Posted: April 28, 2006

Multisport: Schwarze, Leblanc Take Long Course DU National Titles

Colorado Springs, Colorado (April 27, 2006) - Stephan Schwarze and Michelle Leblanc won the overall titles at the USA Triathlon Long Course Duathlon National Championships at the Metroplex Du-2-Du in Grand Prairie, Texas, on Sunday.

The athletes provided a competitive race on a windy, challenging day.

“It was a great race, highly competitive,” said race director Jack Weiss. “It went off without a hitch. It was all we thought it would be.”

Schwarze used a strong second run – timing the final 8k in 29:11.60 – to outlast second-place men’s finisher Dana Lyons by two minutes. Schwarze finished the 8k run, 61k bike, 8k run in 2:34:12.25, with Lyons clocking a time of 2:36:45.65. David Jones finished third overall in 2:39:36.20.

On the women’s side, Leblanc’s time of 2:50:21.40 was nearly six minutes ahead of second-place finisher Leslie Curley (2:56:17.35), and was good for 17th-place overall among all competitors. Darlene Jones was third for the women in 3:03:10.85.

Barbarann Mallory (47) took first in the female masters category with a time of 3:06:13.40, while Diane Proud (55) was the top female grand master in 3:17:48.00. Dana Lyons (48) was the top-finishing male masters competitor and Rich Chillingworth (55) won the male grand masters group in 2:51:41.30. He finished 19th overall among all competitors.

“It was an outstanding event,” said USAT Event Services Director Kathy Matejka. “The logistics and course support were excellent which allowed the athletes to focus on their best effort. Kudos and thanks go to Jack Weis and Ironhead Race Productions for the flawless production of this championship event.”

Complete results are available at www.run-far.com.

USA Triathlon is the national governing body for triathlon, duathlon, aquathlon and winter triathlon in the United States. USAT sanctions 1,800 races and connects with more than 60,000 members each year, making it the largest multi-sport organization in the world. Please visit USA Triathlon’s web site at USATriathlon.org.

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