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By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews

WINONA LAKE — Cody Hardley has won the Warsaw Breakfast Optimist Club’s Sprint Triathlon on his second time competing in it.

Hardley, 39, Fort Wayne, finished the event in an hour and 57 seconds on Saturday morning, June 22. It was the 31st running of it.

He noted it was “fun” to win the triathlon.

“I wasn’t expecting to,” said Hardley.

He said he’s won one other triathlon in Muncie.

Hardley noted the high temperature Saturday morning brought a challenge.

“It was hot. It was hard. I was really feeling it towards the end,” he said.

Hardley said the cycling portion was the easiest part for him.

“Swimming (was) the toughest,” he said.

“This course helped that the swim was a lot shorter than normal and the bike (portion) was longer,” said Hardley. “It suited me well.”

“I do a lot of biking events and some triathlons,” he added.

He called Winona Lake “a great community for events like this.”

Top Female Finisher

The triathlon’s top female finisher was Elizabeth Kniesly, 41, Indianapolis.

She finished 12th overall with a time of an hour, six minutes and 34 seconds in her first time at the triathlon.

Kniesly noted part of the reason she came out for the event was her father is an Optimist Club member in Indianapolis.

“We stay in Culver on the weekends a lot of times, so I just drove over,” she said.

“It was a great race, great competition out there, so I’m just grateful to be able to move and function (and) the ability to be here,” said Kniesly.

She also complimented those competing with myTEAM TRIUMPH on Saturday, both the athletes with special needs and the so-called “angels” who help them race.

Kniesly said she’s been doing triathlons for “about 13 years.”

“This is great. Your fan support is amazing,” she added of those cheering participants on. “I was like, ‘I’m going to run this thing home.'”

Helping Kids

The event, which had 245 participants, raised $12,000 for the Optimist Club, according to Member Jeff Owens.

The club’s focus is on helping kids.

“The money generated by this comes back to the community,” said Optimist Club President Charlie Wagner.

“It takes a whole group to put it on,” he added, mentioning “at least 40-45” club members helped out Saturday.

If people are interested in joining the Warsaw Breakfast Optimist Club, they may come out to a meeting.

The club meets at 7 a.m. Wednesdays, with breakfast at 6:30 a.m. Usually meetings are at the Kosciusko County Fairgrounds’ Shrine Building in Warsaw, but due to the upcoming Kosciusko County Fair, meetings will be at Grace College’s Alpha Dining Hall in Winona Lake for the next three weeks instead.

To view full race results, click here.