Amateur Drew Scott, 22, won the overall title by 2 seconds over professional Michael Lovato at Ironman 70.3 Buffalo Springs Lake for the first major victory by the son of 6-time Ironman Hawaii champion Dave Scott.
Amanda Stevens of Oklahoma City cruised to a more comfortable margin of victory of 2:47, earned primarily on the swim, over fellow pro Jessica Jacobs of Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Scott, who was coming off a decisive victory at the Boulder Sprint Triathlon last weekend, combined an 8th-fastest 23:48 swim, a 2nd-fastest 2:11:11 bike split and 7th-fastest 1:24:09 half marathon to hit the line in 4:01:13 to place first overall amateur, first in the men’s 18-24 age group, and take the overall victory by 2 seconds over fellow Boulder, Colorado resident Michael Lovato.
Scott accumulated a 7:15 lead over Lovato with his swim and bike splits, then surrendered 7:37 to Lovato’s race-best 1:16:3 run split – but his slender margin of victory came from faster transitions.
One contributing factor to the victory was the fact that Scott started in a later wave than the professionals so Lovato did not know how close was his rival for the overall title.
Professional Joe Umphenour was also in the mix for the overall as his race-best 22:11 swim, 7th-best 2:18:29 bike split and 2nd-best 1:18:58 run added up to a 4:01:42 finish – 29 seconds behind Scott and 27 seconds behind Lovato for a 2nd professional and 3rd overall placing.
Stevens won wire-to-wire in 4:26:09. Her race-best 23:25 swim was 2:32 better than Christine Anderson and 6 minutes better than Jessica Jacobs. Stevens’ 2:28:30 bike gave back 52 seconds to Jacobs, and Jacobs’ 1:28:57 run took back another 2:57. But at the end, Stevens still had plenty of time to soak in the applause in the finish chute.
Ironman 70.3 Buffalo Springs Lake
Buffalo Springs Lake, Texas
June 24, 2012
S 1.2 mi/. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Unofficial Results
Men
1. Drew Scott (USA) 4:01:13 * M 18-24
2. Michael Lovato (USA) 4:01:15
3. Joe Umphenour (USA) 4:01:42
4. Robert Wade (USA) 4:05:38
5. Marcus Fernandes (BRA) 4:08:06
6. James Bowstead (NZL) 4:09:05
7. Mauro Cavanha (BRA) 4:09:12
8. Ollie Whistler (AUS) 4:10:36
9. Nicholas Thompson (USA) 4:10:49
10. Gavin Anderson (USA) 4:13:35
Women
1. Amanda Stevens (USA) 4:26:09
2. Jessica Jacobs (USA) 4:28:47
3. Allison Linnell (USA) 4:36:04 * F18-24
4. Jessica Meyers (USA) 4:36:27
5. Amanda Lovato (USA) 4:38:35
6. Christine Anderson (USA) 4:41:14
7. Natasha Van Der Merwe (RSA) 4:41:50
8. Andrea Fisher (USA) 4:43:06 * F40-44
9. Ashley Johnson (USA) 4:45:06 * F30-34
