Two weeks after the Oceania Junior champions were crowned in Taupo, the North American Junior titles were won in decisive fashion in Sarasota.
Jimena Renata De La Peña Schott took the win in the Junior women’s race.
Born in 2006, De La Peña has already made a small splash at the Senior level. In November, she finished 12th at the Viña del Mar World Cup. Her run stood out in Chile, in spite of her age, and it did so again in Sarasota.
She was towards the front of the swim and rode well to make sure she made the front group. Once the race turned to the third discipline, she really stamped her authority over the field.
De La Peña produced a blazing run split, 31 seconds faster than the next quickest athlete, to take the win.
In 2022, she finished 15th at the World Junior Championships in Montreal. After her performance in Sarasota, there is a very good chance she contends for the medals this year. Moreover, she has two Americas Cup medals at the Senior level to her name from 2022. While she has two more seasons left after this year in the Junior ranks, it might not be long before she steps up to the Senior level on a more regular basis.
Sidney Clement of Canada won silver. American Naomi Ruff finished third after earning second place at the same event last year.
Clement and Ruff were beside De La Peña for much of the swim and bike. However, they simply had no answer to her on the run.
Both executed mature races, though. Clement, notably, had the second fastest run split of the day, while Ruff had the fourth fastest split. With plenty of racing left this season, Clement and Ruff can each enter their upcoming races with expectations of further good results.
In the men’s race, Luke Anthony of the USA took the win in the men’s race in dominant fashion.
Anthony’s compatriot, Carter Stuhlmacher, was the man to lead out the swim. Even more eye-catching than his excellent tri-suit pattern was his split in the water; his 8:51 was a full 14 seconds quicker than the next best man.
Meanwhile, Anthony ceded 49 seconds to Stuhlmacher in the first discipline.
Leandre Binette of Canada managed to make the subsequent front group that formed around Stuhlmacher. However, a brilliant bike split from Sullivan Middaugh helped the chase pack to first stem the bleeding and then close the gap to the breakaway. Anthony was on the of the biggest beneficiaries from Middaugh’s turn as he too made up time.
Once the athletes were onto the run, though, Anthony was the only athlete in the conversation. His time of 15:46 over the 5km was 43 seconds better than the next fastest runner. In the end, he cruised to his title by a full 44 seconds.
With a 5000m PB of 14:50.69, Anthony’s speed should not have been a surprise. Indeed, his running style gave all the tell-tale signs of a technique honed on the track.
Binette came home in second place with the second fastest run of the day. Middaugh held on for third ahead of a charging Stuhlmacher.
Like De La Peña, Binette was born in 2006 so look for him to inflict some damage at the Junior level over the coming seasons.
The World Junior Championships take place in Hamburg in four months. After taking on the best North America had to offer this weekend, it will be fascinating to see how the likes of Anthony and De La Peña fare on the world stage.
