Sabrina Oei '97 and Neal McLaughlin '81 qualify for Triathlon World Championships

The first time Sabrina Oei and Neal McLaughlin met was at the 2006 Boulder Peak Triathlon McLaughlin had noticed that Oei had participated in the swimming event while wearing a Williams bathing suit and he struck up a conversation.

Friends of Oei have dubbed that triathlon "The Bear Triathlon" as Oei came rocketing down a hill and crashed into a bear that had wondered on to the course. Oei, was banged up a little and bruised in the encounter, but otherwise nonplussed. She has continued to elevate her training level for triathlons since.

At Williams Sabrina Oei was a two-time All-American diver and lettered in tennis, while Neal McLaughlin was a member of the Eph soccer team.

The photo accompanying this article is from the Age Group National Championships held in Portland, Oregon in September.  What McLaughlin and Oei discovered at this race is that they have the same coach! Melissa Mantak, a former professional triathlete and one of the top Level 3 (highest level) coaches in the U.S.

Coach Mantak must have been pleased with her two Eph pupils after the Age Group Nationals as both McLaughlin and Oei posted results that punched their tickets to the 2009 World Triathlon championships in Queensland, Australia.

"Nationals was a great race for both of us," said Oei. "It was Olympic distance (1500-meter swim, 40K bike, 10K run) and Neal finished 20th in his age group [45-49] in a time of 2:15:04 and I finished 9th in my age group [30-34] in 2:20:35 to qualify for the Triathlon World Championships next September."

After Portland, it was off to Rimini, Italy for Oei where she competed with Team USA in the Duathlon World Championships. 
This event was contested with a 10K run, 40K bike and a 5K run.
Oei finished 43rd overall among women (9th American) and 15th in her age group (4th American).

"Since it's my first year with a coach and as a serious competitor, I'm pretty pleased, though there is still lots to improve on," noted Oei.  "As a former diver, my swimming is pretty poor. I wish I had taken better advantage of Coach Sam and the amazing Eph swimmers of my day for some tips!"