Twenty-five kids competed in the IHOP Grand Finale Triathlon on Sunday morning, May 19. While sponsoring the swim/bike/run race, IHOP Restaurant provided little goody bags, mini multi-grain pancakes and several volunteers. Even Charlie, the chocolate chip pancake mascot, made an appearance.
The 5-6 year-old category kicked off the morning with a 25-meter point-to-point swim. Dolphin swimmer Kaeden Gleason led the swim, just seconds ahead of the Lambert twins. Gleason held the lead through the .5-mile bike and .25-mile run, besting last year’s time by almost three minutes. His finishing time was 7:51. Mason Lambert was second, and Blade Dodson was third. Kirra Lambert was the first female and third overall.
The small 7-8 year-old division took to the water next. Dolphin swimmer Charlotte Halk finished the 50-meter swim in 1:23. She quickly raced off in her sparkly shoes to complete the .5-mile bike and .25-mile run. Halk finished the race with an overall time of 8:34, about 30 seconds ahead of second place finisher (and first place male) Joey Croney. Odin Andrews was the second place male. Brenna Dodson and Kristle Casey rounded out the podium positions in the girls’ division.
The 100-meter swim of the 9-11 category was led by Nati Kuipers. The next two swimmers, Colby Moran and Mikey Dizon-Bumann, were vying for the overall gold. They switched positions on the 1-mile bike and returned to the transition about 20 seconds apart. Dizon-Bumann held his lead through the .5- mile run and finished in 11:51. Moran was second in 12:04; Brice Richards was third. Nati was the first female (and third overall) in 12:53. AZ Academy student Shanice Muller was second and Erin Andrews, Dolphins Team swimmer, was third.
In the 12-15, category Dominic Pugliese and Sophie Dean, both students at Country Day School, hung together for their 200-meter swim. Pugliese pulled away on the 3-mile bike and posted a good time for his 1-mile run. His overall time was 30:26. Dean finished in 37:33.
Since this was the final race in the Junior Tri VI series, the Virgin Islands Triathlon Federation (VITF) had a grand drawing of a new Trek bike from Stamina Sports. Cole Sommer, age 5, was the winner of the shiny blue Trek Jet 20. Also acknowledged were nine competitors with the Enduring Athlete Award for attending all six races in the series. They were: Kirra Lambert, Joey Croney, Kaeden Gleason, Odin Andrews, Erin Andrews, Mikey Dizon-Bumann, Brice Richards, Zavira Wilson and Sophie Dean. Besides a race cap, each was awarded a pair of new goggles, both donated by Finis. (Check them out: http://www.finisinc.com/kids/goggles.html )
A special thanks goes to the numerous volunteers (especially the CDS Interact Club) who have helped out this season and to the generous sponsors who have made it possible to put on these races for the kids.
