Lagerstrom Claims Bronze at ITU World Championships

Vancouver, B.C. - Cascade College Freshman Eric Lagerstrom has capped off his drive to the ITU World Championships in Vancouver, B.C. by claiming a Bronze medal for the United States in a stacked international field.

The event got off to a bumpy start when race officials initially decided to shorten the swim portion of the race to 1100 meters due to extreme cold water temperatures, but when high winds added white caps to the already challenging swim race officials made the decision to cancel the swim altogether deeming the conditions unsafe for athletes.  Instead, officials decided to replace the swim portion of the race with a 3k run making the event a duathlon for all but the earliest waves of athletes who had already braved the water. 

Lagerstrom's pre-race strategy of establishing a lead in the swim had to be scrapped forcing a last minute strategic retooling, but when the horn went off to start the race he demonstrated the maturity of a seasoned competitor.   At the end of the first 3k run segment Eric found himself in second place, just three seconds behind the race leader as he embarked onto the 40 kilometer bike course.  At the end of the bike segment the gap had widened between Eric and the top spot, but he found himself entering the transition area firmly in medal contention with only a 10 kilometer run remaining.  Battling cramping legs throughout the run, Eric was still able to reclaim more than a minute on the leader, but ran out of time before he was able to move up in the race.  Finishing ahead of Eric were German Dominik Treuherz and fellow American Joseph Welsh of Tennessee.

Lagerstrom will spend the summer preparing for the USA Triathlon National Championship held at Hagg Lake in September and to run his Sophomore season of Cross Country for Cascade College.