Ryan Gundling and Amy Robbins took top honors at the fourth annual Shenandoah Valley Sprint Tri for the Y sponsored by the Waynesboro Family YMCA on Sunday.

Gundling finished the course – which included a 400-meter swim, a 14.9-mile bike ride and a 5K run – in 1:06;59, breaking the line nearly three and a half minutes ahead of Aaron Allen, whose 1:10:27 was good enough to take the top spot in the men’s 35-44 category.

Mark Robbins was first in the men’s 45-plus category with a time of 1:11;28.

Robbins took the top spot among women with a time of 1:21:39. Emily Sherrill was second among women with a time of 1:24:29.

Robbins’ time was good enough to place her eighth overall among the 68 competitors who took part.

“Everyone is a winner here. The people who competed, the YMCA, we’re all winners. This was a great event, and we’re pleased to see this take off the way it has,” said Jeff Fife, the executive director of the Waynesboro Family YMCA.

The event was co-sponsored by Elevation Athletics.

Photos from event day: Click here.
Final results at www.WaynesboroYMCA.com.

Rilinger is a former star basketball player at the Y who went on to a stellar career at James Madison University and a pro career that included a stint in the WNBA.

Following her basketball career, Rilinger turned to the world of fitness, where she holds numerous professional certifications and is a contributing editor for Fitness Magazine.

The event starts at the Ridgeview Park pool with a 400 meter swim, then you’ll hop on your bike for a 15 mile ride which is absolutely stunning…the ride takes you out into Stuarts Draft past the McKee factory (smelling those cakes baking halfway through the race really keeps you going!) and Waynesboro Nursey, then back to the park where you start a 5K run through the park and right past the Waynesboro Country Club.

It’s a huge sense of accomplishment to complete this Tri alone, but if you’re looking for a more low key experience or would like to compete with some friends you can also do the event as a relay! We have a few relays every year where families or groups of friends get together and split up the race…another great option for enjoying this event!

We’re offering a $10 discount if you sign up this week…just go to http://www.elevation-athletics.com and click “Register Now” to sign up and when you get to the registration page enter the code “TRI4Y2013″ to apply thediscount.

We hope to see you come out and support the Y on June 2nd. Please feel free to let me, or Lee Robertson (lee@elevation-athletics.com) know if you have any questions.

Column by Jeff Fife

McLain is learning how to play the guitar by practicing on “Ode to Joy” at the Valley Music Academy through a program sponsored by the Waynesboro YMCA and the Waynesboro Rotary Club. The guitars are provided courtesy of the Fender Foundation, which has supplied instruments for children enrolled in the YMCA’s childcare program to use in classes at the Valley Music Academy in Waynesboro.

“The next phase is not just lessons, but these kids are going to have the opportunity to take the guitars home with them. Now that we’ve got the amps, an opportunity to sort of rent it and go home and practice,” said Jeff Fife, the executive director at the YMCA, which has been sending childcare students to the Valley Music Academy for guitar classes since early April.

Instructor Greg Moody is focusing his initial lessons on the basics, “just learning how to hold the guitar, learning some basic notes.”

“We’re just sort of introducing kids to the guitar,” Moody said.

For McLain, “it’s really cool because you get to learn a bunch of songs, and you can learn something that you’ve never done before. I’ve only done the recorder. It’s actually really fun,” she said.

Fellow Y childcare participant Nikki Fisher said “it’s really fun to learn guitar. And it’s a great opportunity to get it for free.”

Christian Carter is “starting to get the hang of it.”

“I just really don’t quite get the last part. I think I’m pretty good at it, but sometimes I mess up in the beginning. But I’m starting to get better at it,” said Carter, who is looking forward to getting his own guitar some day.

That may also happen due to the joint YMCA-Valley Music Academy-Waynesboro Rotary Club campaign. Participants who volunteer their time at the Y and show progress in class can earn a guitar, said Fife.

“So we’re exposing them to a love of music, we’re encouraging them to practice more at home, and then we add a volunteer component. We might have some future guitar heroes behind us!” Fife said.

Latin Dancing has a fast tempo style which is a great way to have fun and exercise. It’s movements strengthens the core muscles and engages the lower body with an emphasis on glutes. These movements are effective for lifting and toning your butt and thighs. Latin Dance also builds the engages your entire core, your stomach, back, hip and pelvic muscles with emphasis on your waistline. Latin dance steps can be done individually or with a partner, making this style of dance great for exercise or social dances.  For this class, there is no partner required.  Join this class and you will see that the Waynesboro Family Y is a fun place to be healthy.

