Stone Doubles Up Overall Titles at 2023 USA Triathlon National Championships

MILWAUKEE- Cooler temperatures and a welcome cloud cover arrived on the final day of the 2023 USA Triathlon National Championships in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Racing kicked off at 7:00 am with our Men’s 20-29 age group competing for the Sprint Distance National Championships. Benjamin Stone, who won yesterday’s Olympic Distance Overall, added another Overall title to his weekend in Milwaukee finishing over a minute ahead of second place David Reynolds. On the women’s side, the Overall title was decided by less than one second with Nicole Heininger, who placed eighth in yesterday’s Olympic Distance race, edging out Eli Walz.

In the Age Group Categories, we saw seven back-to-back National Champions, including Kirsten Sass, Steph Popelar, David Reynolds, and Todd Buckingham, who also won their categories in the Olympic Distance. 

The afternoon shifted gears to focus on the future of our sport beginning with our Youth Age Group athletes followed by open races where we saw athletes as young as six years old racing along the parent-lined shores of Lake Michigan. 

Athlete Quotes:

Nicole Heininger, Madison, Wis.

Overall Female Sprint Distance National Champion 

On the win: "It feels really surreal. My strategy was to have fun today. I raced yesterday, so I was just going to have fun today. I enjoyed the sprint distance and the fact that it was just go all out and see what happens.”

On competing at Nationals: "This has been a super fun weekend. I'm super glad I came out to Nationals this year for the first time. The spectator support with the pros being here was amazing. It was kind of hard to not want to take in all the action because it was so exciting with the pros here."

Benjamin Stone, Indianapolis, Ind.

Overall Male Sprint Distance National Champion 

On the win and strategy: "Really I was just hoping the run wasn't going to hurt too bad. My legs were really tired after yesterday and I knew there were going to be some fast runners. I just wanted to have a solid swim and a fast bike and see what I could do on the run. The bike was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be with the wind going up over on the bridge."

On winning both Olympic- and Sprint-distance National titles: "I'm really happy with the performance. To go back to back Saturday and Sunday was really nice. I'm really happy about it. I'm happy to join those two (Lippert and Guenter) and go back to back. It shows that you're more versatile than just one distance, that you can do both, you have a top end speed and more endurance."

2023 USA Triathlon Sprint-Distance National Championships (Complete Results)

Overall Female: Nicole Heininger 

Overall Male: Benjamin Stone

Masters Female: Kirsten Sass

Masters Male: Colin Cook

Grand Masters Female: Juliana Nievergelt

Grand Masters Male: William Kelly

Non-Binary: Sebastien Dejong

Athena 55 and over: Caroline Faure

Clydesdale 60 and over: Mike Savage

Athena 40-54: Adrienne Fyock

Clydesdale 40-54: Matthew Nichols

Athena 39 and under: Ingrid Lofgren

Clydesdale 39 and under: Brett Winkelman

F15-19: Ava Pfaff

M15-19: Issac Lamprecht

F20-24: Eli Walz

M20-24: Dave Reynolds

F25-29: Marissa Lovell

M25-29:  Benjamin Stone

F30-34: Madeleine Blain

M30-34: Todd Buckingham

F35-39: Nicole Heininger

M35-39: Brian Reynolds

F40-44: Kirsten Sass

M40-44: Collin Cook

F45-49: Jessica Holmes

M45-49: Jeffrey Fejfar

F50-54: Becky Paige

M50-54: Mike Sooder

F55-59: Steph Popelar

M55-59: Peter Valentyik

F60-64: Juliana Nievergelt

M60-64: William Kelly

F65-69: Donna Smyers

M65-69: Tony Schiller

F70-74: Carol Brown

M70-74: Jay Campbell

F75-79: Kathy Calabretta

M75-79: Steve Collins

F80-84: Sibyl Jacobson

M80-84: Robert Plant

M 85+: Kenneth Fleischacker