Local Athlete in Triathlon
In just it’s second year the Sea Turtle Triathlon attracted 150 kids ranging from ages 7-15. Jay’s Jorja Agrait competed in the Loggerhead Division (11-12 year olds) at the Gulf Islands National Seashore’s Opal Beach near Navarre. In her first attempt at competing in a Tri event she finished 3rd and was one of the award winners. Seventeen young girls were in her division. Each of the older divisions swam 150 yards, biked 3 miles, and ran 1 mile. The first stage of the event was the swim. Coming out of the water Jorja was at the back of the back. But never backing down from a challenge, she transitioned to the bike phase and caught many of the other competitors. It wasn’t until the final phase, 1 mile run, that Jorja poured it on and had a very strong finish. The important thing in Triathlons is to be capable of doing all three events, but most Tri-athletes have their stronger events. For Agrait, she had the fastest mile time of all competitors and for this she caught all but two of them. Triathlons are endurance events and the ones that finish at the top are some of the best conditioned athletes you can find. Jorja’s success in running enabled her to stand out above the rest. Temperatures with wind chills in the upper 40s did not deter these young athletes. For now Jorja will focus on helping the Jay High School Lady Royals Cross Country team. You can see Jorja and her teammates compete in the J.D. Mac Cross Country Inv. at the Jay City Park this Saturday.