Bristol Bay’s Damian Hill dream of winning a national title is still alive.
The 29-year-old could still qualify for the Hy-Vee Triathlon, which will serve as the national championships for the second consecutive year for the 5150 Series, depending of his results in upcoming races.
“There are two races left in North America that can still earn me enough to qualify for Hy-Vee, one in Huntsville, Ontario, and another in Columbus, Ohio,” Hill told me. “Since both races are geographically in the same area I will stay around for an extra couple days and make a decision.”
Hill, a commercial fisherman from Naknek, remains in the top 15 of his division through five points races. He is coming off a tenth-place finish in New York, which is just his second top-10 finish of the season.
“After being passed in the last quarter-mile on the run I was almost able to come back in the finishing stretch, missing ninth place by one second,” he said. “Biking on the closed course Henry Hudson Highway and running in Central Park with 3,503 other participants made me glad I chose this as my first ‘A’ race. The massive scale of everything in this race from organization, spectators, cityscape … it added an extra sense of importance.”