The Norse triathlon program has already taken huge leaps in its first season in program history, whether it was the consistent great finishes by the athletes or earning a spot in the collegiate triathlon nationals.
Head Coach Brooks Doughtie talked about the opportunity to reach such a large stage in the first year while he was on the “Beyond The Score” podcast.
“It’s a venue I’ve been to 15 times, so I’m excited I can give some insight into the dynamics we can expect to have,” Doughtie said. “It’s like I told the team this week, let’s be defined by how we prepare for the race and not always just the race result because if we prepare correctly the race result will take care of itself.”
The preparation was evident in the performance of invitees Alisha Detmer and Josie Timmers.
The swim on Friday saw Detmer finish the 750m swim in 12:59 and Timmers finish the same swim in 13:51. This finished with Detmer sitting in 29th place and Timmers in 45th place.
Detmer took off well in the run and was able to quickly get into the 2nd main chase pack. Timmers was able to find the path into T1 despite starting 50 seconds after Detmer.
Detmer’s 2nd chase pack settled into a nice steady spot in the second and third lap and had a gap of 1:45 to the front. Timmers worked with some different athletes during the bike course and was just about 5:05 behind the leaders into T2.
Coming into T2, Detmer had about 1:50 of a gap to the leaders, but she shook it off and ran into the top five within the first half mile of the 5km, 2 lap run course. Detmer put a surge on around the end of lap 1 to snatch the lead.
That would be the last change, as Detmer took heat three with a 1:15 advantage. Timmers had a great performance as well, as the steady run put her 44th in the third wave.
This season will be one that Coach Doughtie will forever treasure due to the “firsts” that the team was able to experience all together.
“It’s really cool to be the first at a program and to set the standard and set the stage of what we want to build and what we want to do to represent NKU.” said Doughtie.