Brittany Braden, a former Dos Pueblos High cross country and track standout, won top honors in two divisions at the Avia Wildflower Triathlons Festival last weekend at Lake San Antonio in Monterey County.
Braden took first place in the women’s division in the Olympic Distance race and captured the Collegiate Division for women. She also led the Cal Poly Triathlon Club to first place in the college team competition.
Braden covered the 1.2-kilometer swim, 40k bike and 10k run in 2 hours, 25 minutes, 24 seconds, improving on her time from last year by 12 minutes. She was ranked 356 coming out of the swim (26 minutes, 28 seconds), but made up a lot of ground with a strong bike leg. She averaged 20.50 mph and hit the transition area for the run in 1:12.31. Her run time was 43:16.
She beat out Erika Erickson of Berkeley for the Olympic Distance and collegiate titles by four seconds.
Santa Barbaran Kristy Schmidt finished first in her class (ages 40-44) and seventh overall in the Mountain Bike Division — .25-mile swim, 9.7-bike bike, 2-mile run. Her time was 1:08.24.
Patty Bryant took second in the women’s 50-54 class with a time of 5:55.16. The other women competitors for the local team were Cindy Braden, Brittany’s mother (6:22.34), and Gina Fennell (6:33.06).The Santa Barbara Triathlon Club entered teams in the Long Course and Olympic Distance events. The long-course team placed fifth. Kyle Visin posted the fastest time over the 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike and 13.1-mile run at 4:43.17. That was good for fifth in the 25-29 age group.
Joshua Schultz (5:18.30) and Peter Neilson (5:47.25) rounded out the men’s long course trio.
Santa Barbara took 14th in the team competition at the Olympic Distance. Barbarah Igreja finished first in the 20-24 age bracket with a time of 2:39.28. Her teammates were Kirstin Candy (3:14.03) and Whitney Bruice (5:22.34).
John Nelson led the men’s group from the SBTC with a time of 2:34.50, the second fastest time in the 55-59 class. Matt Klonowski (2:41.39) and John Herzog (2:41.58) rounded out the team.
Santa Barbara placed eighth in the overall team standings.
Two San Marcos High students finished in the top 10 in the men’s 17-19 division in the Olympic Distance race. Sean Sullivan placed seventh in 2:44.37 and Konnor Plymire came in ninth in 2:48.08. Both triathletes are 17.
