Posted: September 28, 2004

Triathlon: USAT News Update

Weekend Update, Sept. 27

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Sept. 27, 2004) – U.S. elite triathlete and Olympian Victor Plata placed eighth among the men and Laura Reback finished ninth among the women at the International Triathlon Union World Cup race on Sunday in Gamagori, Japan.

Kris Gemmell of New Zealand won the men's race, completing the 1.5k swim, 40k bike and 10k run in 1 hour, 58 minutes, 6 seconds. Stuart Hayes of Great Britain was second (1:58:10) and Andreas Raelert of Germany was third (1:58:14).

Plata (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) finished in 1:59:16. His U.S. teammate Seth Wealing (Fowler, Ind.) finished 12th. Matt Reed (Boulder, Colo.) was 18th and Joe Umphenour (Bellevue, Wash.) was 19th.

Annabel Luxford of Austria won the women's race in 2:09:24. Anja Dittmer of Germany was second (2:09:51) and Nicole Hackett of Australia was third (2:10:11).

Reback, the lone U.S. competitor, finished in 2:15:33.

For more information and complete results go to Triathlon.org.

Mason ITU Duathlon World Cup

U.S. elite duathletes Tom Jeffrey and Desiree Ficker won the men and women's titles at the Mason ITU Duathlon World Cup race on Sunday in Mason, Ohio. The race was part of the Dannon Duathlon series.

Jeffrey (McGaheysville, Va.) completed the 5k run, 30k bike and 5k run in 1:16:36. Greg Watson (Chadds Ford, Pa.) was second in 1:16:55 and Joseph Cech (Shaker Heights, Ohio) was third in 1:20:43.

In the women's race, Ficker (Potomac, Md.) finished in 1:29:02. Bianca Simpson (Downingtown, Pa.) was second in 1:30:13 and Anne Curi Preisig (Falmouth, Mass.) was third in 1:31:06.

Julie Knott (Centerville, Ohio) and Douglas Liming (Apex, N.C.) won the overall age group titles at the Dannon Duathlon.

For more information and complete results, go to: DannonDuathlon.com.

Nissan Xterra USA Championship

Jamie Whitmore of Elk Grove, Calif., and Josiah Middaugh of Vail, Colo., won the women and men's U.S. pro titles at the Nissan Xterra USA Championship on Sunday in Lake Tahoe, Nev.

Whitmore won the women's title outright by completing the 1.5k swim, 32k mountain bike and 10k run in 3:01:47. Melanie McQuaid of Canada was second in 3:06:53 and Candy Angle (Weymonth, Mass.) was third in 3:08:52.

Middaugh was the first U.S. finisher, but third overall, in the men's race, which was won by Spain's Eneko Llanos in 2:36:36. Sylvain Dodet of France was second in 2:37:25 and Middaugh finished in 2:39:15.

Taylor Tolleson (Pacific Grove, Calif.) won the U.S. men's age group title and Lara Usinowicz (Evergreen, Colo.) won the women's title.

For more information and complete results go to XterrPlanet.com.

Triathlon on TV

Outdoor Life Network (OLN) begins its coverage of the 2004 ITU Triathlon World Cup series this week with the race in Ishigaki, Japan, which will be shown at noon EDT on Tuesday (Sept. 28).

On Oct. 3, OLN will show the Race to Athens – Honolulu triathlon that was used to pick the first two members of the U.S. Olympic triathlon team. That will be shown at 3 p.m. EDT on Sunday (Oct. 3) and again at 12:30 p.m. EDT on Tuesday (Oct. 5).

OLN will also be showing many of the 2004 Ironman races from the United States and around the world.

Be sure to check your local listings for times in your area. For more information, go to OLNTV.com.