i don’t know how this kid has fallen through the slowtwitch cracks. only snackchair has ever really mentioned him here.
he was 3rd at junior worlds, fastest run of the day, 3rd in last year’s foot locker nationals behind verzbicas’ win, and an 8:57 3200m runner as a junior. he’s ranked by milesplit as the #3 returning boy xc runner in the country. a ranking he seems well on the way to earning based on his beijing performance.
bravo tony.
there’s more of these talents, untapped. here’s a freebie for you, usat. freshman stephanie bulder, just arrived at arizona.
national caliber track times of 4:47 1600m, 10:30 3200m, and a 3-sport letterman at saugus hs. the other sport in which she lettered in? you guessed it
Now USAT needs to make sure to keep him in the system. I really like how you’ve introduced some college scholarships for triathletes. The ITU desperatly needs some world class (and by that I mean regular challengers for the win at WCS races) ITU athletes. The ITU is too european orientated right now
It’s even more surprising considering he’s from a true hot bed of Triathlon…South Dakota.
Yeah, didn’t you know South Dakota is the new tri Mecca? Home to a top notch powermeter company and now world class tri talent.
In all seriousness Tony is a great kid and super talented. We’ve had the pleasure of knowing him for a few years and have enjoyed working with him on the bike. He’s still in high school so we expect to see great things from him over the next few years.
Congrats Tony on your success thus far! We are very proud to have you representing our company and the state of SD.
Not that I have a crystal ball… but i did bring mention him a few times when people say the US has no development in the jr ranks. I genuinely don’t believe that’s the case at all. Guys who finish 3rd at footlocker nationals are the same guys we watch competing for Olympic spots in the 5k/10k a few years later. The fact that he’s doing triathlon is astounding, same with LV. Frankly speaking, that’s probably a more prestigious result than 3rd at Jr Worlds. Another guy to watch for, but probably not for a few years as he’s off to run at Texas, is Daniel Vertiz. He’s run 9 flat for the 2 mile, a 4:15 mile, and was 3rd overall at Texas state xc champs. He also swam and ran faster than Tony at Jr Nats, but had a terrible bike split (thinking he must have crashed).
So again, that’s some pretty serious run talent involved in the sport, but the issue is more that it’s impossible for kids to turn down athletic scholarships… so they disappear for 4 years and lose valuable swim/run time. When guys stay involved with USAT in addition to running (Greg Billington), they end up having pretty good results.
USAT has a good thing going with the collegiate recruitment program though now as well. That’s where Gwen Jorgenson came from, as well as Kaleb Vanort (who outsplit everyone on the run in HyVee). Kaitlin Shiver (who I predicted would medal in the U23 race - oh so close!!!), is also part of the program and is a 4:20ish 1500m runner from Florida. Legit foot speed!
Check out the start lists for USAT Youth and Junior Elite Nationals where you will not likely find a state with a larger per capita participation in triathlon than South Dakota. Smoragiewicz and other SD youth and junior elite triathletes have performed well:
Tamara Gorman handily won each Youth Elite triathlon she entered and earned national championship titles in 2010 and 2011.
The 2011 Junior National Champion Relay Team was comprised of athletes from Rapid City, South Dakota - Tony Smoragiewicz and siblings Brian and Tamara Gorman.
Watch for Tamara to make her mark in 2012 when she moves up to the Junior Elite division. Gorman won South Dakota State High School XC Meet, as well as the 1600 and 3200 at the State Track Meet. She was unchallenged in these events as as a freshman. Her swimming accomplishments are equally if not more impressive. Expectations are that she will make repeat performances again this year.
South Dakota may just well be the next mecca for triathletes . . .
Jim and I just talked to the Smoragiewicz family last night. Tony’s mom recorded some nice footage of the junior’s race and posted it on youtube if anyone’s interested to see these kids in action:
You must have forgotten that USAT operates under a decentralized model. Just let everyone do their own thing and hope for the best. I can’t think of any other reason why the HP Director position is still unfilled and why the pages indicating that USAT is interested in hiring such a person have disappeared from both the USAT and ITU websites.
Best hope for these kids? Start their citizenship change applications now… I feel even worse for Barb Lindquist. She can do all the talent ID in the world, and then put them into a system with essentially zero infrastructure for long term development.
The “Elite Triathlon Academy” is a start at the centralized model. It will be interesting to see what comes of it, but the results won’t be evident in 2012.
Even more interesting is if the academy will be able to attract truly world class talent away from established and well-funded DI running programs.
Is there a “like” button here? I don’t understand why USAT has hesitated to hire a new HP Director. Especially with the new CEO that was supposed to turn things around at headquarters.
The Elite Triathlon Academy is a step towards a good model. But it does not help athletes that do not choose to go to UCCS or are outside college age.
