Carmel Valley Middle School athlete wins awards in several sports

Carmel Valley’s Natalie Wang is enjoying another stellar year in athletic events locally and across the country. Natalie, a 7th grade student at Carmel Valley Middle School, is a triathlete, cyclist and distance runner.

In triathlon, she was the State Champion (for her group) in the Spring Sprint Triathlon, Mini-Sprint Category, held May 6 in San Diego. Racing at the USA Triathlon Youth and Junior National Championships, in West Chester, Ohio, Aug. 5, she took 5th place in her group. For her excellence she was awarded the distinguished title of USA Triathlon All American. Competitors placing in the top 10 percent of USAT National Rankings earn this title. Natalie returned to San Diego and just competed again. She took 1st place overall in the Mini Sprint Category at the Mission Bay Triathlon Sept 30.

In cycling, Natalie won 1st in her age group at the Barrio Logan Grand Prix, San Diego, April 28. She then competed in two different cycling events at the national level. In the first event, she placed 2nd overall in her group at the USA Cycling Juniors Track National Championship, Trexlertown, Penn., July 7-8. In the three events comprising the overall results, Natalie took a first place, and two second place finishes. She quickly followed this by racing in the USA Cycling Amateur Road Cycling National Championship in Hagerstown Md., July 27-29. Racing in her group, Natalie took 4th place in the Road Event, and 5th place in the Criterium Event.

In running, Natalie took 1st overall female in the Carmel Valley 5K, held March 25. She is currently racing with the Carmel Valley Middle School cross country team. On Sept 27, competing in the Martin Luther King Cross Country Meet, she raced against 268 others in the 6/7 grade group and took 1st place.

Natalie, with her brother Aaron, a fourth grader at Carmel Del Mar Elementary School, enjoys competing in these races and strives to improve every race and every year. Aaron also competed in the Triathlon Nationals, placing 17th, and recently in the Mission Bay Triathlon, finishing 5th in his group in the Itsy Bitsy category.