Rudy von Berg Repeats as
USA Triathlon Collegiate National Champion!
First and Only Two-Time Champion
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A very big thank you to everyone that contributed to an awesome weekend: the CU coaches, CU teammates, great competition, USAT, and to my all-time number one supporters, my parents and siblings.
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It is raining this Saturday morning in Clemson, SC where 1300 college triathletes are at the start of the Collegiate National Championship.
Rudy von Berg, the title holder and a Junior at the University of Colorado at Boulder, tells it as he lived it: "Bad weather, grey sky, rainy, 68 degrees water. I have a very good start and settle into a nice rhythm in my new HUUB Archimedes which is really great-feels real fast. 4th out of the lake, 35" from 1st super swimmer Greg Harper and 25" from 2nd.I rapidly catch leader William Jones on the bike along with Off the Front Multisport teammate Tyler Rodgers. All 3 of us stay together during the 3 laps of the 25 mile hilly course under a heavy rain, with a strong Tyler Rodgers most of the time up front. Behind, a group containing Jason West and Mike Meehan wasn't loosing any time.
We enter T2 with a 50sec lead. I immediately take the lead on the run but I know that Jason West who is a great runner is close behind. The 10km course is 4 laps out and back, so I can see that Jason is catching up fast. He will join me at half-way. At first, I felt a bit pessimistic on my chances of victory because usually the runner coming from behind prevails. Also, I know that West won Friday's Sprint draft-legal race thanks to a 5km run in a smasher 14'38. However, I hang on and stay with him for the next 3 miles at a pretty fast pace. At about 1/4 mile from the finish, a guy on the side of the road shouts "Go for it Rudy"-no joke-so I went.I thought "do as Mark Allen did against Dave Scott in that famous Kona finish." I went all out. Jason stayed within 2-4 meters for about 300 meters, then started to drop inexorably hitting a little uphill. I crossed the finish with a 7sec lead. I was really ecstatic because frankly when he caught me, I thought I was racing for 2nd place. But, finally I refused to not win, for after my 2014 victory there was only one option: to repeat as Champion and hold my title. Wahooooo!!As icing on the cake, our CUTri Team won the Nationals Team title for the 6th consecutive time. On that same afternoon, we also won the Relay Mixed Super Sprint Competition ( 2 girls and 2 guys) where, starting last with a 35sec deficit, I managed to catch the Navy leader to win it on the run.
A very big thank you to everyone that has contributed to an awesome weekend, the CU coaches, CU teammates, great competition, USAT, and to my all-time number one supporters my parents and siblings.
In 4 days, I will be heading to Monterrey MEX for the ITU continental championships, qualifier for U23 Worlds.
Thank you everybody
Rudy
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Race Schedule & Results
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| Date | Race |
Finish
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Time
| | March 7 | Clermont Continental Cup
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20th
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57:36.5
| | March 13 | Sarasota Continental Cup
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13th
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55:34.9
| | April 25 | USAT Collegiate Nationals
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1st
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1:48:49
| | May 3 | Monterrey Pan-Am Cup
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| | June 6 | Dallas Continental Cup
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| | June 13 | Huatulco World Cup
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