14-year-old takes first, Team Wolfpak takes third overall with
Gilroy’s Sosa taking fourth
By Cheeto Barrera
Morgan Hill – If Lance Wolfsmith was going to win the Park City Mossman Triathlon in Bridgeport, Conn., he was going to need to do well in an event that he admits is not his strongest: Swimming.
The young Morgan Hill racer fell behind by less than 15 seconds in the water, but made up for it on the bike and in the run to win by one-and-a-half minutes.
“I finally did it,” Wolfsmith said of his reaction when he crossed the finish line in first. “The whole year I had built up to this point. I had no idea that I would win by a minute and a half.”
Wolfsmith said he knew he could beat most of the field once he got out of the water, the question was what kind of gap would he need to make up.
When Wolfsmith emerged from the ocean water following the 400-meter swim, he was in third and 14 seconds behind the leaders. He hopped on his bike and quickly made up the distance and never looked back.
At the end of the 12.5-kilometer ride and 2.5-kilometer run, Wolfsmith was well ahead of his nearest competitor to take the national title for the 13-15-year-old division.
This is the second time that Wolfsmith had competed in the race, last year he took second.
Leading up to this year’s race, Wolfsmith’s father and coach Dave Wolfsmith insisted that he practice harder on the swimming portion.
Dave said he had pushed his son harder on the swimming to get him ready for the race, something he said that Lance was a little worried would impact the other two events.
“He’s developing a trust in me not just as his dad, but that I know what I am doing as a coach,” Dave said.
While there was an extra focus on swimming, Dave said he kept his son on a balanced regimen to prepare him for the triathlon, which Lance said was a little draining.
“I was so tired,” Lance said of his five hour per day workouts which included getting up in the early hours of the morning to acclimate him to the time zone shift.
But for as tired as he was, Lance said he was energized when he stepped up to the line.
“Before the race starts, they call up the top 10 ranked athletes to choose their starting spots,” Lance said. “They called me first as the No. 1 ranked athlete and that really pumped me up.”
Lance’s Wolfpak teammate Matt Sosa of Gilroy – who took fourth in the race – was ranked 10th and lined up next to him, something that Lance said got him even more “fired up.”
From there Lance took off into the shallow coastal waters for his swim. He initially got bogged down by a pack of racers, but quickly broke away to emerge in third.
Dave said he was excited when he saw his son emerge from the water with a small gap to make up, knowing his strength on the bike and in running. However, he added that in sports, anything can happen.
“It’s still a sport,” Dave said. “Just like a quarterback can roll an ankle, anything could happen. I knew if nothing drastic happened, like a blown tire, then he would have it.”
But there was no such mishaps.
Lance overtook the gap with what he said was his ability to make the transition from swimming to biking faster than the other two racers in front of him.
“I got into my shoes faster,” Lance said. “So when I passed them I was going 30 miles per hour and they were doing 10.”
Lance and Sosa were joined by Wolfpak teammates Rudy Schwartz of Palo Alto and Ford Merrick of Morgan Hill.
Lance’s first and Sosa’s fourth place finishes helped Team Wolfpak to a third-place finish, according to Dave Wolfsmith.
Schwartz took 18th and was followed by Merrick in 24th.
Next year, if Lance once again makes it to nationals, he would be competing for a chance to advance to the world championships in Germany. The top three finishers in the junior 16-19 category qualify.
Both Dave and Lance said their goal is to be on a flight to Germany next year.
But in the nearer future, Lance is looking no further than California when he competes in cross country for Sobrato High School.
As a freshman last year, Lance qualified for the state meet, but had to drop out because of a severely sprained ankle.
Lance hopes to draw on his experience in the triathlon competitions to propel him to once again qualify for the state meet as a sophomore.
“I think I can handle the pressure,” Lance said. “At nationals, you are going up against some of the top competitors.
