The 2012 USAT Youth National Championships were held at Voice of America Park in West Chester, OH on Sunday, August 12th.  Over 700 youth ages 7 to 15 competed in the event.  The race distances for the 7 to 10-year-old were 100 meter swim, 3K bike and a 1K run.  The 11 to 15-year-old competitors  completed a 200 meter swim, 10K bike and a 2K run.  Tri Guy Fitness had two athletes competing in the event.

13 yr old Erika Shellenberger led off the event in the 13 to 15 year old category with an outstanding race.  Erika finished 66th overall and 7th in the Girls 13-15 age group in a time of 34:36.  She swam 4:07, had at T1 of 1:39, her bike was 19:38 (19.0 mph), T2 of 0:34, and her run was 8:40 (6:58).  It was an outstanding race for Erika for her first time at a USAT National Championship event.  Erika was a 2010 National 3rd place finisher and a 2011 4th place finisher at the IronKids National Championships.

Drew Shellenberger turned in an excellent performance while competing in the 10 yr old boys division.  Drew covered the course in a time of 17:27.  His 1:40 swim time was the fastest of the day and it set the stage for an age group National Championship win for Drew.  His T1 of 1:26, bike of 9:49 (19.0), T2 of 0:33, and run of 4:01 (6:27) were good enough to place him 28 seconds ahead of the second place finisher in his division.  The 10 finishers in Drew’s division were separated by a little over 1 minute.  Drew was the 2010 IronKids 8 yr old National Champion and the 2011 IronKids 9 yr old second place finisher.

Tri Guy Fitness congratulates Erika and Drew on their AWESOME races and finishes at the 2012 USAT Nationals!!