Young triathlete breaks through

Ryan Marfell is a national triathlon champion.

The 16-year-old Marlborough Boys’ College student swam, cycled and ran his way to a New Zealand under-19 title at the Tri Taranaki Festival in New Plymouth on Sunday.

Ryan was hoping to finish “at least top 10 or perhaps top five” when he travelled north but exceeded his expectations with a clinical performance.

He exited the water ahead of his under-19 rivals following the 750m swim, then rode the 18.5km cycle leg in a pack of three with main rivals Jacob D’Ath, from Cambridge, and Reeve Dooney, from Taradale.

Then it was onto the 5km run.

“It was on the run where I actually won [the race],” Ryan explained.

“I knew I was a fairly strong runner but as I am the youngest year in the under-19 grade I thought ‘this will be interesting’ … however I managed to come away with the win.”

Ryan finished 14 seconds clear of second-placed D’Ath, and 28 seconds ahead of Dooney.

Also competing in New Plymouth was fellow MBC student Finn Mckenzie, who came home fourth in the highly-competitive under-16 grade. He missed out on a bronze medal by just three seconds.

Next up for Ryan and Finn is a trip south to take part in the Kaikoura Adventure Race, a 12-hour teams event on April 24. They will join forces with fellow Marlburians Cam Anderson and Lachlan McNabb as they attempt to lift the South Island Secondary Schools adventure racing title which is run in conjunction with the Kaikoura event.

Finn's sister, Neve Mckenzie, took out the under-14 girls title in New Plymouth, winning by a decisive margin.