Justin Lippert of Middletown, New Jersey and Gina Sereno of Madison, Wisconsin won the USA Triathlon Age Group Nationals Sprint distance overall titles Sunday in Cleveland, Ohio.

After edging 16-year-old Andrew Shellenberger of Indianapolis, Indiana by 4 seconds in Sunday’s short course event (turned into a duathlon because of strong currents in Lake Erie), the 22-year-old Lippert thus completed the Olympic-Sprint National Championship overall double. Lippert won the men’s Olympic distance overall on Saturday with a 42 seconds margin of victory over runner-up Matthew Murray of Pearland, Texas.

With a time trial start to accommodate the impromptu duathlon format, Shellenberger arrived at the finish line first and waited for Lippert to see who would prevail. When Lippert crossed the line in 46:50, he had a 4 seconds margin of victory. Todd Buckingham of Big Rapids Michigan took the final spot on the overall podium and the 25-29 crown, 40 seconds behind Lippert’s time.

“It feels great,” the 22-year-old Lippert told USA Triathlon media. “That’s what I came here for. I didn’t come here for one (win), I came here for two,” Lippert said. “Both days were extremely hard. Everyone here is really competitive. It feels good to come out here and do what I know I’m capable of.”

Sereno, a 23-year-old graduate of the University of Michigan who ran NCAA track and cross country for the Wolverines. She only recently began triathlon as part of the USA Triathlon college recruitment program.

Sereno, at age 23, won by a more comfortable 32 seconds margin over the runner-up, 15-year-old Cassidy Hickey of Parker, Colorado, who was coming off a victory at the USA Triathlon Youth Nationals last weekend. Unlike Lippert’s close win, Sereno took the title by a comfortable 32 seconds over 15-year-old Cassidy Hickey of Parker, Colorado. Stephanie Knast of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania took 3rd overall and won the F25-29 title, finishing 13 seconds behind Hickey.

Kirsten Sass, 39, who won the USA Triathlon Age Group Nationals Overall Olympic-Sprint distance double last year, took 4th place overall in the sprint and won the 35-39 category. Sass reached the podium in all three races in the USA Triathlon Duathlon National Championships this April, and said she thought the decision to cancel the swim was a good one. ““I know it was a hard call by management to cancel the swim, but it was the right call,” Sass told USA Triathlon media, “Luckily I’m pretty easy-going, so I just take things as they come. You always have to expect the unexpected. You just have to do the best you can with what you’ve got.”

Vachee Loughran of Glenview, Illinois won the men’s masters title with a time of 49:54, while Ginger Reiner of Lincoln, Massachusetts won the women’s Masters crown with a time of 55:21.

Kelly Dippold of Olathe, Kansas won the women's grand master title Saturday at the Olympic distance and followed that with the women’s grandmaster overall sprint distance crown Sunday with a time of 59:08. Dippold thus duplicated the her grandmaster women's overall Olympic-Sprint distance double last year at the USA Triathlon Nationals in Omaha.

Ron Gierut of Cedar Rapids, Iowa won the men’s grandmaster overall sprint distance title with a time of 54:30.

Although there is no special category for her accomplishment Sunday, the incomparable 88-year-old Madonna Buder is beyond categorization for her victory in the women’s 85+ plus category in a time of 1:48:06.

Maybe Great-Grand-Pluperfect-Superhuman Triathlete For All Time?

USA Triathlon AG Sprint Nationals
Cleveland, Ohio
August 12, 2018
R 2.5k / B 20k / R 2.5k
Results

Overall Men

1. Justin Lippert (Middletown NJ) 46:50 R1 8:14 T1 1:13 B 27:37 T2 1:07 R2 8:41 M20-24
2. Andrew Shellenberger (Indianapolis IN) 46:54 R1 8:35 T1 1:12 B 27:03 T2 1:10 R2 8:56 M15-19
3. Todd Buckingham (Big Rapids MI) 47:30 R1 8:18 T1 1:11 B 28:17 T2 1:06 R2 8:40
4. David Luy (Brookfield MI) 47:43 R1 8:08 T1 1:24 B 28:24 T2 1:17 R2 8:32
5. Clayton Hutchins (San Luis Obispo CA) 47:56 R1 8:10 T1 1:04 B 28:51 T2 1:02 R2 8:51

Overall Women

1. Gina Sereno (Madison WI) 53:05 R1 8:34 T1 1:22 B 32:42 T2 1:11 R2 9:17 * F20-24
2. Cassidy Hickey (Parker CO) 53:37 R1 9:30 T1 1:21 B 31:41 T2 1:08 R2 9:59 * F15-19
3. Stephanie Knast (Philadelphia PA) 53:50 R1 9:37 T1 1:31 B 3136 T2 1:15 R2 9:52 * F25-29
4. Kirsten Sass (McKenzie TN) 54:10 R1 10:08 T1 1:24 B 30:49 T2 1:24 R2 10:26 * F35-39
5. Katie Cullingford (Jacksonville FL) 54:33 R1 9:57 T1 1:25 B 31:40 T2 1:15 R2 10:17 * F20-24

Age Group Winners

Women

F15-19 Cassidy Hickey (Parker CO) 53:37
F20-24 Gina Sereno (Madison WI) 53:05
F25-29 Stephanie Knast (Philadelphia PA) 53:50
F30-34 Desiree Terella (Fairview PA) 55:38
F35-39 Kirsten Sass (McKenzie TN) 54:10
F40-44 Ginger Reiner (Lincoln MA) 55:21
F45-49 Celia Dubey (Tarpon Springs FL) 57:28
F50-54 Stephanie Popelar (Elizabeth CO) 56:49
F55-59 Kelly Dippold (Olathe KS) 59:08
F60-64 Carol Gephart (Hamilton MI) 1:03:24
F65-69 Carol Hassell (West Palm Beach FL) 1:06:17
F70-74 Kathy Calabretta (Ludington MI) 1:10:59
F75-79 Lois Leon (Miami FL) 1:22:40
F80-84 Sharon Roggenbuck (Hillsborough NC) 1:34:16
F85-89 Madonna Buder (Spokane WA) 1:48:06


Men

M15-19 Andrew Shellenberger (Indianapolis IN) 46:54
M20-24 Justin Lippert (Middletown NJ) 46:50
M25-29 Todd Buckingham (Big Rapids MI) 47:30
M30-34 Andrew Hall (Holladay UT) 49:57
M35-39 Adam Webber (Denver PA) 48:44
M40-44 Jonathan Mason (Fort Collins CO) 51:07
M45-49 Vachee Loughran (Glenview IL) 49:54
M50-54 Robert Skaggs (Solana Beach CA) 51:02
M55-59 Clint Dowd (Goffstown NH) 53:00
M60-64 Ron Gierut (Cedar Rapids IA) 54:30
M65-69 Gregory Pautsch (Hayward WI) 58:50
M70-74 Terry Habecker (Ithaca NY) 1:03:37
M75-79 Kent Blair (Corrales NM) 1:06:09
M80-84 Donald Ardell (Gulfport FL) 1:17:37
M85+ Wayne Fong (Chatsworth CA) 1:58:09