Pratt Badve made his first triathlon a winning one, Michael Reed went from nearly last to first and Ainsley Sherlock and Karissa Bevis continued their winning ways in the Columbus Youth Triathlon.
Badve, 13, who will be eighth-grader at Northside Middle School, was the overall 11-to-14-year-old boys winner Saturday evening at Donner Park. That age division swam 200 meters, biked four miles and ran one mile.
“I was going in without any expectations and hoping to do good,” Badve said. “It was a surprise, but not a really big one. I knew I had the capabilities to win, but I didn’t know if there were any people faster than me.”
Badve finished in 23 minutes, 23 seconds. Daniel Utterback, who won the 11-14 boys division in both of last year’s youth triathlons, finished a close second in 23:35, while Grant Smith was third in 24:13.
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Reed, who will be a fourth-grader at Southside Elementary, thinks he finished about next-to-last in one of last year’s youth triathlons. He said he’s been practicing swimming, biking and running and did “100 percent better” on Saturday.
Reed won the 6-to-10 boys division in 17:05, while Lukas McNeely took second in 17:13 and Gabe Howe was third in 17:33. That age division swam 100 meters, biked two miles and ran a half-mile.
Bevis, 13, who will be an eighth-grader at Central Middle School, also is a multiple youth triathlon champion. She won the 11-14 girls division in 25:51.
“My run was kind of the ‘eh’ side, but I think my swimming and biking was really good,” Bevis said. “I’ve always loved to do this, and I knew I was going to do good, but I didn’t know I’d get first. But I knew it was going to be fun.”
Sherlock, 10, who will be a fifth-grader at St. Peter’s Lutheran, won the 6-10 girls division in 15:04, her fourth Columbus Youth Triathlon victory. Emma Small finished second in 15:15, and Connelly Furnish was third in 17:18.
“It was very hot, so I didn’t feel as great, but I had a lot of competition with the older kids,” Sherlock said. “I felt like I was doing pretty good because I didn’t see any other (younger) kids around me.”
Boys age-group winners included Carter Howell (13-14), Evan Bense (11-12), Lukas McNeely (9-10) and Joshua Pendleton (7-8). Girls age-group winners were Cassidy Furnish (9-10) and Nandina Kondhare (7-8).
Saturday’s youth triathlon was a makeup for the one that was rained out on June 9. A second youth triathlon of the year will be on Aug. 11, also at Donner Park.
