Bollinger crushes field to win Big Horn County Triathlon

Two grueling races in two days was no problem for Kinley Bollinger of rural Powell as she smoked the field to win the Big Horn Canyon Triathlon at Horseshoe Bend Saturday morning.

A Cody native and Cody High School graduate, Bollinger has finished her schooling at Northwest College and is heading to the University of Wyoming. Meanwhile, she’s killing it on the competition circuit, running at 10-kilometer race at the Cody Stampede celebration Friday and the Big Horn Canyon Triathlon the next day.

Since she trains for and competes in longer distance races, as well, she said she can recover from a 10K easily and go back-to-back with competitions.

Bollinger recorded the fastest time in all three phases of the triathlon, swimming the 800-yard first phase at the Horseshoe Bend bay in 10:22, bicycling 10.2 miles in 34:05 and running 3.1 miles on the Mouth of the Canyon Trail in 23:40 for a first-place overall time of 1:11:44 (including transition time).

Bollinger said she started competing in triathlons two years ago, though she was always an avid runner. She has added iron man triathlons to her competition schedule, typically swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles and running a full marathon, 26.2 miles.

She said she likes to support local events, noting that her friend Dan Lavy competed in the Big Horn Canyon Triathlon several years ago and told her about it, so she watched for the event and was glad when she found it. She said it’s an excellent event.

“I really enjoyed it,” she said. “It has a really laid-back atmosphere, which is nice. The scenery is gorgeous, and the course is challenging, too. It’s a great event.”

 The triathlon was spearheaded by Ben Zeller for many years through 2018, then moved into town in Lovell in 2019 before returning to Big Horn Canyon in 2024. It has been sponsored by the Lovell Recreation District for several years now.

Lavy placed second Saturday with a time of 1:15:07 after recording the third fastest swim time in 11:50, the third fastest bike time in 36 minutes and the second fastest run time at 24:11.

A strong third just behind Lavy was Ladell Merritt, who completed the triathlon in 1:16:18 with a swim in 13:20, bike in 34:07 and run in 26:20.

Fourth behind Merritt was Melissa Merritt in 1:25:15, and Pierce Montgomery was fifth in 1:39.04, April Nicholls sixth in 1:39:59, David Gaul seventh in 1:52.40 and Zeller and Bethany Winzenried tied for eighth in 2:10:46. Zeller would have finished around 30 minutes sooner but turned around to give friend Winzenried company on the running portion of the race.

Gaul, a recent graduate of the University of Colorado-Boulder in environmental biology with hopes of becoming a game warden, came to the triathlon with his father, Chuck, from their home in Pinedale. Chuck is the head swimming coach for the Sublette County USA swimming team, and David has been swimming nearly all of his life, he said. Indeed, the swimming leg was David’s strongest event as he emerged from the water in 11:48, the second fastest time after Bollinger.

He said he found the triathlon on Trifind.com and only trained for about a week before the race. It was his first triathlon.

David said he enjoyed swimming in Big Horn Lake because the water was much warmer than Fremont Lake above Pinedale, where he trained, and competing at 3,700 feet or so in elevation is easier than Pinedale at 7,200 feet, allowing him to recover quicker.

He said the steep section of the bicycle route was difficult but added, “The downhill was great. Wild horses watched me go by.” He said the running section “wasn’t too hard,” but by that time “you’re winded and the sun is beating down on you.”

There were no participants in the youth section of the triathlon this year.

Chuck said he will put out the word in Pinedale and would like to bring some of his swimmers to the event next year.

“My son, David, had a fantastic time and is excited to return next year,” Chuck Gaul said in an email to the Chronicle Sunday. “I am also enthusiastic to share this event with the Sublette County USA swim team,” adding that he would like to “bring some youth competitors and possibly teams of three.”