2009 US Marathon Team Trials Recap

On May 9th and 10th the Lanier Canoe and Kayak Club hosted the 2009 US Marathon Team Trials. This race selected the top two boats in each event as members of the team to represent the US at the 2009 ICF Marathon Canoe/Kayak World Championships in Crestuma Portugal.

Lanier Canoe and Kayak Club’s emphasis on marathon has been growing over the past few years and is evidenced by improvements to this year’s event including an improved beach portage site and complete webcasting of the event.
 
The marathon racecourse was designed in accordance with the more visible and spectator friendly format recently established by the ICF.  The venue utilized 1000 meters of the Olympic Legacy Sprint racecourse as well as the finish tower in the series of 4.3 km laps of varying repetitions based on class.

Saturday played host to the solo events including Master’s, Juniors, Women’s and Men’s Senior races. The day’s racing began with the Master’s event, which is growing in popularity and in depth of field. This was one of the more hotly contested events with athletes from across the country competing against athletes of similar age. Saturday’s racing continued with the Junior events. Many of the Juniors in the event were locals but that didn’t mean they had a course advantage. While the Junior race began with a few of the local LCKC paddlers taking the lead, it was 2008 US Team Member Austin Schwinn who took top honors by passing the lead paddlers in the final stretch of the 22 kilometer race. Schwinn qualified for the 2009 US Team along with LCKC paddler Tanner Easterday.

The Men’s Senior event was the largest start of the day. The field was stacked with past and present US Team members and within the first two kilometers it was clear that it would be a race between four of the most experienced paddlers. This pack of four paddlers included Reid Hyle of Florida, Jason Quagliata of New York, John DePalma of Georgia and Abel Hastings of North Carolina. These four paddlers battled it out for nearly 20 kilometers of the 31.5 kilometer event before Jason Quagliata, and then John DePalma finally dropped from the pack. Once it was down to two paddlers it became a race for bragging rights since both of the two paddlers would qualify for the World Championships. After a few attempts, Reid Hyle finally dropped Abel Hastings with 7 kilometers to go. Hyle cruised to a win, finishing nearly a minute and a half ahead of Hastings.

Sunday’s event selected the K-2 Teams, and while the field was small, the quality of paddlers was high. A pack of three K-2s formed right from the start. This pack included 2008 US Team Members Reid Hyle and Jason Quagliata, former US Team Members John DePalma and Shaun Koos, and Juniors Stanton Collins and Tanner Easterday of LCKC. While the Juniors were dropped after 8 kilometers, the battle between the Hyle/Quagliata and DePalma/Koos raged on for several more laps. In the end, the fitness and coordinated power of Hyle/Quagliata prevailed propelling them to their second win at the US Team Trials in as many years.

In the eyes of the athletes, the 2009 US Team Trials was a grand success. Not only did it showcase the growth in US marathon paddling, it selected a quality team to represent the US in Portugal. A special thanks go to the Lanier Canoe and Kayak Club for their effort towards putting on such a fantastic event.

2009 US Team:

K-1 Men:
Reid Hyle
Abel Hastings
Jason Quagliata (first alternate)
John DePalma (second alternate)

K-1 Junior:
Austin Schwinn
Tanner Easterday

K-2 Men:
Reid Hyle / Jason Quagliata
John DePalma / Shaun Koos (first alternate)
 

K-2 Junior:
Stanton Collins/ Tanner Easterday

Note: In addition to finishing first or second in their respective events athletes must meet a minimum time standard to be selected for the US Team. Categories that are note filled may mean that the event was uncontested or that no athlete met the minimum time standard. This standard also applies to alternates.

For complete results visit www.lckc.org