When:

Where: Ridgeview Park – Waynesboro, VA

Distance: Sprint -  400 M Swim / 14.9 Mile Bike / 5K Run

Welcome to the fourth annual Shenandoah Valley Sprint Tri for the Y.  Over the past three years this event has created a professional, competitive and community-oriented triathlon, all while raising money for the Waynesboro YMCA.  Proceeds for this event will go directly to the Waynesboro Family YMCA as they continue to work tirelessly to build strong kids, strong families and a strong community. Click Here to Read More

The following swimmers qualified for and swam at Senior Champs: Jessie Arnold (age 16), Bobby Carey (15), Norah Hunt (15), Hunter McMillon (15), Justin Merritt (15), Cody Niles (17), Remedy Rule (16), Alex Rayle (17), Max Tempkin (15) and Jake Zamalis (15).

Arnold started out the championship meet with a second place finish in the mile and a new SMAC record of 16:50.  Arnold broke the record set by Rule last year.  Arnold and Rule are the only SMAC girls in SMAC history to swim sub 17 minutes in the mile.  Arnold also place 2nd in the 1000 free lowering her record set last year and achieving a Junior National Qualifying time.  Arnold had all best times and placed 2nd in the 200 back and 500 free.  Rule just missed winning the overall high point award for the 2nd year in a row.  She finished second with 104 individual points, just 3 behind the winner, who is headed to swim at Auburn next year.  Rule placed 1st in the 400 IM and 200 fly and lowered her SMAC records she set last year in both races.  Rule also placed 2nd in 50 free and 3rd in the 200 free and 1,000 and 4th in the 100free, which tied her SMAC record from last year.  Rayle was the other SMAC record breaker who dropped over 2 seconds off his best time in the 200 breast stroke, from an end lane, and won the B finals for a 9th place finish.  Rayle also scored points for the team by finishing 11th in the 1,000 free.  Hunt scored points by placing 9th in the mile and 16th in the 1,000 and McMillon placed 16th in the 1,000 and 13th in the mile.

Other highlights included Niles dropping time in both of his distance events, Tempkin breaking 2 minutes in his 200 fly and Carey dropping over 2 seconds off his best time in the 200 free.

Congratulations to all of the swimmers on very successful Senior Championship Meet. The Team will be sending the 14 and under swimmers to the Age Group State Championships in Christiansburg March 8-11 and all who qualify will be heading to YMCA Nationals in early April.

The SMAC swim team is a Waynesboro Y program and practices are held at the Waynesboro Y and at Augusta Health.  For more information regarding SMAC swimming contact Coach Norm Wright, Director of Competitive Swimming at the Waynesboro Y at 942-5107 or email him at normw@smacswimming.org

For more information about SMAC, please visit their website: http://www.smacswimming.org/

The Waynesboro Family YMCA has entered into a partnership with Valley Music Academy and the Fender Foundation to introduce the benefits of music to the Y’s Afterschool Childcare program.   The Fender Foundation is generously donating guitars to the YMCA for this program and have served over 147,000 people through school programming, music therapy, and community music since 2005.

Valley Music Academy (http://valleymusicacademy.org/), will be providing quality instruction and looks forward to enriching the lives of the Y’s Afterschool program through music.    Youth enrolled in the Y’s Afterschool Childcare program in grades 4^th – 6^th will meet every Wednesday after school and the students will have the opportunity to practice at home and even have the guitar donated to them if they meet certain practice and volunteer requirements.

“We’re extremely excited to partner with Fender and Valley Music Academy”, said Executive Director, Jeffrey D Fife.  “They are our next door neighbors and we have similar missions in terms of connecting and impacting the lives of area youth”.

Rebecca Patton, the Y’s Director of Childcare said the children are excited, “They can’t wait to get started and have been asking me about it daily – most of them have never even held a guitar and only taken music lessons through school for a recorder”.

Valley Music Academy and the YMCA are looking for sustainable funding for the program to cover the costs of the instruction but the guitars are already at the Y – ready to be played and loved!

The Waynesboro Family YMCA has an array of Water Aerobics, Lap Swimming and Open Swim times to meet your needs. And remember you can always add your water workout to your ActivTrax plan.  Take a Look at our Pool Schedule to find what times fit your schedule.

February Pool Schedule 2013

We will learn some simple moves (no more than 3 per song), jazz it up to make it yours, and have fun.  No worries about left or right, coordination, or having 2 left feet.  This class is super simple to follow for all ages and fitness levels.  Simply taking this class or in combination with strength training and you will see results.

We will be have a Body Groove Class on February 9, 2013 at 10 am and February 20, 2013 at noon.  At the Y, a supportive community is a big part of fitness and wellness. You’ll find people just like yourself trying to live life a little bit healthier – at every age and stage of life, at every level of activity.

Check out our Group Fitness Schedule for February 2013.

Body Grove is a group exercise class designed with dance and fun in mind.