"Newbie" is an often-used term for people who are new to the sport of triathlon, which tends to favor those more experienced with balancing the disciplines of swimming, biking and running.
But you wouldn't know that from the results of the third sprint triathlon in the 19th annual Charleston Sprint Triathlon Series, held Sunday at James Island County Park.
John Krzyzaniak of Roswell, Ga., and Lauren Goss of Mount Pleasant — two rising college seniors with eerily similar backgrounds — won the open-elite division of the race with respective times of 57 minutes, 38 seconds and 1 hour, 5 minutes and 20 seconds. The course includes a 600-yard swim, 12.7-mile bike and 3.1-mile run.
Both Krzyzaniak and Goss started doing triathlons this season. Sunday was Krzyzaniak's second and Goss' third. Both swam competitively in high school (Goss at Wando), but don't compete on the collegiate level in any sport. And both have more going for them than natural cardiovascular engines.
Krzyzaniak is majoring in classical culture at the University of Georgia. Goss is studying biology at Clemson and plans to apply to schools to be a physician's assistant later this fall.
And finally both have plans to make triathlon part of their future as well, though Goss stresses "not on the professional level."
For now, her next triathlon goal is the first Ironman Augusta 70.3 (half Ironman distance) and may go for the Charleston Sprint Triathlon Championship on Aug. 16, the Sunday before she returns to Clemson.
"I like it (doing triathlons) after it's over," said Goss. "While I'm doing it, it hurts. It's hard. But I feel a great sense of reward afterwards."
Other top finishes Sunday included masters winners (age 40 and up) Robert Teachman and Caroline Sinkler with times of 1:02:38 and 1:11:57, respectively.
Meanwhile, Sunday's race featured an altered bike course, which eliminated the danger of cyclists mixing with runners in the transition area later in the race. The change, however, dropped the bike distance from 13 to 12.7 miles, a difference that assistant race director Kathleen King seemed to account for times that were generally 30 to 45 seconds faster than previous races.
The change included adding a loop, Osprey Point road, that made the course a tad more technical. At least one cyclist crashed after miscalculating the turn onto Osprey. Despite suffering road rash, he got back on his bike and kept riding.
The triathlon featured an unofficial finisher count of 340, the first time this summer that the series did not break a finisher record. The race on July 12 had 367 finishers.
Results
OPEN/ELITE: Males — John Krzyzaniak 57:38, Adam Martin 57:48, David Burley 58:02, Brian Fancher 58:06, Adam Pomerantz 58:13. Females — Lauren Goss 1:05:20, Bridget Campbell 1:05:44, Molly Hughes Cherry 1:07:42. MASTERS: Male — Robert Teachman 1:02:38. Female — Caroline Sinkler 1:11:57. CLYDESDALE — Brian Harpring 1:11:02. ATHENA — Elizabeth Tree 1:21:45. AGE GROUPS (top male and female only): 15-under — Chris Sherman 1:19:01. Alexa Golbus 1:23:22. 16-19 — Thomas Pittman 1:06:00. Leanne Thompson 1:25:52. 20-24 — David Johannesmeyer 1:02:06. Eileen Sullivan 1:15:01. 25-29 — Stephen Sprinkle 1:01:09. Jamie Touchberry 1:12:11. 30-34 — Matthew Taylor 1:05:04. Rives Poe 1:08:06. 35-39 — Dirk Dewitt 1:03:10. Jennifer Jones 1:12:23. 40-44 — Kenton Lowry 1:05:54. Jane West 1:13:46. 45-49 — Randy Thompson 1:04:05. Dicksie Johnson 1:17:08. 50-54 — Steve Stubbs 1:05:15. Jodi Joye 1:14:39. 55-59 — Kenneth Hangar 1:12:15. Susan Radley 1:25:20. 60-64 — Rick Widman 1:12:45. Anne Boone 1:23:50. 65-69 — Keith Douglass 1:23:14. Elizabeth Robinson 1:29:39. 70-74 — Donald Blanchard 1:32:35. No female. 75-79 — William Boulter 1:26:24. No female.
See complete results on www.charlestontriathlonclub.com.