Much like the sometimes gusty winds during the bicycle portion of the race, the winners of the second annual Heritage International Triathlon breezed past the competition Saturday morning.
Scott Molina and Erin Baker held steady with other competitors during the swimming and bicycling legs, then blew by the pack in the 10-mile cross-country run, which finished up in Provo's 7 Peaks Resort Water Park, to win their respective divisions by impressive margins.Molina, a 29-year-old from Boulder, Colo., clocked in at two hours, 58 minutes and 17 seconds, easily besting Flagstaff, Ariz., native Nick Martin's 3:00:27 to win the men's elite division of the triathlon.
The 28-year-old Baker, also from Boulder, ran a 3:13:16 to beat out fellow Boulder native Colleen Cannon's 3:18:16 for the women's elite championship.
As expected, Arizonans Brett Rose and Garrett McCarthy held an impressive lead heading into the biking competition after turning in blazing performances in the 2K (or 1.2 mile) swim across Utah Lake. However, their lead was short-lived as Molina and Clark Campbell, from Lawrence, Kansas, wheeled past opponents during the 41.9-mile bicycle trek.
Molina and Campbell traded leads several times throughout the race, which took competitors through Springville, Spanish Fork and Mapleton, and had some rough going early with traffic heading the opposite direction.
Campbell actually held a four-second lead entering the cross-country portion before falling into a respectable fifth place with a time of 3:03:42. Molina, however, excelled in the road race's 95-plus temperatures and padded his lead comfortably before breaking the victor's ribbon.
Baker, who is Molina's fiancee, led after the bike leg and maintained her lead throughout the competition.
"I felt fine. It was fun," Molina remarked after finishing. He said he actually felt stronger heading into the run than any of the other portions.
Despite the noticeable absence of last year's winners, Mike Pigg and Sylviane Puntous, who abdicated due to a lack of appearance funds, chairman Suzanne Borcherds said the race (much longer than last year's) was run very well.
"I'm kind of disappointed about some of the national athletes because of fees, but hopefully this new course is better," Borcherds said. "It went better with the longer course. If the run had been flatter (it was run in foothills in Provo Canyon), we would have had complaints."
The victory was especially sweet for Molina and Baker, who lost last year's competition in a very close race. The two remarked, however, that victories over last year's champions might have been sweeter.
Winners divided up shares of the advertised $90,000 prize money, the richest triathlon booty in the state. In addition to the elite winners, Fernando Giaccaglia of Cardiff, Calif., took the amateur men's crown, while Alice Godfred of Anchorage, Alaska, ran her way to the amateur women's throne.
Other top finishers in the men's elite division were Jeff Devlin, who finished third with 3:00.37; and Tony Schiller, fourth, 3:03.13. Medford, Mass., resident Karen Smyers took third in women's elite with a 3:20:08, while Julie Olson and Beth Mitchell took fourth and fifth, respectively, with times of 3:21:02 and 3:23:26.
Salt Lake's Tom Jones III was the top Utah finisher, 12th in men's elite, with a respectable 3:08:07.