The first triathlon of the Charleston Sprint Triathlon Series set the stage for some drama later this summer as some of the South Carolina coast's best triathletes put on an impressive display of early season fitness Sunday and likely whet the competitive appetites of many sprint triathlon regulars.
The highlights included the top seven male finishers breaking the coveted hour mark, the top two winning female times being faster than any of the women's winning times since July 6, 2003, and three of the youngest male finishers having times fast enough to place in some highly competitive male divisions.
And to top it all off, the triathlon's 302 finishers set a record for the most participants in the first triathlon of series, which is celebrating its 16th year.
Summerville's Gregg Cromer, 36, busted out of the gates as the overall winner with a time of 56 minutes, 28 seconds. He blew away his competition in the third event, a 5K run, with a time of 17:04. His victory, though, comes only after 25-year-old Zach Stroud, last year's sprint series champion, wrecked on his bike at around the mile 5 mark of the 13-mile bike. Despite a brake rubbing on one of his bike's tire rims, the skinned-up Stroud, a medical student, still managed to finished third overall.
The female's open/elite division featured a battle between Tracys.
Last year's series champion Tracy McKee, 32, of Charleston held off Tracy Dewitt, 33, of Daniel Island in the female open/elite division in a race in which both set sprint series personal records.
McKee, the second female finisher in Greenwood's Festival of Flowers Olympic Distance Triathlon on June 11, was timed in 1:02:52, while Dewitt finished in 1:03:28. After winning three of four sprints in the summer of 2004 but taking most of last year off, Dewitt appears to be re-emerging as a top female triathlete in the area. She was the first overall female in the East Cooper Coastal Triathlon in April.
A happy Father's Day
Another interesting aspect to Sunday's triathlon is the emergence of some very young talent.
In recent years, sprint triathlons have been fairly well dominated by athletes in their 30s and 40s (the exceptions being Stroud and Jenny Leiser, now 26.) But now some of those older top athletes have children who are entering the fray.
On Sunday, 13-year-old Ethan Ruckel (son of Eric Ruckel), 12-year-old Jack Felix (son of Nick Felix) and 14-year-old Wesley Mather (son of Tom Mather) finished 1-2-3 in the 15-and-under age group. Their respective times of 1:07:52, 1:08:13 and 1:08:29 were all good enough to finish in the top six or better of every male age group except the 40-44 age group.
"They raced with each other the whole way," said race director Paul King. "I am impressed with our up-and-coming super studs."
The other dates for the sprint series are July 9, July 30 and Aug. 13. Each event starts at 7:15 a.m. at James Island County Park. See www.charlestontriathlonclub.com for more information.
Coming up
TODAY AND THURSDAY - Lowcountry Running Form Clinics: 6 p.m.-7:30 p.m. Running coaches Irv Batten and Brian Johnson will hold one-day clinics this month on running form. The clinics will include individual instruction, video analysis of running form, drills and exercises to improve form. Meet at the On the Run running store in Mount Pleasant. Call the store at 856-4206 or Johnson at 452-5651 for more information.
THURSDAY - Charleston Running Club monthly meeting: 7 p.m. Zeus Grill & Seafood, 721 Johnnie Dodds Boulevard, Mount Pleasant. Speaker Kyle Radaker, an exercise and sports science consultant, will talk about VO2-based training, nutrition and improving athletic performance.
SATURDAY - Lowcountry Splash: 8:30 a.m. $40. A 2.4-mile open water swim from Hobcaw Yacht Club to Charleston Harbor Marina. See www.lowcountrysplash.com for more information. Register at www.active.com
Results
The Creekside Kids Triathlon was held Saturday in Mount Pleasant. 63 participated.
OVERALL (ages 11-14): Male - Corbin Jones 26:09. Female - Haley Guyton 29:08. OVERALL (ages 7-10): Male - Brayden Leopold 16:54. Hannah Whitaker 17:55. AGE GROUPS (top male and female): Age 7- George Charles 21:37. Logan Kraft 18:25.Age 8 - Chesapeake Charles 18:55. Erin O'Hearn 17:58. Age 9 - Trace Hall 17:13. Sarah Stansell 18:00. Age 10 - Cameron Bolton 17:17. Claire Scanga 18:40. Age 11 - Eric Davidson 34:04. Martha Charles 35:02. Age 12 - Layne Mather 29:14. Alexa Leopold 33:23. Age 13 - No participants. Age 14 - Wesley Mather 27:14. No female.
The 16th Charleston Sprint Triathlon Series Race No. 1 was held Sunday at James Island County Park. 302 finished. See www.charlestontriathlonclub.com for complete results.
OVERALL: Male - Gregg Cromer 56:28, Nick Felix 57:06, Zachary Stroud 57:44, Jerry Rothschild 58:05, Dawson Cherry 58:32. Female - Tracy McKee 1:02:52, Tracy Dewitt 1:03:28, Betsy Reves 1:10:50. MASTERS (age 40-up): Male - Brian Allain 1:01:23. Female - Nancy Thomas 1:07:25. CLYDESDALE (top male, 200 pounds-up) - Rick Christensen 1:09:27. ATHENA (top female, 150 pounds-up) - Melanie Stuart 1:14:49. AGE GROUP (top male and female): 15-under - Ethan Ruckel 1:07:52. Haley Guyton 1:20:35. 16-19 - Tyler Hassig 1:12:45. Ashley Jones 1:20:05. 20-24 - Tyler Hawes 1:03:18. Marybeth Merrill 1:16:11. 25-29 - Joel Blaxland 1:04:55. Beth Shutt 1:08:32.30-34 - Christopher Rudek 1:01:16. Kirsten Scott 1:09:05. 35-39 - Jim Daniel 1:03:33. Simone Castiller 1:04:39. 40-44 - Edwin Kohn 1:02:17. Jane West 1:10:45. 45-49 - Don Leech 1:03:57. Janet Thiel 1:19:03. 50-54 - Rick James 1:03:39. Nancy James 1:20:52. 55-59 - Don Altman 1:13:13. No female. 60-64 - Keith Douglass 1:14:23. No female. 65-69 - Donald Blanchard 1:27:30. Iris Dayoub 1:41:02. 70-74 - Michael Dayoub 1:27:38. No female. 75-99 - William Boulter 1:24:19. No female.
