Capone wins amateur title at Wildflower

Elite Racing Team’s Lauren Capone won the women’s amateur competition at the Wildflower Long Course Triathlon at Lake Nacimiento last Saturday.

This year marked the 30th anniversary of the Wildflower Triathlon. Wildflower is one of the most prestigious U.S. triathlons, and it draws an international field of competitors.

Capone completed the 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run in a time of 5:04:21 to claim the overall amateur women’s title.

“The focus for LC today was to stay in her pacing and effort zones, particularly with the heat and the hills on this course,” said Mateo Mercur, head coach of the Elite Racing Team as well as the UCSB Triathlon Team. “We wanted to use this race to set a baseline for the season. LC was very disciplined and very tough out there. She’s a phenomenal athlete.”

“Wildflower is a tough course.” said Lauren Capone. “We did a ‘toughness block’ with a lot of hills and a lot of race paced efforts in my training leading up to this race, and that made a huge difference. I never felt particularly fast out there, but I felt strong, and I was able to fight my way into the lead on the run and hold it to the finish line.”