Conrad Stoltz of South Africa and Lesley Paterson of Great Britain won the men’s and women’s elite titles at the ITU Cross Triathlon World Championship at Pelham, Alabama Saturday. This off road triathlon also served as the XTERRA Southeast Championship

Stoltz overcame a 1:14 deficit to Great Britain’s Richard Stannard’s race-best 18:19 swim with a race-best 1:12:37 bike that opened up a 62-seconds lead on Evans and 5:08 on Stannard, who fell off the pace on the bike. Stoltz then withstood Evans’ charge on the run, which cut his lead down to 37 seconds midway through the final leg before the 4-time XTERRA World Champion fought back and finished in 2:12:11 with a 47-seconds margin of victory over Evans.

Chris Legh of Australia gave Stoltz 58 seconds on the swim and 4:13 on the bike before coming on strong with a race-best 35:59 run that left him precisely 2 minutes back at the finish to take the final spot on the men’s podium.

Josiah Middaugh of Vail. Colorado, finished 4th, 1:36 back of Legh. Stannard finished 5th, 23 seconds back of Middaugh.

In the women’s elite race, 2011 XTERRA World Champion Lesley Paterson of Scotland ran down Melanie McQuaid midway through the run to wrest the crown from her Canadian rival.

McQuaid, the defending ITU Cross Triathlon World Champion, had a 2:29 lead on Paterson after the swim, bike and transitions. Paterson’s race-best 38:14 run was 5:05 better than McQuaid’s and led the Scottish-born, San Diego resident to the finish in 2:24:39 with a 2:36 margin of victory over McQuaid.

Carla van Huysteen of South Africa had the fastest swim and finished third overall woman with a 21:22 swim, 1:24:03 bike and a 42:04 run that led her to the finish in 2:28:34 – 1:19 back of McQuaid.

Suzie Snyder of Virginia was 4th in 2:29:14 and Colorado’s Shonny Vanlandingham
was 5th in 2:29:15. This was Vanlandingham’s first race since she underwent knee surgery last October.

ITU Cross Triathlon World Championship
XTERRA Southeast Championship
Pelham, Alabama
May 19. 2012
S 1.5 k / B 31k / R 10k

Results

Elite Women

1. Lesley Paterson (GBR) 2:24:39
2. Melanie McQuaid (CAN) 2:27:15
3. Carla Van Huysteen (RSA) 2:28:34
4. Suzanne Snyder (USA) 2:29:14
5. Shonny Vanlandingham (USA) 2:29:15
6. Danelle Kabush (CAN) 2:33:03
7. Michelle Flipo (MEX) 2:33:14
8. Shae Vaughan (USA) 2:33:27
9. Brandi Heisterman (CAN) 2:33:50
10. Renata Bucher (SUI) 2:34:56


Elite Men

1. Conrad Stoltz (RSA) 2:12:11
2. Craig Evans (USA) 2:12:58
3. Chris Legh (AUS) 2:14:11
4. Josiah Middaugh (USA) 2:15:47
5. Richard Stannard (GBR) 2:16:10
6. Will Kelsay (USA) 2:16:17
7. Kelly Guest (CAN) 2:16:33
8. David Henestrosa (ESP) 2:17:28
9. Branden Rakita (USA) 2:18:39
10. Cody Waite (USA) 2:20:32