Community School graduate Amy Alexander has sharpened the focus of her diverse athletic endeavors on triathlons since graduating in 2004 from the Sun Valley independent school.
And she has done very well, including a women's victory in Sunday's 31.9-mile YMCA Spudman Triathlon in Boise.
Ensign Alexander, 23, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate from Bethesda, Md., won the women's division of the 51.5-kilometer event with a time of two hours, 12 minutes and 1.1 seconds. She was over three-and-a-half minutes ahead of the next woman.
Finishing in ninth place overall of 201 male and female finishers, Alexander posted split times of 22:30 in the 1.5k swim at Spring Shores Marina, 1.06:04 in the 40k bike ride and 41:55 in the 10k run. The race ended at the Albertson's headquarters on Parkcenter, Boise.
The Spudman Triathlon is the Idaho qualifier triathlon for the "Best of the U.S." series. The top amateur male and female triathlete from each state is invited to compete in the Best of the U.S. National Championship.
As the Idaho state champion, Amy will travel to Mission Viejo, Ca. Sept. 27 to race with 49 other state champions.
It was another accomplishment on Alexander's list that also includes: Women's runner-up in the 2008 Redfish Olympic Triathlon over a 51.5k distance near Stanley; and Elite Amateur women's silver medalist in the USAT U.S. Open Triathlon in Oct. 2008 at Dallas, Texas.
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Saturday's men's winner on a cloudy day with mild temperatures was Kyle Grisham of Boise 1.57:42.
Moving up a place in her Women's 50-54 class for Saturday's 24th annual Spudman Triathlon was Hailey's Susan Gundy. Second last year, she won her class this time around with a time of 3.14:50. She improved both her swim split (37:21) and bike split (1.29:24) and ended up with a 1.04:07 run split for six miles.
Another Wood River Valley finisher was Matt Wellner of Ketchum. He finished 10th in the tough Men's 30-34 age class at 2.31:19, an improvement of 17:08 over his 13th-place finish in the class in 2008. His splits were 25:10 swim, 1.10:03 bike and 52:57 run. He improved by seven minutes in swim and 12 minutes bike.
Part-time Wood River Valley resident George Cassiday, 67, also competed Saturday. His Team Cassiday of Salt Lake City, Utah was second in Team Male 61-90 in 2.38:34.
Meanwhile, Ensign Alexander departed for Bethesda shortly after Saturday's race. There, she is a second year medical student at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.
She'll return to Sun Valley later this summer to do an orthopaedic externship with her parents, Drs. Herb and Charlotte Alexander.
Amy participated in tennis, soccer, alpine ski racing, and white water kayaking before she went on to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy in 2008.
She didn't take up triathlons until her junior year at the academy. Despite being new to the sport in 2007, USA Triathlon awarded Amy "All American" status. She finished the year ranked #15 in her age group and repeated as "All American" in 2008.
Amy Alexander displays her trophy and Idaho State Championship medal for winning the YMCA Spudman Triathlon “Best of the U.S.” triathlon state qualifier Saturday in Boise. Photo by
