Colorado's Cedric Wane places
second in the men's race
(Photo by USAT)

April 17, 2010 (Lubbock, TX) – The University of Colorado brought home the overall team crown at USA Triathlon’s Collegiate National Championship to claim its first overall title since winning three straight in 2003, 2004, and 2005.  The team was led by Cedric Wane and Jessica Broderick.  Wane finished second in the men’s race behind Cal Poly’s Chris Stehula while Broderick took the runner-up spot to Virginia’s Nicole Kelleher in the women’s race. 

Led by the runner-up finishes from Wane and Broderick, Colorado combined for 109 points to outdistance Army (166) and Navy (187) for the overall team win. Cal Poly was fourth (276), and Texas A&M was fifth (298) to round out the top five.

Colorado also finished first in the men’s team standings and second in the women’s team competition.  The U.S. Military Academy captured the women’s team crown.

“The program has really developed over the last year,” said Broderick.  

“We are so lucky to have Mike Ricci as our coach, and we have an incredible amount of respect for him.  He is a wonderful person and a wonderful coach. To see how far our team has come with him guiding us is amazing. With our work ethic and the ability for us all to push each other, I really think that in the years to come we’re going to be a big threat. We have so much young talent and we work so hard together.”

The CU men placed four finishers in the top 18 to bring home the men’s title with just 39 points. Cal Poly (104) and Army (104) rounded out the top three. Paced by Ashley Morgan’s fourth-place finish, Army won the women’s crown with 62 points to edge Colorado (70) and Navy (72).

“I think it’s great to see CU coming back into the mix because I know that we have the history of national championships, so it’s really exciting,” said Broderick. “I’m looking forward to next few years.”

Men’s race decided on the run

While the teams had to wait until Saturday night’s awards ceremony to learn their finish, there was no doubt about the individual champions. Stehula covered the course in 1:48:54, took advantage of quick transitions and overtook runner-up Cedric Wane of Colorado on the run en route to the title. Wane finished in 1:49:17, while Cal’s Ken Rakestraw rounded out the podium in third in 1:50:35.

Stehula, who had a potential top-10 finish wiped out a year ago due to penalty infractions, took full advantage of his opportunity this year. He trailed Wane by nearly 40 seconds after T2 but closed the gap just a mile and a half into the run. Wane held tough over the final four miles, but the veteran Stehula would not be denied his first national title.

“I’ve been thinking about this race since my disappointment last year—every day just like ‘I want to go win this; I want to go win this,’” said the 26-year-old Stehula.

“There was so much emotion during the race because I thought I’d lost it during the bike.  In the last mile and a half I’m like ‘I think I’ve got this.’ I kept turning around, and I was so excited coming across that finish line.”

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