Alisha has joined forces with coach Sonni Dyer, founder and head coach at Studio 7 Multi Sport, to pave the way for her 2007 Triathlon season debut.

Sonni has watched Alisha develop into the cyclist she is today from her first year riding a bike in 2002. Alisha raced in the Lake Hickory Triathlon (her first ever) and placed 2nd, while Sonni won the men’s event. Ever since, Sonni has followed Alisha’s career, and said with a casual presence, “when you’re ready to focus on Triathlon and really go big time… you just give me a call.”

After 3 sucessful years as a professional cyclist (last year she finished 6th in the NRC rankings, despite racing only half of the calendar due to a separated shoulder), Alisha decided it was time to give Sonni a call after racing her first Half Ironman, the Duke Half, this fall (which she completed in a 4:42).

“Sonni was a natural choice for me when deciding on who to go with for the optimal multisport coach,” Lion says. “He’s seen me from my first days on the bike and he knows my background as a runner in college. The fact that he lives in Valdese where I grew up near Morganton just seals the deal.”

Dyer is a certified Level 1 USA Triathlon, USA Swimming, and USA Cycling Coach. He is a 6-time USAT All-American and a 2-time national champion in the sprint distance and iron distance triathlons. Dyer is looking forward to working with Alisha and thinks she has “unlimited potential. She’s as hard a worker as there comes and has an aerobic engine to match it.”

When asked about her upcoming season, Lion just smiles… “I have the best coaching and I live in a Triathlon Mecca. There’s miles of trails at Umstead Forest for running, open water swimming at Lake Jordan, great facilities for strength training at Impact Athletics, and there are miles of rolling, open roads that makes time on the bike fly by. Not to mention all the athletes in the area to train with. I’ve got everything a triathlete could dream of right in my backyard… what more could I ask for?”