Congratulations to Ella Crossman on earning the Athlete of the Month. Having spent her entire childhood spectating hundreds of triathlons, there was always a special one to her - Ironman Lake Placid. The spirit and beauty of this event drew her in so much that she made the decision after last year’s race (2023), that she was going to do it.

On July 21, 2024, Ella toed the line for her first real triathlon. No others in her resume. She knocked it out of the park!!! 13 hours and 29 minutes later she got to hear the call “YOU ARE AN IRONMAN”.

Her coach/dad has this to say…”I’m still a bit speechless, processing, and wrapping my extremely proud emotions around Ella’s accomplishment. This journey has been so good for her in so many ways. The consistency, the discipline, and the fun she brought to the course was infectious. I’m smiling writing this! As a parent - seeing your children thrive is ultimate gift. This is special. I am so proud of her!!!”

A:   Ella Crossman, South Glens Falls, NY

A:   21

A:   I am currently going into my last semester of college at Monmouth University and plan to pursue a career in Marketing after school.

A:   Well, I participated from age 5-12 then retired and came back at age 21!

A:   Life coaching 21 years, triathlon coaching 1 year!

Even though I feel like I have been coached by T3 and my dad forever it really just started this past year. However, I have always observed his coaching methods and made them applicable throughout my life, from visualizing which he instills in his varsity swimmers to his positivity pushes with his T3ers I have always picked up on how awesome of a coach he is and applied it where I could. From test taking, to tennis matches, to walking a mile whatever it is, lessons my dad has taught his athletes have also been transferable to me in many ways before triathlon!

A:   I have two answers one is the Musselman kids race because I was 8 years old and out sprinted a 12 year old boy at the finish and I just felt so proud of myself and will never forget that moment. But besides that Ironman Lake Placid because it was my first real triathlon and was just so much fun! I can’t even explain how much I loved it. People keep asking what was hard about the race or what part I didn’t enjoy and there was never a thought in my head that was like this is hard. It was so cool having over 30 T3ers out on course, I made it a game in my head to see how many people I could see and tried to hug and high five all them! Which just made each step of the course better!

A:   Definitely my sneakers. I am obsessed with shoes. It’s a problem and now I just have an excuse to get new ones all the time! I think I actually may need another pair to reward myself for finishing IMLP 😂

A:   I would say doing IMLP at age 21. A year ago running one mile was challenging for me and now to have done an Ironman a year later is pretty awesome. Pushing myself mentally and physically to do the ironman definitely is a highlight!

A:   Well my only goal was to finish IMLP and I did that so now it’s time to set some more. Since I had such an amazing experience I just want to sign up for every race but I know I can’t do that.

A:   To continue participating in triathlon while being able to balance happiness and improve my skills and times. I think I enjoyed my first so much because I had so much fun, I never want to loose that fun so continuing to have that long term will be key!

A:   I love sweets! When I’m at school I always get a sweet treat! But usually my favorite foods are strawberries, biscuits, and brussels sprouts!

A:   TAYLOR SWIFT, more Taylor Swift and even more Taylor Swift!

A:   To have FUN, trust your coach, make new friends, and believe in yourself!

A:   Having strawberries on your bike rides! I know it has low nutritional value but they are the best pick me up snack and so refreshing! Oh, and also give yourself random high-fives when you’re working out by yourself. When I run up a hill I always high-five myself and I just laugh out loud and usually if I’m down in that moment it just makes me feel better. (even better when a car is passing because then you feel embarrassed and are like did I really just do that in front of that car 😂)

A:   My favorite workouts are run workouts when there are speed changes based on PE with speed walking in them. I would say I loved these workouts for many reasons but I would say they helped me the most for IMLP and I received so many compliments on how good my speed walking was!

A:   Just how amazing T3 is. The support and generosity on this team is unreal from athletes and coaches loaning me equipment, and giving me advice and to the lifelong friendships I have made. Thank you to all of you!

T3 is also special to me because it has been apart of my life forever. I feel like just yesterday I was cheering on Coach Carl, Laurie Scheuing, Lonnie Halusic, Bob Stocks and so many others and now to be racing with them is just so crazy to me and so awesome!

My last thoughts are on how awesome my dad/coach is. One he showed me this sport, he made it look fun for me. He made me want to challenge myself to be apart of a community he built. It’s pretty special to say “My dad built a community” and I truly believe he did. He has made the sport so much fun and brought together a group of people I would consider family. This whole journey has made me realize how much goes into this sport and I really don’t know how anyone could do it without a team because I am pretty sure I have asked every teammate at least one question. If I didn’t have T3s support this journey would have been way more difficult and I have my dad to thank for bringing all of us together and coaching me for IMLP and getting me to the finish line much faster than I ever anticipated.