Gravel Worlds Triathlon: The USA Triathlon Gravel National Championships

August 25, 2026

Slowtwitch was in Lincoln, Nebraska on the weekend for Gravel Worlds and, while there was lots of attention paid to the flagship 150-mile pro gravel bike race, the event was filled with lots of other activities, too. The weekend kicked off on Friday morning with the triathlon and duathlon races, which served for the second year as USA Triathlon’s Gravel National Championships. (Nationals returns to Lincoln next year, too.) The race served as a qualifier for next year’s World Triathlon Multisport Championships in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

The racing took place at beautiful Branched Oak Lake, roughly a 30 minute drive from Lincoln. Athletes could also just do an open-water swim as part of a “triple” competition – the full triple included a 3 km swim, Saturday’s 150-mile gravel race and Sunday’s 50 km run, while the half triple included a 1.5 km swim, the 75-mile gravel race and the half marathon gravel run.

International Distance Triathlon

John Matson (2:14:03) and Lindsay Long 2:39:16) were the overall winners of the International Distance Triathlon.

MALE
PARA	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Christian Loafman	03:14:04

M0119	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Andrew Wales	02:29:54
	2	Joseph Cornwell	05:09:13

M2024	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Connor Heavican	02:22:37
	2	Mitchell Gatzemeyer	05:09:13

M2529	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Gavin Grabill	02:54:09
	2	Ashton Ahrens	03:02:17
	3	Ben Stadler	03:07:29

M3034	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Michael Gannon	02:20:24
	2	Michael Sorokin	04:42:09
	3	Brian Collings	04:42:09

M4549	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Kevin Hofstra	02:22:59
	2	Eric Michel	02:55:53
	3	Paul Skalitzky	03:02:17

M5054	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Christian Thomas Waterstraat	02:27:38
	2	Ron Larson	03:00:19
	3	Chris Cockrell	03:14:08

M5559	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Thomas Woods	02:21:55
	2	Eric Snowberg	02:31:01
	3	Gregory Weinberg	02:50:28

M6064	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Bradley Cope	03:01:05
	2	Mike Kidder	03:12:02

M6569	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Brent Peacock	02:42:32

M7074	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Ken Gibson	03:24:25

FEMALE
F3034	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Danae Hyde	03:10:18

F3539	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Kelsey Alto	03:50:17

F4044	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Lindsay Long	02:39:16
	2	Kristen Ullman	02:53:53
	3	Laurel Short	02:57:06

F4549	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Paula Renner	03:21:57
	2	Stephanie Charles	03:36:32
	3	Cheri Busenitz	03:41:29

F5054	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Michelle Lingenfelser	03:13:43
	2	Alicia Wendolowski	03:33:28

F5559	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Bobbie Kriz-Wickham	03:34:06
	2	Louisa Summers	04:28:38

F6064	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Margot Swartz	03:03:18
	2	Kristi Newcomb	03:08:24
	3	Sheryl Leonard-Schneck	03:12:10

F7074	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Mary Langlie	04:29:58

Sprint Distance Triathlon

Caleb Wales (1:22:13) and Allison Hofstra (1:22:49) were tops in the Sprint Triathlon, with Hofstra taking second overall in the entire race.

MALE
PARA	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Larry Seidman	02:05:10

M0119	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Caleb Wales	01:22:13
	2	Kisaac Carlson	02:06:43

M3034	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Tyler Johnson	02:05:24

M3539	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Chris Rarig	02:25:01

M4044	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Chad Bartlett	01:45:37
	2	Benjamin Mccall	01:45:53

M4549	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Scott Michalik	01:25:22
	2	Gus Teixeira	01:28:41
	3	Timothy Noerrlinger	01:36:15

M5054	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Wade Fornander	01:36:27
	2	Jeffrey Chapman	01:55:32

M5559	Pos	Name	Time
	1	John Hartpence	01:24:20
	2	Jonathan Scholes	01:27:22
	3	Travis Wales	01:29:10

M6064	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Steve Smith	01:22:52
	2	Lance Fargo	01:33:04
	3	Harry Riggs	01:33:22

M6569	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Mark Drangsholt	01:31:01
	2	Brett Edgerle	01:51:40
	3	Mark Mulch	02:51:37

M7074	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Steve Cole	01:41:15
	2	Doug Usher	01:43:25
	3	William Morrow	02:02:08

M7579	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Terry Hutchins	02:10:10

M8084	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Rob Norris	02:57:06

FEMALE
F0119	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Allison Hofstra	01:22:49
	2	Ashley Hofstra	01:31:12
	3	Lillian Bargstadt	01:42:41

M0119	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Abigail Wales	01:26:58

F2529	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Kaley Hassell	01:41:40

F3034	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Brittany Funk	01:47:30
	2	Alyssa Richter	02:00:28
	3	Victoria Kumpost	02:55:28

F3539	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Kath Shield	02:09:20
	2	Tonia Holmes	02:49:21

F4044	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Kristin Kurokawa	01:28:16
	2	Kari Benkert	01:34:18

F4549	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Amanda Meredith-Dunlop	01:32:58
	2	Kristi Tarrant	01:33:57
	3	Heather Lamb	01:44:27

F5054	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Maribeth Orr	01:40:45
	2	Angie Michalik	01:56:14

F6064	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Leslie Knibb	01:34:54
	2	Kim Sprenger	01:42:59
	3	May-li Cuypers	01:47:38

F6569	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Kimberly Peterson	02:11:57

F7074	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Lorrie Beck	01:41:50
	2	Maggie Bartlett	02:03:36
	3	Karen Weatherby	02:06:40

F7579	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Jo Garuccio	02:01:54
	2	Linda Usher	02:18:23

International Distance Duathlon

Steven Worth (2:08:43) took the men’s overall, with Courtney Smith (4:47:37) leading the women.

