TRIATHLON - Comeback after jaw broken

ERYN LOVELL is on the comeback after missing out on the national secondary schools triathlon last year due to injury.
The injury wasn't the normal type of athlete's injury. She was unable to compete after she was involved in an accident at the beach.
"I got my jaw broken in a beach buggy crash.
"The accelerator got jammed and we went into a ditch, and that kept me out of action for a while," she said.
Lovell is yet another Northland triathlete who is beginning to make waves at a national level.
With triathletes like Samantha Warriner and Nicky Samuels leading the way, it's easy to see why Lovell took up the sport here - and now the 16-year-old is beginning to forge success of her own.
"Northland's a pretty good place area for triathletes - we've got all the natural advantages we need, the beaches to swim and run on, and, of course, easy roads for cycling," she said.
Last week was a successful week for Lovell after she placed ninth in the senior secondary-school division of the New Zealand Duathlon Championships in Auckland. She followed the result up midweek with a win in the Northland Secondary Schools Cross Country Championships at Barge Park.
Like many triathletes, Lovell started off as a distance runner, running in harriers and cross country races, but unlike other burgeoning triathletes, she had a head start in swimming.
"I started off doing a lot of swimming as a kid even before I was a runner, so it was pretty easy to get back into it again," she said.
The Kamo High School sixth-former said cycling was her toughest challenge of the three disciplines that make up triathlon.
"I've been spending between three and five hours a week on the bike and working really hard to try and improve my cycling, which has always been the weakest of the three," she said.
Lovell, who is coached by Ian Babe, joined the Marsden Wheelers club and said the support she'd received from the club and the Whangarei Triathlon Club had been encouraging, and had made the hours of training more fun.
The top-10 finish amongst a top field in last week's duathlon, made up of cycling and running legs, was also encouraging for Lovell, considering one of her strengths is swimming.
Her aim for the upcoming season of competition is to finish in the top 10 at the national secondary schools triathlon, come the beginning of next year.
Last week's result proves she's on pace.