Local Sports: Hatfield’s Madeline Nagy wins division in Sea to Summit Triathlon

Hatfield resident Madeline Nagy won the female division of the Sea to Summit Triathlon with a time of 8:44:38.8, finishing first among all the women in the bike and swim portion and staying ahead in the run, where she ran the third fastest time among all female competitors. Nagy’s time also placed her 18th overall in the 68-person competition.

Sea to Summit is slightly different from a typical long-distance triathlon. Racers start at sea level, completing a 1.5-mile swim before jumping on a bike for a 95-mile bike ride to North Conway, N.H. If they make the cutoff time and are still deemed physically capable, athletes can attempt the grueling last leg of the race – a 5 mile run/hike up Mount Washington, the highest summit in the Northeast.

“It’s quite an intense place. It’s not a mountain for the faint of heart,” Nagy said. “There were a lot of hikers on the trail, and that really helped. They gave lots of encouragement ... at the end when I was really out of out of gas, those kinds of encouragement really helped.”

Ten months prior to the race, Nagy found out that a nagging knee injury was more severe than she thought, and that she would eventually need a knee replacement. As a result, she had to get creative when it came to training for hiking portion of the triathlon. One way she did that was by putting weights in a backpack while walking up a treadmill on a steep incline.

Luckily for Nagy, the steepness of the five-mile trail was slightly easier on her knee; she was able to hike and climb rather than do an extended running stride that aggravates it more.

“I don’t know what the future holds or how many more races I can squeak through with this troublesome knee, but this was a perfect opportunity for someone who couldn’t do a traditional run – it really allowed me to get out there and do a very challenging race,” Nagy said. “(I came) through better than I could have hoped or expected.”

Southampton native Wesley Adamski recently golfed at one of the highest levels at the young age of eight years old.

Adamski competed in the three-day U.S. Kids Golf Foundation World Championships, which was held in Pinehurst, North Carolina from August 4-6. The competition is the largest junior golf tournament held, and competitors between the ages of 5-12 can compete in the event.

Competing in a 123-golfer field, Adamski finished with a score of +18, tying him for 58th overall in his age group. The competition featured three days of golfing the back nine at the Mid Pines course; Adamski scored a 41 on the second day, a stroke better than his 42 on day one, and finished off a consistent performance with a 43 on the final day of the contest.