Incredible comeback lifts BC to gold in mixed triathlon relay
In their last competition of the 2015 Western Canada Summer Games Team BC grabbed their fifth medal as the mixed relay group brought in gold after an incredible come back out at Anzac, Alta. The four competing provinces, which included Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan, each raced, in sprint format, two men and two women in alternation beginning with a female racer.
BC began the race with Desirae Ridenour (Cowichan Bay) who, despite having a tight swim with leaders Manitoba and Alberta, struggled through her first transition. That delay set her back almost 40 seconds throughout the ride. Teammate Brennen Smith (Victoria) was the second racer for BC and with a strong swim and bike helped close some of the gap. Both Ridenour and Smith had the tough task of racing along the individual champions Manitoba’s Kyla Roy, for the women, and Alberta’s Cooper Bentley, for the men.
Hannah Henry (Victoria) was the third competitor for BC and the 15-year-old gutted out an incredible swim to shave off a huge gap between then second-place Alberta. Henry entered the bike portion even with Alberta and then, much to her strength, opened up a gap on the run. Henry built up a nice cushion for second place on her run but Manitoba’s Payton Ryz was well out of site ahead.
In the final leg 17-year-old Michael Milic (Delta) had an incredible race. The stand out biker and runner was exceptional in closing the distance to the leader, Darian Hole, of Manitoba. Although a few seconds behind Hole in the second transition, it was Milic who broke into the run first with a seven-second gap.
Milic powered up the last hill and gained serious time on the downhill entering the finish line where he crossed for a team time of 1:24:40 to take gold. Hole crossed in 1:25.01 as Manitoba took silver and Alberta took bronze in 1:26.23.
Triathlon concludes the Games with two gold (men’s relay, mixed relay), two silver (individual men’s race for Milic, women’s relay) and one bronze (individual women for Ridenour).