Archive: Sports

70 athletes at all levels competed Saturday at the annual Lansing Family Triathlon.  The event is held each year to encourage Lansing families to stay fit together.  Contestants gathered Saturday at the Lansing High School pool to start the course, and the event ran through the morning.

"We're trying to encourage more people to participate, especially families," organizer audrey Hummel says.  "There were several groups of families that participated together.  That's really the spirit of the whole activity."

This year 70 people signed up.  Most participated in teams, where each team member takes one of the challenges in swimming biking or running.  13 total individuals competed in the beginning and advanced levels.


Hummel says that a few changes were made to encourage more people to participate.  The beginners level was opened up to people of any age.  In the past it was limited to children 12 and under.  The intermediate level is also fairly new.

"We added an intermediate level because the jump from beginner to advanced is quite a bit.  when we had it by age some of the kids didn't think they could make the jump to the advanced level when they were 12.  We don't have a lot of people in that level, but we offer it to the kids who want it."

The Beginner course included a 100 yard swim, five mile bike ride, and a one mile run.  Best scores belonged to individual contestant Nick parkes, who finished in 29.26, and the J-L-G team of Jack Yahn, Luke Winslow, and Garrett Bell, finishing in 28.48.

At the Intermediate  level athletes completed a 200 yard swim, eight mile bike ride, and a mile and a half run.  The AAT team finished first at 47.17.  The team included Allia Ruparelia, Andy parkes, and Tyler Winslow.

Mariano Garcia, Kim Sweeney, and ThomasTowner, the Lansing fire department team, finished first in the Advanced level at 1.06.0.  That course included a  400 yard swim, 13 mile bike ride, and a three mile run.  Benji Parkes was first individual competitor to finsh at 1.07.54.


This was Hummel's first year organizing the event.  She took over this year after Lisa LaVigne retired last year.

"I like that when somebody comes on the field to end their run everybody is cheering for them," she says.  "Other kids go out and run with their friends to help them finish.  It's a non-competitive scenario.  There's a camaraderie, and we're all cheering each other on."

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