T
he proud town of Mars was represented on an
international level this summer when Zachary
Leachman competed in the 2018 Salinas
CAMTRI Triathlon American Youth Olympic
Games Qualifier, held July 1 in Salinas,
Ecuador.
Zachary, 16, is the son of Joe and Diane
Leachman. A resident of Adams Township, he
will be a junior this fall at Mars Area High School, where
he is a member of the Gifted Program, Science Bowl, NHS,
German Club, German NHS, Concert Band, Key Club
and Future Business Leaders of America. In addition, he is
on the varsity track & field, swim, and cross country teams.
Outside of school, he is a Senior Altar Server at St. Kilians
Roman Catholic Church.
When it comes to athletics, Zachary is no stranger to
accolades. In addition to being a state qualifier for cross
country and track, as well as the team’s MVP, he’s been a
WPIAL qualifier for swimming, a two-time USA Triathlon
(USAT) Age Group All-American and a USAT Draft Legal
All-American Honorable Mention.
Zachary learned about the Youth Olympic Game
(YOG) Qualifier from USAT when it was discussed at
the USAT Junior Elite Men’s “Team USA” Camp that he
attended last November at the Olympic Training Center competes in the USAT Junior Elite (Under 20) Draft Legal
Triathlon Series, for which he finished the 2017 season
ranked 13th in the nation and was the second highest
ranked 16-year-old.
“My performance and ranking from last year earned
me my second consecutive trip to the OTC and to the
CAMTRI Under 20 North America Championship,
which was the first race this season,” Zachary explains. “I
had a strong race at the North American Championship
in March, finishing 11th overall and 6th out of the U.S.
participants, which helped earn me a spot in the YOG
Qualifier as well as the National Championship.”
Like the Olympics, the Youth Olympics are held every
four years, so not many triathletes get the opportunity to
participate in Olympic Qualifiers and even fewer in the
Olympics themselves—the U.S. only gets a maximum of
one spot per gender for triathlon in the YOGs.
“I was so excited to earn a spot because it meant I had
reached my goal of making Team USA, and that I would
get to travel outside of the United States for the first time as
part of this competition,” Zachary says.
As part of training for the qualifier, Zachary swam,
biked and ran five to six days a week. “My favorite part
was getting to race against new people from all over the
Americas,” he notes. “The athletes from the other countries
(OTC) in Colorado Springs. He is a two-time invitee to
the camp. To compete in the YOG qualifier, he had to be
one of the top eight 16- to 17-year-olds after the first two
races this season.
“My inspiration is four-time Olympian Hunter Kemper
(Male Triathlon),” says Zachary. “My triathlon coach
is Joella Baker, and when I started triathlon racing I
was really inspired by North Allegheny and Penn State
graduate Mike Meehan. Mike was the NCAA Triathlon
Champion a few years ago.”
Zachary has competed in USAT events for six years and
at the Elite/Draft Legal level for the past four years. He treated the U.S. athletes as celebrities and wanted their
pictures taken with us.”
Zachary placed 30th overall and seventh among male
U.S. finishers with a time of 1:00.58. He was one of
eight male athletes to compete as a member of the USA
Triathlon (USAT) “Team USA” at the event.
Although Zachary didn’t qualify for the Youth Olympic
Games, he was scheduled to compete in the National
Championship Race on August 4, with spots for the World
Championship on the line. n
MARS AREA
❘
FALL 2018
15