Ashley Whitney

A Nashville native, Ashley has been a competitive swimmer for 23 years. She competed at the masters, age group, national, NCAA, international, and Olympic levels. Using her training and experience in competitive swimming, Ashley competed in her first triathlon in 2004. She has since gone on to complete two Ironman distance events and short course races around the county and world. Most recently, she was the first women out of the water at the inaugural 2007 Ironman Louisville in a blazing time of 47:12.

In addition to competing in triathlon, Ashley uses her swimming background to introduce new faces to the sport of swimming and triathlon.  She currently coaches age group, summer league, high school and Vanderbilt swim teams and is head coach of the very popular Excel triathlete and beginner swim programs.

Wil Emery

Wil lives and breathes the sport of triathlon. He has served as an Exercise Physiologist for a hospital, as a personal trainer to many in Nashville and works part time at ACME Multisports. Wil was a member of the 2005 and the 2006 USAT Team USA. He qualified for the National Championship each of the years 2003-2005 and qualified for the Long Course World Championship for 2005 and 2006.  

In 2007 Wil took his game to the next level.  With a top finish at the Buffalo Springs Triathlon he qualified for the 2007 Hawaii Ironman World Championships.  He went 9:58:09 in Hawaii to cap off a spectacular season.

• 2006 USAT Master's Triathlete of the Year
• 2006 USAT-SE Region Male Triathlete of the Year
• 2006 USAT National Masters Sprint Champion
• Triathlete Magazine's 2006 Master Triathlete of the Year
• 2001 USAT National Age Group Champion
• 2001 USAT Age Group Triathlete of the Year
• 2001 5th Overall (2nd 35-39) at ITU World Championships

Bruce is a graduate of the University of Alabama where he was an NCAA All-American swimmer and Olympic Trials qualifier in the 400 m free.  He has been married for 12 years to Tammy and is the father of two boys, Ian (5) and Noah (2).  Bruce works as a Healthcare Manager for Emdeon Business Services.

Shelby Sheffield – 4 time Hawaii Ironman Finisher

Shelby has competed at the Hawaii Ironman World Championships for the past four years and twice finished on the podium – 3rd 25-29 in 2003 and 5th 25-29 in 2004.  She won the St. Croix Half Ironman in 2004 and is a perennial top finisher at high profile Half Ironman distance events such as Half Vineman and Ralph’s Oceanside 70.3. Shelby has also won numerous Regional events, represented TN at the Best of the US Championships and competed at two ITU Triathlon World Championships.  She rates finishing her first Ironman event (Ironman USA Lake Placid) two days after taking the Tennessee State Bar Exam as a career highlight.  Shelby is a native of Louisville, Kentucky and plans to compete at the inaugural Ironman Louisville in 2007.  She is an attorney with the law firm Waller Lansden in Nashville, TN.

Brent was an All-Ivy swimmer at Harvard University and has coached swimming at the University of California, Berkeley and the Novaquatics Swim Team.  He has won the Wildflower Olympic and Pacific Coast Triathlons, and has been the first overall amateur at California Half Ironman, Utah Half Ironman and Half Vineman.  Brent has also had good performances at several Ironman distance events such as Ironman France and the Hawaii Ironman World Championships.  When he can take time away from his medical studies at Vanderbilt you can find him competing in some of the top USAT-SE Regional events.

Craig started his athletic career as a swimmer specializing in butterfly and mid-distance freestyle.  He picked up on triathlons after graduating from Western Kentucky University.  After several successful seasons as an amateur triathlete, Craig recently turned pro and specializes in off-road racing.  He has competed in some of the World’s most grueling triathlons and is well known on the Xterra circuit.  He was a teammate with Bruce Gennari in winning the multi-day 2006 DeSoto Triple T Triathlon.  Craig works as a pharmaceutical sales rep, writes for Inside Track magazine and enjoys being a new father.