Female Triathlete of the Year
 

Lisa Cox

I am honored to be here to present the 2009 Gulf Winds FEMALE Triathlete of the Year Award. This amazing athlete started out as many of us do, focusing on one of the 3 sports involved in triathlons and like many of us fellow triathletes who are here tonight, she began with running.

Unfortunately for her, again like so many of us, she has known the disappointment of being sidelined with an injury when she wanted to race. The particular injury I'm remembering came at the beginning of the 2009 Triathlon Season just before Red Hills, and she stood with her arm in a sling, with a broken collar bone and broken wrist, as many of us practiced our swim in Lake Hall, preparing for race day.

I remember her telling me that she really wanted to be competing in this race. I remember the disappointment in her eyes but I remember it today as a spark that ignited a magical season!

Running competitively since age 11 and after a successful high school career, our honoree was recruited to run cross country and track for FSU. Enjoying a stellar running career at FSU, this outstanding, strong woman had running highlights including a 17:17 5K in the New Balance Collegiate Invitational in New York and a 17:28 5K at the Atlantic Coast Conference at University of North Carolina. In other distances while at FSU, she clocked a 4:30.89 1500m; a 10:02.82 indoor 3000m and a 17:05.49 5000m.

This strong runner was introduced to triathlons through a class at FSU. And although she had to focus on running as part of the FSU team, in 2005, at age 19, she competed in her first sprint distance – the Longleaf Triathlon in Central Florida – and she won it! As a sophomore at FSU, she competed in an iron distance race in the Bahamas and she won that too!

That spark I talked about earlier – it ignited her 2009 season into a raging fire! Here are her race finishes:

Jacksonville Sprint #1 – 1st overall female
Jacksonville Sprint #3 – 1st overall female
Hammerhead Olympic – 4th overall female and 1st Age Group
Amelia Island Half Ironman – 4th overall female and 1st Age Group

This triathlete finished up her season nailing her dream finish and accomplishing just what she set out to do, with a 1st place age group finish at the Florida Ironman, earning her a trip to Kona, Hawaii for the 2010 Ford Ironman World Championships - how appropriate that she would share that qualifying honor and cross the finish line hand-in-hand with her friend and Gulf Winds 2008 Triathlete of the Year, Stephanie Liles. Please join me in congratulating the 2009 Gulf Winds Female Triathlete of the Year - Shannon Coates!