Honourable Mentions
Angela Naeth
Following her eighth-place finish at the 2018 Ironman World Championships while battling Lyme disease, Angela Naeth saw her symptoms return, forcing her to alter her approach to coming into the 2019 season.
Despite struggling mentally heading into the race, Naeth dove back into competition at
70.3 Gulf Coast in May, placing seventh. She would finish eighth at 70.3 Chattanooga just one week later, but then faced some more adversity as she broke her wrist in a bike crash. Two surgeries later she was back racing in Ironman Canada, but crashed out.
Not deterred, the 37-yearold then took fourth at Ironman Copenhagen in August, fifth at 70.3 Santa Cruz at the beginning of September, and then had a defiant win at Ironman Chattanooga at the end of the month. Despite failing to qualify for Kona this year, her win in Tennessee assured her spot on the Big Island in 2020.
Jen Annett
34-year-old Jen Annett had another solid season with a trio of podium finishes.
The Penticton, B.C., native took 10th at the 70.3 NA Championships in St. George in May before back-to-back third-place finishes at 70.3 Victoria and the Ironman European Championship in Frankfurt in June.
In July, she equalled her bestever finish in a full-distance event at Ironman Canada, placing second to Wurtele with a quick 3:12 run split that was tops in the field.
Annett appeared to be on track for a great day in Kona, but was cut off by a motorcycle early on in the bike and would eventually have to pull out of the race because of the injuries she sustained from the crash.—JS