Boyertown Triathlete Earns 5th National Podium at USA Triathlon National Championships

Boyertown triathlete Julianne Noonan capped a summer of success on the national stage, Saturday, reaching the podium of the USA Triathlon Olympic Distance National Championship in Milwaukee and with it, a trip to next year’s world championships.

Competing in the Women’s Olympic Distance Triathlon (Athena Division, 55+ age group) Noonan, 57, overcame a competitor’s kick to the torso during the swim, and then battled hot and humid conditions with temperatures reaching the mid-90s during the bike and run,  to earn the silver medal on the Lake Michigan lakefront course.

“I didn’t let the heat stop me,” said Noonan whose time of 4 hours, 13 minutes, 14 seconds bested the bronze medalist Denise Croucher (4:20:53) by over 7 minutes. Leslie Battle of Rhode Island, the 2024 national champion, repeated for the gold in 3:56:31.

“In these conditions it’s 100 percent a mental game,” said an elated Noonan. “Sometimes it’s just about who shows up and who deals better with the heat.”

Noonan’s podium finish qualifies her for an age-group slot in the event on Team USA where she will represent the United States next fall at the 2026 World Triathlon Championship Finals in Pontevedra, Spain.

In Olympic distance competition, athletes complete a 1,500 meter swim, followed by a 40 kilometer bike and a 10 kilometer run.

In what has become a national medal haul this year for Noonan, Saturday’s silver was her 5th national-level podium of the summer. She has already captured national titles in Aquathalon (Athena Division, 55+) and Super Sprint Duathlon (Athena Division, 55+ age group), along with bronze medals in Standard Aquabike (Athena Division, 55+ age group) and Super Sprint Triathlon Mixed Relay at the USA Triathlon Multisport National Championship Festival this June in Omaha.

Of the 121 competitors from the commonwealth racing last Saturday in Milwaukee, Noonan was among just two to reach the podium. Michael Phinney of Yardley won gold in Men’s Olympic Distance competition (men’s 40 - 44 age group).

With qualification slots on the line for the 2026 World Championships, some 2,900 age group triathletes and para triathletes from all 50 states and the District of Columbia competed in the national competition, August 8 - 10 in Milwaukee.   

[Editor's Note-- Press release provided by Mike  McQuaid, McQuaidUSA Sports Information.]

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About Julianne Noonan

by Lesley Misko

When Julianne Noonan first moved to the Boyertown area in 2002, she wasn’t sure country life was for her. After growing up on Long Island, New York, she was accustomed to having a grocery store within a few blocks’ walk. Her husband, who grew up in Phoenixville and had lived in the Boyertown area before, was eager to settle in a more rural place with land and a slower pace of life. Julianne admits she agreed reluctantly. “I thought our house would not sell,” she recalls with a laugh. But it did, and she soon found herself facing new realities of small-town living—including mistaking a groundhog in the driveway for a rat.

Life in Douglass-Berks ended up bringing far greater challenges. Six months after she began running in 2014, Julianne was diagnosed with breast cancer. Doctors said she would have to stop running during radiation and surgery, but she refused.

“I ran through my treatment,” she says. “There were so many things I couldn’t control—the cancer, the treatments, the pain. But I could control getting up, opening the door, and going outside. Some days it was only a slow walk, but I wasn’t going to let anything stop me.”

Her determination carried her not only through treatment but also into a new passion. In 2017, encouraged by her chiropractor, Dr. Fred Sylvester of New Hanover, Julianne competed in her first triathlon—and “fell in love” with the sport and the people she met. “The training community was so helpful and supportive. The people were glad to teach others,” she said.

Though she jokes that her early swimming form “wasn’t pretty,” she credits Boyertown’s Tina Schrode Fries with helping her improve. Since then, she has introduced others to the sport, mentoring them through the same learning curve. “There is a big focus right now on bringing more women into the sport,” she shares.

Now 10 years in cancer remission, Julianne is looking ahead to a busy calendar of races across the country and overseas, with plans to compete as far away as Kentucky, Spain, and Abu Dhabi.

Her most important victory, however, remains clear: “I ran my biggest race against cancer,” Julianne says.

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