By USA Triathlon

USA Triathlon has announced that Celeste Callahan and Gina Kehr have been appointed to its Board of Directors.

Callahan replaces Dan Empfield as the Western Region representative. Kehr replaces Susie Gallucci as the elite athlete representative. Both Empfield and Gallucci resigned from the Board in November. Callahan and Kehr’s terms will expire on July 1, 2005, but they can run for re-election.

Under USA Triathlon’s bylaws, the Board must appoint replacements when members resign. Replacements for elite athlete Board members are appointed by the Athlete Advisory Council.

“The USA Triathlon Board of Directors is excited to have these two dynamic women join our ranks,” said Board President Brad Davison. “We look forward to working with them.”

Callahan, of Denver, Colo., has been involved in triathlon for 20 years. She has been a perennial member of Team USA since 1991. In 2002, she won gold at the International Triathlon Union Triathlon World Championships in Cancun, Mexico. The same year, she won a bronze medal at the duathlon world championships in Alpharetta, Ga. She is the current duathlon national champion in her age group. Callahan and three teammates hold the inaugural record for Team Race Across America for women over 50.

A three-time Hawaii Ironman finisher, Callahan did a fourth Ironman distance race in Israel in 1999 to celebrate five years free from cancer.

Away from the races, Callahan is a charter member and co-chairman of Judy Flannery Memorial Fund, which was established following the tragic death of Flannery, the first Women’s Commission chair, in 1997. Callahan is also one of the founding members of the USAT Women’s Commission.

Gina Kehr, of Redwood City, Calif., did her first triathlon in 1994 and became and elite/professional triathlete in 1998. Since then, she has found success at triathlon distances from Olympic to Ironman.

Some of Kehr’s athletic accomplishments include top-five finishes at the 2001, 2002 U.S. elite/pro national championships, and eighth at the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials. She has finished second at Ironman France, Ironman USA (Lake Placid, N.Y.) and Ironman Germany. She has competed at the Ironman World Championships six times, with her top finish being seventh in 2003.

Away from competition, Kehr is very involved with the Silicon Valley Triathlon Club, where she serves as a track coach. She also speaks to various Bay Area triathlon clubs. She has also served USA Triathlon as president of the Athlete Advisory Council, which supports elite multi-sport athletes.

In other Board news, Eastern Region representative Rob Kasper has taken over as Board vice president.