Posted: July 22, 2004

Triathlon: Aurora High Cliff Triathlon Report

By Amy Siewert

Menasha, WI - Despite rough water conditions at the beginning, the blue sky, pleasant temperatures and well-planned courses created the perfect day for this inaugural triathlon.

The winner of the Half Ironman was Jared Berg of Minneapolis, MN with a time of 3 hours, 57 minutes and 46 seconds. Dave Scott came in second with a time of 4 hours, 3 minutes and 9 seconds. Terry, Mike cam in 3rd with an overall time of 04:16:22.5

The first female to cross the finish line in the Half Ironman was Becky Burdick of Plymouth, MN with a final time of 04:43:39.9. Second place went to Renne Richards, of Oskosh WI, 04:50:02.3 was her final time. Third place went to Gretchen Lammeman of Beaumont, TX, with a final time of 04:53:58.9

The winner of the sprint distance was Jeffrey Fleig of Onalaska, Wis., with a time of one hour, 25 minutes and 49 seconds. Pro triathlete Heather Gollnick of Hartford, WI took first in the female division with a time of one hour, 32 minutes and 34 seconds.

“It was a beautiful setting for a race. I wish I could have done the half,” said Heather Gollnick. The pro opted to do the sprint distance as she’s gearing up for the Cour ‘D Alene in Idaho on June 26th.

Rebecca Gatzke of Wausau, WI came in second place overall in the female division with a time of one hour, 41 minutes and 30 seconds. Jessica Limberts of Fort Atkinson, WI nabbed third place with a time of one hour, 42 minutes and 20 seconds.

Pro Dave Scott was the first out of the water in the Half Ironman race with a time of 8 minutes and 30 seconds. Alicia Jones of Green Bay, WI, was the first female out of the water in the Half Ironman race with a time of 11 minutes and 4 seconds.

The athletes quickly understood why the race was named the High Cliff Triathlon when they encountered the first hill on the bike course for both sprint and Half Ironman participants. The initial hill brought the athletes to higher ground and rolling farmland for the remainder of the ride.

The Half Ironman running course took participants through wooded chipped bark trails for the first three quarters of the 13.2-mile course and finished with the last few miles winding through a residential area. The sprint distance run wound through a fairly flat course in a residential area.

Triathlete rookies Heather Hardtke, 18, of Appleton, WI, and Kara Schricker, 18, of Appleton, WI, loved participating in their first sprint distance triathlon.

“It was awesome,” said Hardtke. “The waves were rough..”

Schricker enthusiastically agreed with her friend. “It was rough. The best part was getting into the bike race,” Schricker said.

Race Director Gloria West had reacted quickly to reduce the swim. “Waves and weather can always create new challenges, next year we will look at moving the swim to the Marina minimizing those challenges. Safety is always my first concern when planning a race so removing some of the variables for next year will be the game plan.”