Posted: April 26, 2004

Triathlon: St. Anthony's Triathlon Welcomes Largest Field Ever

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (April 25, 2004) - With a brand new venue at Vinoy Park, new race course and more than 1,000 additional athletes than last year, St. Anthony's kicked off its 21st annual triathlon early Sunday morning in downtown St. Petersburg. The first wave of professional male competitors entered the 75-degree waters of Tampa Bay at 7:30 a.m. By the time the last wave of relay teams entered the water at 9 a.m., temperatures were soaring into the high 80's and kept more than 250 volunteers busy distributing beverages and refreshing athletes with iced towels.

Once completing the 1.5K (0.9-mile) swim, athletes transitioned into the 40K (24.8-mile) bike portion throughout downtown St. Petersburg. After completing the final transition into the 10K (6.2-mile) run, spectators lined both sides of the finish line to cheer on athletes at the end of their almost 32-mile competition.

The professional triathletes from "down under" finished on top with wins for Australian natives Craig Walton, 28, and Michellie Jones, 34.

Walton overcame a serious mishap running out of the first transition when he realized that he left his bike shoes at home. After setting his bike down, Walton ran back into the transition area to put his running shoes on before trying to catch up with his competitors during the 26-mile bike.

> "It was stupid. It was the first time this has ever happened to me," Walton said. "I almost didn't think I was going to finish this race, but I wanted to try. My legs were really sore from having to pump during the entire ride. I thought I even tore a hamstring."

It was an entirely different experience for seven-time winner Michellie Jones, the most decorated professional triathlete in St. Anthony's Triathlon history.

"I really enjoyed the new course," Jones said. "It's fun to go around the corners at high speed." Jones shrugged off questions regarding the possibility of getting her wins at St. Anthony's to the double-digit level with a "you never know" response and a smile.

Australians Miles Stewart, 32, and Richie Cunningham, 30, rounded out the top three overall places with an exciting photo finish. After reviewing timing and video footage, their finish was less than a thousandth of a second apart and the judges awarded them a tie for second place.

Jessi Stensland, 27, and Desiree Ficker, 27, both from the United States finished second and third, respectively.

Several recovering athletes who were hit by an automobile last year participated in the triathlon, including the mixed relay team, St. Anthony's Rehab Warriors. Those members included Kip Vosburgh (bike) and Wendy Tocha (run) - Troy Altomare filled in for Tony Forte on the swim, who was unable to compete due to recent surgery on his leg. The St. Anthony's Rehab Warriors placed 11th overall out of 45 mixed relay teams, with a time of 2:38:58.

St. Anthony's Triathlon culminated a weekend of events in Vinoy Park that included a sold-out Meek & Mighty Triathlon, pasta dinner and sports expo.

Event results are available by visiting www.satriathlon.com.

     1     1 Craig Walton         28 San Diego       CA 1:50:47
     2     2 Richie Cunningham    30 Burliegh Heads     1:51:38
     2     3 Miles Stewart        32 Stuart          FL 1:51:38
     4     4 Craig Alexander      30 Sydney             1:51:56
     5     5 Kerry Classen        31 Bend            OR 1:53:28
     6     6 Timothy O'Donnell    23 Oakland         CA 1:54:14
     7     7 Luke McKenzie        22 Scottsdale      AZ 1:54:29
     8     8 Matthew Clark        23 Gymea Bay          1:54:42
     9     9 Cameron Brown        31 Auckland           1:54:55
   10   10  Viktor Zyemtsev         31   Dade City  FL   1:55:15

     1    32 Michellie Jones      34 Carlsbad        CA 2:04:41
     2    40 Jessi Stensland      27 San Diego       CA 2:05:45
     3    45 Desiree Ficker       27 Austin          TX 2:06:32
     4    52 Tara Ross            23 Victoria        BC 2:08:13
     5    55 Isabelle Gagnon      29 Trois-Rivieres- QU 2:08:35
     6    58 Lauren Jensen        36 New Berlin      WI 2:09:07
     7    63 Candy Angle          34 Weymouth        MA 2:09:36
     8    70 Linda Gallo          27 Sunnyvale, CA   CA 2:10:29
     9    72 Rebeccah Wassner     28 New York        NY 2:10:32
    10   81 Malaika Homo    25 Clermont                    FL    2:11:53