Season Awards and Overall Podiums
Our fall season has come to an end, and it is time to recognize our top performers! First we will look at our podiums and then go into season awards.
Overall Team
1. West Point
2. UConn
3. Boston University
Male Team
1. West Point
2. UConn
3. US Coast Guard
Female Team
1. Boston University
2. West Point
3. Drexel
Male Individual
1. Jacob Slife
2. Spencer Ralston
3. Andrew Keenan
Female Individual
1. Ellen Witkowski
2. Stepanie Lie
3. Meghan Smith
And now for our first annual season awards...
2015 NECTC Most Improved Triathlete of the Year
Christopher Mulhall of the University of Connecticut
Mulhall was the top performer for the Huskies this season. Last year Chris finished as the 16th overall male in the conference, and this year moved up to 5th overall. His 148 points in the conference championship allowed his team to edge out both Harvard and Drexel to secure 2nd overall male team in the conference this season.
Lindsey Wilcox of Boston University
Wilcox made one of the biggest (if not the biggest) jump of all the females this season. In Lindsey’s three races last year she accumulated 88 points and finished as the 52nd overall female in the conference. This year Lindsey made a tremendous jump ending with 348 points and finishing 11th overall in the conference; an improvement of 41 places!
2015 NECTC Rookie Triathlete of the Year
Spencer Ralston of Saint Michael’s
Ralston lurched onto the scene with an overall victory at the first race of the season, and never went away. He followed that race up with a podium finish at Lake George and a 4th place finish at the conference championship to secure 2nd overall in the conference in. Spencer did all this in his first year competing in the conference as a sophomore.
Meghan Smith of Drexel University
Smith is a freshman at Drexel University, but you wouldn’t know it based on her performances this year. Smith sprung out of the gate finishing 2nd overall at Cranberry and followed it up with a podium at Lake George and 4th at the conference championship. Next year Smith is a true title contender.
2015 NECTC Swimmer of the Year
Frederick Garneau of Wheaton College
Garneau is undoubtedly the best swimmer in the conference, coming first out of the water in our conference championship in a blazing time of 17:52. He was one of only two men to break the 18 minute barrier in a race this season.
Madison Jones of West Point
Madison is the only female to break the 20 minute barrier this season at a full Olympic distance swim. She finished the swim at Westchester in 19:31, coming out of the water more than 30 seconds ahead of her next competitor.
2015 NECTC Cyclist of the Year
Mike Meehan of Penn State
Meehan only competed in one race this season, but he performed exactly as expected. In our conference championship, after coming 8th out of the water, Meehan put all doubt of victory aside with a 1:02:37 bike split on a challenging Westchester race course. This was good enough to beat the next competitor’s bike split by over 4 minutes!
Cat Sedy of West Point
Sedy was dominate on the bike this year. After posting the fastest bike split in the sprint distance at Cranberry, she went on to post the second fastest bike split at the Olympic distance in Lake George, showing her true versatility. Sedy has also brought her bike speed to the 70.3 distance in out of conference races such as 70.3 worlds this past month.
2015 NECTC Runner of the Year
Nicholas Chatel of West Point
Chatel posted the fastest run splits at Lake George and the conference championship. His 10K run at the conference championship was 31:46 for a 5:06 mile pace, enough to pull him to a 5th place finish.
MacKenzie Williams of West Point
Williams ran the fastest 5k of the season in 19:42 at Buzzard’s Bay, and showed her versatility by finishing with the second fastest run split of 40:22 in the 10K at the conference championship. William’s running helped her finish 4th overall in the season standings.
2015 NECTC Triathlete of the Year
Jacob Slife of West Point
Slife was the overall male champion this season, and finished on the podium at every race he did this year, including an overall victory at Buzzard’s Bay. With a podium finish at the conference championship, Slife was able to solidify his champion status by 7 points. His ability to finish near the top in each sport makes him the ultimate triple threat for his competitors.
Ellen Witkowski of Boston University
Witkowski took the overall season victory by 28 points over her BU teammate. A second place overall finish at Challenge Maine followed by a top 5 at Lake George and a 6th place finish at the conference championship. After finishing 6th place in the conference last season, Witkowski made the jump to first in only one year.
