**This story is not our original content.  It was originally posted by Triathlon Scotland & written by  Lesley J;  http://www.triathlonscotland.org/2017-scottish-national-student-championships/

The second race of the Triathlon Scotland National Championships took place yesterday [Sunday 9 April] in Cupar.

The National Student Championships was hosted by East Fife Triathlon and ran in parallel with the annual East Fife Triathlon event. With a new event organising team, and a slightly modified race route, eager participants arrived early to recce the site and become familiar with the course.

With a lovely still morning it remained dry for the duration with a fair headwind for competitors to battle, throughout the day. The fastest sprint wave set off first and Kristof Anheuer (St Andrew’s University) was first out the pool, followed by Edinburgh University’s Rian Cook and Luca Fanottoli of Stirling University. Out on the 24km bike section Paul Kerr (Edinburgh University) had a great ride, recording the fastest split of the day with 36:10.  However, it was Nicolas Allen (Edinburgh University) and Kristof Anheuer (St Andrews) vying for that Championship title.  Out on the run, which ends with an energy sapping grassy section, Nicholas Allen had an incredible effort (15:42) to see him take the Championship title with Kristof Anheuer and Paul Kerr taking second and third respectively.

In the female race, it was team mates, Phoebe Lloyd-Evans and Ciara Peters of Stirling University that came out the pool in the lead with Eilidh Thomson of Edinburgh University close behind.  Out and on to the bike, both [Phoebe] Lloyd-Evans and [Eilidh] Thomson had solid sections, but it was Natacha Lazareff (Edinburgh University) that put in a phenomenal ride (46:53) to see her climb from 14^th place after the swim into medal contention.  A great run effort from Phoebe Lloyd-Evans saw her take the Championship title, with Eilidh Thomson (Edinburgh University) getting rewarded from a consistent race, taking the silver and Natacha Lazareff had plenty left on the run to see her complete the podium with another medal [bronze] for Edinburgh University.

Catching up with the winners after the race, Nicolas commented:  “I really it enjoyed it, the competition today was really good!  Coming out of the pool they were lots of people ahead and on the bike as well, there was some really strong bikes out there.   I managed to have a good race overall so I am very happy.”

Phoebe added:  “I really enjoyed the race, even though the swim got off to a bad start but I was able to build up on the bike and the run.  It was my first year doing this race, and it was really interesting to try something new.  The head winds did pick up a little bit but it was enjoyable.  The run was beautiful, running through the country lanes.”

We caught up with winners after the race, and you can watch our interview and view our race photos on our Facebook.com/scottishtri page.

The Championships had a great atmosphere with lots of support from the university clubs. It was fantastic to see 46 competitors from nine universities turning up to race at the event – representing just how much university triathlon has grown.

The Triathlon Scotland Student Championship took place as part of the East Fife Sprint Championship wave, were to be eligible to take the title competitors were required to represent their university club, and be a member of Triathlon Scotland.

For those students not eligible for the Triathlon Scotland Championship, Scottish Student Sport (SSS) were also running an SSS sprint race as well where all registered university triathlon club students were eligible.  Well done to your SSS race podiums: Luca Fanottoli (Stirling University), Nicholas Allen (Edinburgh University) and Kristof Anheuer (St Andrews University) for the men and, Aoife Fay (Stirling University), Phoebe Lloyd-Evans (Stirling University) and Eilidh Thomson (Edinburgh University) in the female race.

With something for everyone the East Fife Triathlon also played host to an open sprint, novice and a TriStar aquathlon as well.  The open sprint race and the student races were combined with participants set off in waves according to the 750m swim time submitted on entry.  In the men’s race Craig Dale (HBC Jets) had a good swim providing him with a solid start to the race.  A good bike section and steady run saw him cross the line first in 1:05:11.  Both Luca Fanottoli (1:05:12) and Nicholas Allen (1:05:47) were rewarded again for their performances with second and third respectively.  In the female race, Natalie Milne was the clear winner leading from gun to tape, finishing in 1:10:38.  Stirling University’s Aoife Fay and Phoebe Lloyd-Evans also made the podium with their 1:15:47 and 1:19:29 finish times.

The novice event saw lots of entries, with many universities represented here also.  Well done to Findlay Baillie (unattached) and Natalie Curran (unattached) for their first place finishes.  New to the event the TriStar aquathlon saw over 70 youngsters from TriStar Start to TriStar 3 taking part.  Well done to everyone that raced on the day!  Results can be found here.

Female Triathlon Scotland Student Champions

1^st – Phoebe Lloyd-Evans, Stirling University, 1:19:29

2^nd – Eilidh Thomson, Edinburgh University, 1:22:47

3^rd – Natacha Lazareff, Edinburgh University, 1:23:32

Male Triathlon Scotland Student Champions

1^st – Nicolas Allen, Edinburgh University, 1:05:47

2^nd – Kristof Anheuer, St Andrews University 1:06:52

3^rd – Paul Kerr, Edinburgh University, 1:07:16