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Sass, who won the women's 35-39 age group category both days, also earned her first-ever Olympic distance overall title Saturday.
“I wasn’t really sure how close I was to the overall, but my dad was out there saying, ‘Every second counts!’” said Sass, who was also the 2016 USA Triathlon overall sprint-distance champion. “I wasn’t expecting the rain, so that’s where the mental aspect comes in, just finding your own zone, enjoying the day and seeing all the amazing athletes that are out there.”
Kearci Smith of Plano, Texas, racing in the female 25-29 wave, took the second overall women’s sprint title. Smith, who started on an earlier wave than Sass, was the first woman to cross the finish line. But after the timers examined the elapsed times, Sass beat her younger rival.
Sass finished in 1:06:50, 34 seconds ahead of overall runner-up Smith, and 43 seconds ahead of women’s 3rd place overall finisher Ali Brauer of Boulder, Colorado.
“I swam and ran [at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon], and when I went to grad school at the University of Colorado I was looking for a team to join,” Brauer told USA Triathlon media. “Being a swimmer and a runner, I thought I might as well try biking. I’ve done more this year than I ever thought I would be able to.”
Pearson was the breakout star, winning a national championship in his debut triathlon.
An NCAA Division 1 track star at the University of Colorado and a professional road runner with a 5k PR under 14 minutes, Pearson was introduced to the sport through the USA Triathlon College Recruitment Program. Pearson opened with a strong 10:00 swim, then followed with decent 30:57 split for the 20-kilometer bike leg. Pearson then put the race away with a world-class 14:15 split for the 5k run – a time which was 1:44 faster than his closest rival.
Pearson finished in 58:08 with a 1:48 margin of victory over overall runner-up Kevin Denny of Lee’s Summit Missouri [M25-29] and 2:01 ahead of 3rd place overall finisher Evan Culbert of Johnston, Iowa [M20-24].
“I didn’t know how the bike would go, but I knew my run would be pretty quick, and I had one of the faster swims,” Pearson told USA Triathlon media. “I came here yesterday to watch, and there were lots of people. There were fewer today because of the weather, but overall it seems like people are pretty stoked about this event, so that makes it fun.”
The top six finishers in each age group and gender earned the opportunity to represent Team USA next year in the draft-legal ITU Age Group Triathlon Sprint World Championships, which will be held in Gold Coast, Australia.
Athletes will have one additional opportunity to qualify for the sprint-distance world championships at the Age Group Draft-Legal World Qualifier on October 7 in Sarasota, Florida.
“I wasn’t really sure how close I was to the overall, but my dad was out there saying, ‘Every second counts!’” said Sass, who was also the 2016 USA Triathlon overall sprint-distance champion. “I wasn’t expecting the rain, so that’s where the mental aspect comes in, just finding your own zone, enjoying the day and seeing all the amazing athletes that are out there.”
Kearci Smith of Plano, Texas, racing in the female 25-29 wave, took the second overall women’s sprint title. Smith, who started on an earlier wave than Sass, was the first woman to cross the finish line. But after the timers examined the elapsed times, Sass beat her younger rival.
Sass finished in 1:06:50, 34 seconds ahead of overall runner-up Smith, and 43 seconds ahead of women’s 3rd place overall finisher Ali Brauer of Boulder, Colorado.
“I swam and ran [at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon], and when I went to grad school at the University of Colorado I was looking for a team to join,” Brauer told USA Triathlon media. “Being a swimmer and a runner, I thought I might as well try biking. I’ve done more this year than I ever thought I would be able to.”
Pearson was the breakout star, winning a national championship in his debut triathlon.
An NCAA Division 1 track star at the University of Colorado and a professional road runner with a 5k PR under 14 minutes, Pearson was introduced to the sport through the USA Triathlon College Recruitment Program. Pearson opened with a strong 10:00 swim, then followed with decent 30:57 split for the 20-kilometer bike leg. Pearson then put the race away with a world-class 14:15 split for the 5k run – a time which was 1:44 faster than his closest rival.
Pearson finished in 58:08 with a 1:48 margin of victory over overall runner-up Kevin Denny of Lee’s Summit Missouri [M25-29] and 2:01 ahead of 3rd place overall finisher Evan Culbert of Johnston, Iowa [M20-24].
“I didn’t know how the bike would go, but I knew my run would be pretty quick, and I had one of the faster swims,” Pearson told USA Triathlon media. “I came here yesterday to watch, and there were lots of people. There were fewer today because of the weather, but overall it seems like people are pretty stoked about this event, so that makes it fun.”
The top six finishers in each age group and gender earned the opportunity to represent Team USA next year in the draft-legal ITU Age Group Triathlon Sprint World Championships, which will be held in Gold Coast, Australia.
Athletes will have one additional opportunity to qualify for the sprint-distance world championships at the Age Group Draft-Legal World Qualifier on October 7 in Sarasota, Florida.
