Miami, Florida. Known for the heat and humidity.
 
Forgot about the wind.
 
While the wind wasn't as potent a factor for Grand Canyon University Club Triathlon co-student coach Stephen Garr during his 16^th-place finish in the draft-legal race at the 2025 USA Triathlon National Championships at Homestead-Miami Raceway, gusts affected the racers and their times as four Lopes' first-time nationals participants went through the Olympic distance marathon a day later. Two of them, Lopes' freshmen Jacob Barnhart and David Weide, placed among the top 400 in a field of nearly 1100 competitors, while the lone female in the group, GCU junior Zoie Eserman, finished in the top 150 of the 437 female participants.
 
Garr – who finished 7^th in the draft-legal race a year ago and normally participates in both days' events – was unsure he would be able to compete at all after battling a number of nagging injuries (and illness) over the two months prior to the trip to Florida. Despite still fighting through a leg injury, Garr gave the draft-legal race a go on Friday, getting caught up in a large group during the swim portion, and getting out of the water in 40^th place. Hopping on the cycle, Garr motored through the field, making up ground by posting the 17^th-best bike time of the field. The run severely tested his leg injury, but Garr braved through it, finishing with the 12^th-best run time and narrowly missing the top 15 overall by nine seconds with a finishing time of 55 minutes and one second.
 
Garr then became coach and cheerleader for his young charges on Saturday, giving them pointers – especially on the bike portion – when the winds blew right into the faces of the participants. Even though they started the race in different groups, Barnhart and Weide wound up just seconds away from each other on the final leaderboard. Weide and Charles Campbell started at the end of the first three starting waves, which made the start of their swim portion much less chaotic, and Weide benefited the most, getting out of the water in less than 22 minutes. Barnhart, who started in the Men's 3^rd Wave, showed improvement on his swimming, finishing that portion in just under 29 minutes. Campbell – who finished the swim in just over 31 minutes – then made up ground with a strong cycle (1:10:18), topping both Barnhart and Weide by about four minutes. Once off the bike, Barnhart's strength in the run took over, coming to the tape with a stellar 10K time of just over 42 minutes to finish 295^th among the males with a final overall time of 2:29:31, just eight seconds faster than Weide, who took 297^th. Campbell hit the tape at 2:32:37, which placed him 330^th among males and just out of the top 400 overall.
 
"Jacob showed improvement on his swim and managed to come out with a great bike time as well - considering the headwind," said Garr. "He's always excelled in his run and continued to do so at nationals. Charlie has always been a great cyclist, so I was excited to see how he would do, and he did exceptional. David also did great on the bike, coming in with a bike time just below 1:15. I was specifically impressed with everyone's run as well."
 
Meanwhile, Eserman also showed prowess – both in the water and on the pavement. Despite starting in Women's Wave 1 with some of the most aggressive swimmers in the event, Eserman finished her swim in just over 29 minutes, then after falling off a bit in the wind on the cycle, made up plenty of ground in the run, finishing with the second-best running time among the Lopes) at 46:13. Eserman's finishing time of 2:40:39 got her into a tie for 149^th place among females – making the top 150 by three seconds.
 
"Zoie fought through the pack in the water and had a great swim just below the half hour mark that set her up well for the bike," said Garr. "She was happy to be off the bike and start the run where she has had the most experience. She finished with a run time in the top 20% of the female athletes in the race.
 
"Overall, the race was a great outing for our team. The results this year just make me excited for what we can build upon for next season."
 
The Lopes' full results are below:

DRAFT LEGAL RACE (FRIDAY)
NAME	TIME	OVERALL FINISH
Stephen Garr	55:01:00	16th
OLYMPIC DISTANCE RACE (SATURDAY)
NAME	TIME	OVERALL FINISH	DIVISION	M/F FINISH
Jacob Barnhart	2:29:31	353rd	Olympic Distance Male	295th
David Weide	2:29:39	356th	Olympic Distance Male	297th
Charles Campbell	2:32:57	410th	Olympic Distance Male	330th
Zoie Eserman	2:40:39	555th	Olympic Distance Female	149th