iCAN Junior Triathlon Club

 
iCAN Junior Triathlon Team sent eight members to West Des Moines, Iowa last Saturday to compete in the 2011 Hy-Vee IronKids National Championship and returned with four podium finishers.
 
Unseasonably cold-water temperatures (nearing 60 degrees) forced the cancellation of the swim portion of the triathlon, turning the race in to a run-bike-run format.
 
Ten-year old Chloe Waldner earned her second consecutive IronKids National Title in her division. Waldner has now earned five national titles in the past three years (3 USA Triathlon and 2 IronKids). 
 
Jordan Ruffino, competing in the 13-year-old male category,  finished 4th. 
Both Connor Tabatabai (14) and Jared Eytcheson (12) finished fifth in their age category.
 
Ashley Vitale (10) and Joey Turner (10) finished 13th and 25th in their respective age divisions.  Cole Fleming finished 40th in the 11-year-old male division and Even Fleming finished 26th in the seven-year-old male division. 

The event was the culmination of 23 different IronKids races held across the United States.  The top five athletes within each age category from those 23 races earned automatic qualifying places to the National Championship, making the championship race  the biggest representation of the best youth triathletes in the nation.

Over 1,000 youth participated in the event.

 
The results originally provided to USA Triathlon by the event’s timer were incorrect, and the organization worked as quickly as possible to determine the accurate results, which are listed below. 
 
2011 USA Triathlon Youth Club National Championship Results
1. iCAN Junior Triathlon Club, 66 points
2. V3 Youth Triathlon Team, 58
3. Multisport Madness Kids Triathlon Team, 50
3. WickedFast Triathlon Team, 50
5. Phenomena Triz, 42
6. Z3 Junior Elite Triathlon Club, 30
6. The Woodlands Triathlon Team (SelecTri), 30
8. Southeast Junior High Performance Team, 22
9. LBYC - Killer Bees Tri, 14
9. Multisport Explosion Youth Triathlon Team, 14
11. Tri4Him, 13
11. Born to Tri, 13
13. T3 Multisports, 12
14. Kids That Tri, 11
14. Jr. Hammerheads, 11
16. West Hollywood Gators Triathlon Team, 8
17. Triathlon Club of San Diego, 7
18. AAA Tri Team, 719. LA Tri Club, 5
20. California Triathlon, 2
 

 
iCAN Junior Triathlon Club, in collaboration with Break the Barriers, began a program to introduce the sport of triathlon to at-risk, under-privileged youth at the Mary Ella Brown Community Center in West Fresno.
 
The club gave every participant an annual club membership followed by the opportunity to learn basic skills in swimming, cycling and running for five weeks this summer. Donated swim goggles, bike helmets and bikes allowed youth in the area to share in the same experience as those club members currently participating in North Fresno. iCAN Junior Triathlon coaches and a few current youth members lent their time to offer instruction and encouragement.
 
Mary Ella Brown Center is a safe place for youth to participate in a variety of educational and athletic activities on the West-side of Fresno. Many programs are offered at the center to keep youth off the streets.  United One Productions and Corner Stone Community Care partnered to reopen the community center last year. 
 
The club hopes to return next summer to continue the program and involve even more  youth in West Fresno who might not otherwise have the opportunity to be involved in a junior triathlon program.