Regretfully, last year’s New England series was cancelled due to COVID and race cancellations, and as such, no New England MVP’s were awarded. But with the return of this small but strategically important series, so to was the individual MVP competition. The New England MVP title is known as the ‘Nonhebel King Medal’ in honour of the first ever winners of the New England MVP title, Heather Nonhebel and Jacqueline King.
It was Lauren Ferguson, representing the Tamworth Tigers who asserted her dominance and became the Queen of the New England jungle taking home her maiden overall victory. Her 3 individual Performance Point was enough to secure victory over 5 athletes who were all tied for second – including Heather Nonhebel and Peter Hancock who shared the individual honours for the Armidale Armidillos and Paul Nixon from the Moree Mongooses.
Lauren was struggling to wipe the smile off her face when news came through of her individual victory. “This victory motivates and encourages me to persist in the sport despite the delicate balance between other commitments” Lauren stated.
But like all athletes, she gives plenty of credit to those around her, and first thanks goes to the “super wonderful local Tamworth Triathlon Club, led by Warren Ansell and Greg Poetschka:. She was sure to thank them both for their advice and training sessions and continued commitment to keeping the club amazing. Lauren also extended thanks to her physiotherapist and off course her wonderful family and training buddies because like her, they are “tough, hardworking and great company”. She also wanted to thank TriFreedom for introducing her to the sport and combining encouragement with an epic reason to train including raising money to fight Human Trafficking.
And as for her plans for next season? She wants to race faster, improve her transitions and most importantly, coax other women towards to beauty that is swim, bike, run.
Inverell and Gunnedah athletes did not feature in the New England MVP’s.
Check out the full ladder: The Nonhebel King Medal (New England) – INTERCLUB (nswtriathlonclubseries.com)