MALE
M3034	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Kyle Dow	02:10:32
	2	Levi Vogt	02:33:30
	3	Jacob Spilker	03:16:23

M3539	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Jason Klein	02:26:22

M4044	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Zach Brown	02:23:35
	2	Ricardo Valverde	03:11:47

M4549	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Chris Mosier	02:39:02

M5559	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Steven Worth	02:08:43
	2	Dan Quillin	02:46:34

M6064	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Matt Wegenka	02:19:48
	2	David Marsalli	03:47:31

M6569	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Paul Hermes	02:44:11

FEMALE
F4549	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Jesse Skalitzky	04:05:13

F5054	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Courtney Smith	02:47:37

F6569	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Heather Leach	03:25:30

Sprint Distance Duathlon

Steven Eles (1:09:22) and Monica Doval (1:20:34) were the top finishers in the Sprint Duathlon.

MALE
M3034	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Cody Kelley	02:08:08

M3539	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Saxby Stradinger	01:13:34

M4044	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Zak Hall	01:20:28
	2	Felipe Iongoria	01:28:12

M4549	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Stephen Eles	01:09:22
	2	Jared McLaren	01:17:07
	3	Christian Botting	01:28:13

M5054	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Jerry Bueno	02:00:56

M5559	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Todd Hamilton	01:28:47

M6064	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Brad Galbraith	01:18:36
	2	Jeremy Oury	01:24:36
	3	Brian Watkins	01:53:09

M6569	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Jeff Dorrill	01:32:52
	2	Joseph Swartz	01:48:57

M8084	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Peter Hackbert	02:48:51

FEMALE
F4549	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Monica Doval	01:20:34

F5559	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Angela Workman	01:32:06

F6064	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Heather Woloshyn	02:36:38
	2	Ruth Albright	02:38:35

F6569	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Christine Puetz	01:42:13

F7074	Pos	Name	Time
	1	Mary Henson	02:32:18

Notable Replies

jjstains says:

August 27, 2026

This actually pretty cool. Slowtwitch has been big on gravel as the “next” triathlon, so seeing a gravel triathlon is a fun twist. My questions about this format if it continues to grow- it looks like it’s a draft-legal format. Will that start making the front swim pack even more important like in an ITU race? When will we see the first true “Gravelman” triathlon, and will it be the traditional IM distances?
Shonak says:

August 27, 2026

Thanks for covering this. Xterra also has 1-2 events, at least in europe that are aimed for gravel. Would be really cool if this took off and became more widely available alongside the Gravel races.
buzz says:

September 1, 2026

we have a couple gravel tris in new brunswick, and they are fantastic events! everyone i’ve spoken to loves them.

it’s a format that renews my flagging interest in racing, because i like the random distances, being away from cars, and the elimination of TT gear.

does gravel worlds move around from year to year?
Triingtotrain says:

September 1, 2026

I would love to see Gravel triathlon take off. I did my first one last year (Triquest in Vermont). And was planning on doing one of Jan Frodeno’s SGRAIL events but decided I just didn’t want to fly to Europe anymore with a bike. But would love to see more events in N. America or at least an easy direct flight somewhere.

Gravel biking is really where it’s at. It’s so much safer riding on the quiet dirt roads compared to the busy paved streets. And it’s fun!
JMosey says:

September 1, 2026

Come see us in Michigan. Fly into Grand Rapids, race is about 25-30’ south of town in Middleville called The Dirty Mitten. Trail run, bike race, and gravel tri.

In a broader sense, I’m curious to see what happens with gravel tris. It’s my favorite type of race to put on but they haven’t really taken off. We peaked around 300 with The Dirty Mitten a few years back and are tracking down this year. Some people say it’s too tough (that’s why we eliminated the half distance). I’m not sure where the disconnect is as it seems like all of my triathlete friends have gravel bikes at this point.
Triquest says:

September 2, 2026

Come check out the 2nd Triquest Gravel Triathlon in Vermont next weekend (Sept 12)
choice of two courses and we offer relay, aquabike & duathlon formats as well.

all info at www.triquest.co
AKCrafty says:

September 2, 2026

I did Honeymoon Half Gravel Tri this summer on Vancouver Island and loved it-despite being stuck in my 52-32 the whole ride. Small race, but proper (for PNW) gravel route with 4500 feet of climbing on great logging roads. They host half and olympic distance races.