Willis Gillis. {North Broward Prep}
North Broward Prep’s Wills Gillis officially qualified for the World Triathlon Championship and will compete in Spain in October.
“It is always an honor to represent the United States on an international level,” Gillis said. “It brings me great pride to wear the uniform of the USA and do my best to represent it.”
The triathlon consists of two main categories, the first being the draft-legal Junior Elite triathlon. This racing style involves cycling in a pack and is the style raced in the Olympics. Qualification for this event was based on selection criteria established by USAT, which featured Gillis’ national ranking in past years and will feature 12 Americans in the junior category. There is also legal racing, which is based purely on strength and does not have the advantage of blocking within the bike pack. All racers must maintain a set amount of space between other cyclists.
Gillis qualified after competing in Milwaukee, placing 13th out of 138 males 15-19 and 45th out of 2019 competitors overall. He has competed since 2021 and has previously qualified in the junior and national rankings. Gillis finished second in the country in the youth 2022 season. In 2023, the youth and junior nationals were held in the same place as the age group nationals, meaning he could race in the age group nationals and the junior nationals.
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- Matt Rothman is a 2018 graduate from Florida Gulf Coast University receiving his bachelor’s degree in journalism and then graduated from the University of Florida as a graduate student. He also works for the Mohave Valley Daily News in Bullhead City, Arizona covering high school sports.
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