April 25, 2008 09:10 am
—
Staff Report
Former Cooperstown resident
Sarah Groff placed third overall
and second among American women
at the 2008 U.S Olympic Team
Trials Triathlon last Saturday in
Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Groff’s time was two hours, two
minutes and 59 seconds, while Sarah
Haskins was the top American
finisher with a time of two hours,
two minutes and 59 seconds.
Haskins earned a spot on the Olympic
team by being the first American
woman to cross the finish line.
Groff’s father, Dr. Gerald Groff
of Cooperstown, and 11 other family
members made the trip to Alabama
to watch Sarah race.
``It was pretty intense,’’ he said.
``Sarah had the best race of her career,
and I’ve never seen her so fit
and determined. She was happy
with her performance, but she
wanted to win.’’
Twelve American women competed
in the race, which was the
second of three qualifying races. In
the first two qualifying races, Sarah
has already accumulated enough
points to finish fourth overall and
at the very least will be an alternate
and travel with the team to
Beijing this summer.
``She has to finish first among
all the American women in Iowa to
earn one of the three places on the
American team,’’ Gerald Groff said.
``That’s her goal, to make the
team.’’
Groff is one of 22 U.S. athletes,
and 12 American women, who have
qualified to compete in the 2008
U.S. Olympic Team Trials Triathlon.
USA Triathlon requires athletes
be ranked in the top 125 in the
world the week before the Olympic
trials in order to compete, and
Groff is currently ranked 120th
worldwide.
Groff is originally from Cooperstown,
and trains in Colorado. She
turned professional in 2004.
After attending Cooperstown
through middle school, she left for
a private school, Deerfield Academy,
for her high school years,
where she was a standout runner
and swimmer, earning All-New
England honors in both sports.
After living in Valencia, Spain
for a year after high school, Groff,
now 24, attended Middlebury College,
a small liberal arts college in
Vermont. While at Middlebury,
Groff was a member of the swim
team and competed in middle distance
and distance freestyle events.
Groff was named to the All-NESCAC
and All-American teams for
her successes.
Groff said qualifying for the
Olympics is her main goal, but developing
into the best triathlete
she can be is even more important.
The first Olympic triathlon selection
event was held at the ITU
Beijing World Cup last September,
with Laura Bennett and Jarrod
Shoemaker qualifying. The final
event will be held in Des Moines,
Iowa at the Hy-Vee Triathlon on
June 22. The last male and female
athlete will be selected after that
race based on a points system that
calculates the best two of three races.
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