becky Paige
M50-54: Mike Sooder
F55-59: Steph Popelar
M55-59: Peter Valentyik
F60-64: Juliana Nievergelt
M60-64: William Kelly
F65-69: Donna Smyers
M65-69: Tony Schiller
F70-74: Carol Brown
M70-74: Jay Campbell
F75-79: Kathy Calabretta
M75-79: Steve Collins
F80-84: Sibyl Jacobson
M80-84: Robert Plant
M 85+: Kenneth Fleischacker