Andrew Yoder blitzed the bike course in Kemah, TX in 52:55 and grabbed the win at the 2011 Kemah Triathlon. Bike prowess also helped Angela Naeth on her way to the women's title.
On a weekend when a very deep field of Pros on the West Coast battled for the $50,000 purse at the Rohto Ironman 70.3 California, another group of Pros assembled in Texas to compete for a $32,000 purse and $7,000 first place checks in the Olympic distance Kemah Triathon. Only 25 minutes from Galveston, this race appears to be a great warmup event for the Texas 70.3 next weekend.
The men
Dustin McLarty was first out of the waters in Galveston Bay, but his lead was fairly small over Brian Fleischmann and Andrew Yoder who were next into transition.
While McLarty managed to add a few seconds in T1, the fast riding Yoder didn't take very long to catch him on the bike. Terenzo Bozzone and fellow K-Swiss Pro Chris Lieto also laid down the law on the bike and with the 3rd and 2nd best bike splits respectively moved themselves into podium positions by the time they reached T2. Bozzone's bike time was 26 seconds slower than the time of Lieto, but the Kiwi had amassed an almost 1 minute advantage after the swim. Fleischmann arrived next into T2, but he had lost 4.5 minutes to Yoder and almost 3 to Bozzone.
Yoder though was just too good on this day and ran to the win with a 34:33 run, on a course that was rumored to be slightly long. Bozzone held on to second and Lieto made it a perfect K-Swiss sweep.
"I had a solid winter of training and was looking forward to seeing where my fitness was at. I knew going in that I could be competitive and I focused on giving my best effort," said Yoder to slowtwitch. "In the end, that was enough to win and I'm very humbled to win in such a strong field."
The women
Lauren Brandon led the women's field out of the water and only Jamine Oeinck managed to stay close. Brandon's time was fast enough to place her 4th among the Pro men.
Once on the bikes, Becky Lavelle who was 3rd out of the water soon moved into the lead and she was hotly pursued by Ironman New Zealand winner Samantha Warriner. But behind them, Angela Naeth put on a cycling clinic and in the end was the only female to go under one hour on the bike. Her 59:14 split was almost 3 minutes faster than the next fastest time put up by Lavelle, and good enough to make up her 2:30 disadvantage after the swim.
Out on the run Naeth quickly added more time to her lead and crossed the line in first place and $7,000 happier. Lavelle held on to second place and Warriner managed to take the final podium spot.
"Obviously I was very pleased with the outcome today. More so, I was pleased to have one of those days where I felt I could do no wrong. I only wish the race was longer, but then maybe the outcome would have been different," said Naeth. "The race itself is a first-class event and it was no wonder they had the fields they did. Jumping off a boat into the water was a new experience for me and it made navigation easy, simply get back to land!"
Both Naeth and Yoder added $500 to their $7,000 winning checks for their fine bike splits.
Kemah Triathlon
Kemah, TX / April 3, 2011
1.5k swim / 40k bike / 10k run
Top Male Pros
1. Andrew Yoder (USA) 1:49:36
2. Terenzo Bozzone (NZL) 1:51:02
3. Chris Lieto (USA) 1:53:01
4. Brian Fleischmann (USA) 1:53:34
5. Jesse Thomas (USA) 1:53:51
6. Timothy DeBoom (USA) 1:54:22
7. Dustin McLarty (USA) 1:55:03
8. Peter Mallett (USA) 1:56:16
9. Justin Daerr (USA) 1:57:47
10. Matt Mangen (USA) 1:58:29
Top Female Pros
1. Angela Naeth (CAN) 2:02:54
2. Becky Lavelle (USA) 2:04:51
3. Samantha Warriner (NZL) 2:06:41
4. Jasmine Oeinck (USA) 2:07:18
5. D'Ann Arthur (USA) 2:12:57
6. Karen Smyers (USA) 2:13:56
7. Lauren Brandon (USA) 2:16:40
8. April Gellatly Burkey (USA) 2:19:23
9. Laura Tingle (USA) 2:21:59
