KELOWNA, B.C. – Saskatchewan age groupers showed their might at the 28th Annual Apple
Triathlon on August 21 and 22, 2010. With a contingent of 25 racers as old as eight years and young as 59 waving the green and yellow flag, the top male finisher in the Sprint distance category was Kevin Sutton of Saskatoon who received a gold medal in the Male 50-54 category, with a time of 1:08:00, a full two minutes and 44 seconds ahead of the next place finisher. He also ranked 11th of a total 378 racers.
Saskatchewan had a number of racers finish among the top 25 Olympic distance racers including Alyosha Boldt of Saskatoon earning a bronze in the Male 20-24 age group with a time of 2:08:03 and placing 24th in a field of 362 racers, and Jeff Hehn of Saskatoon also earned a bronze in the Male 45-49 group with a time to 2:08:03 and placing 25th overall.
Among Saskatchewan women in the Olympic distance category, Nadine Brenaut of Saskatoon earned a bronze in the Female 20-24 age group with a time of 2:27:47 and finishing 25th of 236 racers. Emma Bandol of Regina placed 4th in the Female 30-34 category with a time of 2:27:28 and placing 23rd overall. Sue Ashburner of Saskatoon received silver in the Female 55-59 category with a time of 2:46:18.
Here are the results for other Saskatchewan age group racers.
Sprint Distance
(750m swim, 20k bike, 5k run)
Curtis Merrifield, Rosetown 1:19:09
Margaret Ollett, Indian Head 1:58:33
Olympic Distance
(1500m swim, 40k bike, 10k run)
Chris Malin, Saskatoon 2:17:48
Navarra Good, Saskatoon 2:36:57
Maja Kralovcova, Regina 2:42:07
Try-a-Tri
(300m swim, 15k bike, 3k run)
Terry Hooper, Regina 1:08:54
Natalie Good, Regina 1:12:52
Six Saskatchewan Junior Elites Compete in Kelowna
Saskatchewan had four males and two females competing in this category. The race took place on a pleasant Kelowna day. No wet suits were allowed for the Jr. Elites as the water temp was 21. The bike course was quite technical with lots of cornering.
Males (38 competitors)
Joel Howlett lead the way for Sask with a 5th place finish. Two BC athletes lead from the start with the chase pack, which Joel was a part of, working hard to try and catch them. Although experiencing some cramping in the swim and the bike, Joel was able to maintain a strong run. Joel had two top five finishes this season. His exciting racing has brought much attention to our province. This was Joel's last Junior Elite race as he ages up to the under 23 category.
Sean Hooper, in only his second Jr. Elite race, had his strongest race of the year finishing 30th of 38 athletes. Sean did not get out of the swim with a group so found himself biking alone for the 20k. He finished strong and was very happy with his result.
Robert Bigsby and Aiden Katz were not able to finish the race. Robert had his strongest swim and bike of the year. He came out of the water and started with the 2nd chase pack. Dropped from this, he worked very hard to stay with the third chase pack. Early into the run, however, he started cramping and could not continue.
Aiden received some blows during the swim and felt this throught the bike. He decided to stop after the bike as he was in pain. Robert and Aiden in their first year of Junior elite and Sean in his second, gained some valualbe experience in this race.
1st Matt Sharpe BC 56:18
5th Joel howlett SK 57:48
30th Sean Hooper SK 1:06.55
Females (22 competitors)
Abby Miller had to work very hard to catch up after her swim. She caught on to a pack and, as she has done all season, pulled well to keep her pack in the race. Her run split was 5th fastest giving her a strong 9th place finish. This was her third top ten finish this year. Abby has one year remaining in the Junior category.
Joanne Traves, in only her 2nd year of triathlon, finsihed in the top ten with a 10th place finish. She swam very well and got out with the chase pack girls. Not quite able to hang onto the pack, she biked alone for much of the race. She ran well and put in her best race of the year. Joanne,will move into the under 23 catergory next year
1st Joanna Brown ON 1:01.48
9th Abby Miller SK 1:07.50
10th Joanne Traves Sk 1;09.19
Senior Elite
Rachael Edwards raced up in the senior category to get one Olympic distance race under her belt before next year. She was a part of a strong Canadian field including Paula Findlay and Kirsten Sweetland. Rachael swam very well emerging with the chase pack. Some minor gearing difficulties slowed her down just enough for the chase pack to gain some time on her. She dropped back a few packs and was able to avoid 2 crashes that took athletes out of the race. Rachael finished 17th of 26 overall and 9 of 13 under 23 women.
Kids of Steel
Saskatchewan had 6 young athletes competing in the youth category with some very impressive results. We also had three younger competitors who had very strong races.
12/13 yr. old females (35 competitors)
1st Keisha Besler
5th Tianna Dodds
12/13 yr. old males (31 competitors)
1st Brammon Edwards
3rd Brennen Smith
14/15 yr. old females (23 competitors)
9th Nicole Cripps
16th Jessica Hooper
8/9 yr old boys (32 competitors)
13th Josiah Besler
10/11 yr. old boys (23 competitors)
11th Benjamin Katz
10/11 yr. old girls(34 competitors)
10th Micaiah Besler