The Gillette West Is Best Sprint Triathlon and Try-a-Tri took place on Sunday morning, March 9, at Coconuts on the Beach in Frederiksted. The athletes were ages 11 to 65, and the race was filled with many newbies alongside seasoned veterans in the 500m swim/12.6-mile bike/3-mile run event.
The Sprint race took off with many strong swimmers vying for the draft of high school students Alex Lewit and Adriel Sanes. Top individual female swimmers Jen Andrews and Bridget Klein were in the mix with Bob Halk, Dedrick Luikens and Jay Gleason, together with relay swimmers Nati Kuipers, Mollie Nadler and Bob Guilford. On the second leg of the race, powerful cyclists Troy Holloway, Wayne Nichols and Scott Fricks were added in with the front leaders, though still behind relay cyclist Glenn Massiah. It was on that leg when problems began for Gleason and Nichols.
Without realizing it, Gleason covered the course incorrectly and was ultimately disqualified for this infraction. Nichols "caught a flat" and was left behind by his challengers. While posting the fastest run split of the day, Dedrick Luikens was the first to cross the line in a time of 1:03:13. Troy Holloway was second in 1:04:42; Scott Fricks was third in 1:05:17. The relay team of Alex Lewit and Glenn Massiah was the first overall finisher with a time of 1:02:46.
Bridget Klein remained out front in the women’s field for the entire race, finishing with an overall time of 1:05:44. Carol Fricks rode consistent laps, while Theresa Harper and Julie Sommer were trying to make up time on Fricks and close the gap. Positions changed on the run for the women as Jen Andrews moved back into the mix. Theresa was the second female finisher in 1:10:39; Julie was third in 1:13:22.
The small Try-a-Tri race started just five minutes after the Sprint race. Covering the out-and-back 250-meter course, the four racers stayed together until the bike portion. Patrick Kralik pulled ahead of the rest of the field by the first lap of the two-lap course. He later realized that he had mistakenly turned around early and was subsequently disqualified from the race. Regardless of the error on the bike, Kralik posted the fastest 1.5-mile run time of the group. Joyia Jones was then awarded the overall winner with a time of 1:02:22. Visitor Carol Winge was second; first timer Corinne Farinola was third.
The next race on the tri schedule is the Triple Play Triathlon scheduled for 7 a.m. on Sunday, April 6, at Cramer’s Park. There will be a try-a-tri, a sprint race and an Olympic triathlon.
March 9, 2014 — West Is Best Sprint Triathlon and Try-A-Tri — 500-m swim, 12.7-mile bike, 3-mile run — Coconuts on the Beach, Frederiksted, St. Croix
Men: Under 20 — Total Time — swim — T1+bike — T2+run
1 Adriel Sanes 1:15:21/ 0:05:36/ 0:46:37/ 0:23:08
20-29
1 TJ Vandehey 1:15:59/ 0:10:22/ 0:42:00/ 0:23:37
30-39
1 Dedrick Luikens 1:03:13/ 0:06:38/ 0:37:21/ 0:19:14
2 Billy Bohlke 1:11:12/ 0:08:34/ 0:41:36/ 0:21:02
3 Erik Von Kaenel 1:12:32/ 0:07:55/ 0:41:16/ 0:23:21
unofficial Jay Gleason 1:02:59/ 0:06:42/ 0:35:55/ 0:20:22
40-49
1 Bob Halk 1:09:30/ 0:06:21/ 0:39:34/ 0:23:35
2 Chris Howell 1:16:10/ 0:07:06/ 0:43:02/ 0:26:02
3 Smokey Odom 1:28:35/ 0:09:04/ 0:49:26/ 0:30:05
50-59
1 Troy Holloway 1:04:42/ 0:08:01/ 0:34:34/ 0:22:07
2 Scott Fricks 1:05:17/ 0:07:51/ 0:34:42/ 0:22:44
3 Wayne Nichols 1:22:45/ 0:07:19/ 0:51:05/ 0:24:21
60+
1 Roger Hatfield 1:17:00/ 0:08:05/ 0:41:58/ 0:26:57
2 Whitney Kemper 1:21:10/ 0:11:12/ 0:42:05/ 0:27:53
Women: 30-39
1 Bridget Klein 1:05:44/ 0:06:56/ 0:39:01/ 0:19:47
2 Julie Sommer 1:13:22/ 0:07:55/ 0:40:49/ 0:24:38
3 Nichole Johnson 1:28:05/ 0:08:48/ 0:47:16/ 0:32:01
4 Chelsy Harris 1:31:19/ 0:11:07/ 0:50:46/ 0:29:26
5 Sarah Reardon 1:33:08/ 0:12:38/ 0:50:18/ 0:30:12
6 Rachel Carrol 1:42:12/ 0:12:30/ 0:57:39/ 0:32:03
40-49
1 Theresa Harper 1:10:39/ 0:09:13/ 0:39:33/ 0:21:53
2 Jen Andrews 1:18:22/ 0:06:50/ 0:43:31/ 0:28:01
3 Laverne Fredericksen 1:25:13/ 0:11:45/ 0:41:32/ 0:31:56
4 Julie Eckard 1:26:20/ 0:10:16/ 0:46:50/ 0:29:14
5 Dyann Godown 1:26:46/ 0:10:40/ 0:44:04/ 0:32:02
6 Patty Coleman 1:28:10/ 0:08:43/ 0:51:31/ 0:27:56
50+
1 Carol Fricks 1:18:45/ 0:07:31/ 0:41:15/ 0:29:59
Relays:
1 Lewit, Massiah, Lewit 1:02:46/ 0:05:25/ 0:36:26/ 0:20:55
2 Guiford, Keys, Stapleton 1:10:59/ 0:06:46/ 0:37:03/ 0:27:10
3 Nadler, Simon, Simon 1:12:33/ 0:06:48/ 0:39:20/ 0:26:25
4 N.Kuipers, A.Kuipers, A.Kuipers 1:19:20/ 0:06:31/ 0:45:58/ 0:26:51
5 Odom, Pugliese, Pugliese 1:22:15/ 0:09:08/ 0:44:17/ 0:28:50
DNF K.Kuipers, Kennedy, Capriola 0:07:52/ 0.27.33
Try-a-Tri
1 Joyia Jones 1:02:22/ 0:08:27/ 0:37:50/ 0:16:05
2 Carol Winge 1:03:49/ 0:08:50/ 0:36:19/ 0:18:40
3 Corrine Farinola 1:06:14/ 0:08:42/ 0:42:05/ 0:15:27
unofficial Patrick Kralik 0:44:10/ 0:08:23/ 0:22:18/ 0:13:29
