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Ten male athletes will enter the water in what is one of the smaller multisport events you're ever likely to see. That follows a race in which eleven women will compete. Small fields, yes, but don't think these races won't be exciting. These athletes are all competing for a winner-take-all slot in the Olympic Games in Beijing later this Summer. Tactics during this small-field race? Read about them here.

This race is the official Olympic Trials, yes, but it only selects one male and female to the three-person team. This is the second of three races that rounds out the team selection process. The first was in Beijing last September, with Jarrod Shoemaker and Laura Bennett as the top Americans earning the spots. The third spot will be selected at the HyVee race in Des Moines in June. But we're pretty sure that the HyVee race is the last thing on the minds of any of today's athletes.

10:30 EST It rained hard last night in Tuscaloosa, but it's crystal blue this morning as the collegiate championships are just now taking place. The venue—the start/finish and transition—looks like an Ironman. It's a big time atmosphere. It's low-60s now, but warm enough for the collegians to be racing in tri suits only. The women's race is 2hr30 away, and by then low-70s is predicted.

11:30 EST Okay, we're within 1:30 minutes now of the race start. We're pretty sure the winner will come from one of eleven top contenders (yuck, yuck). Simply put, if you aren't in a position to qualify for the Olympics via the ITU rules and regs, you can't race here. That means top-125 in the ITU rankings. That's why the field is so small.

11:40 EST Some Slowtwitchers are interested in the collegiate championship race contested here this morning. Here are preliminary results for the men. The names were read to me over a cell phone with a lot of whooping in the background, so no doubt spellings and such are mangled:

Grad

1. Steven Sexton (1:52:34)
2. Andrew Hodges (1:54:50)
3. David Silver
4. Tony White
5. Paul McCall
6. Daniel Derkacs
7. David Clarke
8. Daniel McIntosh
9. Brent Lorenzen
10. Peter Baumgarten

Undergrad

1. Kevin Collington (1:54:02)
2. Derrick Oskutis
3. Matt Long
4. Karl-Rudy Kasar
5. Thomas Cowan
6. Ryan Giuliano
7. John Dahlz
8. Nicholas Dason
9. Brian Duffy
10. Patrick Davis

11:45 EST Women's provisional collegiate results:

Grad

1. Amanda Felder 2:07:30
2. Kathy Rakel
3. Kathy Keenan
4. Ashley Erickson
5. Laura Grant
6. Mary-Cate Opila
7. Sara Painter
8. Erin Anderson
9. Alice Henriques
10. Darlene Hunt

Undergrad

1. Leah Larson 2:08:30
2. Chris Tommerdahl
3. Ashley Morgan
4. Amy Alexander
5. Crystal Pruitt
6. Julie Gliesing
7. Kristen Peterson
8. Alexander Lechner
9. Jennifer Luebke
10. Lauren Capone

Women's coverage

11:55 EST The women's Trials races are getting ready for their start, less than 1hr from now! The field is as follows:

Sarah Haskins (Kortuem)
Julie Ertel
Sarah Groff
Sara McLarty
Becky Lavelle
Jasmine Oeinck
Margaret Shapiro
Rebeccah Wassner
Joanna Zeiger
Amanda Stevens
Mary Beth Ellis

The top-ITU-ranked American is Laura Bennett, but she's not here. She's on the team, having qualified at the Beijing World Cup last September. So it will be among these eleven above.

11:58 EST Expect Sara McLarty to jet to the front of the swim. But, as opposed to Andy Potts for the men, Sara's athletic talents are front-end loaded. Once she exits the water, she's not going to ride with the confidence of heading into T2 alone and in front. But she's young, and anything can happen!

12:18 EST The water temp is 65°, which means wetsuit legal. "You bet I'm disappointed" Ms. McLarty just told us. That wetsuit determination probably cut by half her lead over the other women out of the water.

12:21 EST This ought to be an easy race for us to cover. The swim is the only one-loop leg of this race. The bike consists of 8 loops, with a couple of short hills, one of them a tad steep. The typical miscalculation made on a course like this is to think it's easy. But by lap-5, lap-6, and thereafter, that inconsequential hill gets longer and taller. The run course is four loops.

12:36 EST Let's handicap this a little. As stated, Laura Bennett is not racing. Laura is the ITU's number-6 ranked triathlete. In this race, Julie Ertel (nee Swail) is next, at #23. Julie was discovered, sort of, by übermaster Bill Leach (who now produces the Pacific Coast Triathlon and the OC Triathlon in Mission Viejo). Bill is also married to Julie Leach, winner of the Feb 1982 Hawaiian Ironman. Julie Ertel came from the world of big time women's water polo. As I recall, she was left off the last Olympic water polo team and that provoked a switch to triathlon. Now that she's married, we can no longer call her The Virgin Julie Swail, as we used to do (this requires a knowledge of the movie remake of Dragnet with Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks). She pulls out the big victory on occasion. She's the reigning Pan American Triathlon Champ (2007) and she won the Cancun World Cup this past November.

12:36 EST Sarah Groff is next, with an ITU ranking of 51. Among other things, she is the World Aquathlon Champion. She is a very well-rounded athlete. No great strength, no glaring weakness. She probably can't make up a minute in the run, but she probably won't lose a minute. The tactics on the bike are going to make or break this woman's race.

12:43 EST The women have largely finished their swim warm-ups. All eleven are in full suits, that is to say, suits with long arms. We'll try to get you a breakdown of brands, but it looks like about half of them are in Blue Seventy suits.

12:48 EST Ms. McLarty has and ITU rank of 54, and while she's known as a great swimmer, she occasionally rips off a stellar overall performance. About a year ago in Wellington, NZ, she had the third run split to get second in front of Jennifer Warriner, finishing in front of Jasmine Oinck (who had the second run split). What works in favor of Sara is that the women can be passive during the bike leg. There won't be very many in any pack, so, will they look at Sarah, or will they look at each other? If they all think it's another lady's gap to close, Sara may steal this race.

12:53 EST Eight minutes to race start. There are 4 Blue Seventy Helixes, 3 Aquamans, 1 each Zoot, Orca and USAT branded XTerra.

12:56 EST Becky Lavelle is ranked #61. The line on her? Very solid swim, and because it's a wetsuit swim she has a fighting chance of swimming on Sara McLarty's feet. She's a very strong, if not breakaway, cyclist. She's got an adequate run, but not an overcoming run. If she's off the bike even with Oeinck, or Ertel, she's got her work cut out for her.

12:59 EST Jasmine Oeinck. Yes, this is Julie Ertel's race to lose, but Jasmine is even money in the eyes of some observers (like the one writing to you now). She was the U23 runner-up at Worlds last year. Jasmine may be the second best swimmer in the field. Again, tactics are everything in this sort of small-field race. There is a very good chance Jasmine may find McLarty's feet, and if those two are away, it could be interesting. But Jasmine does not need this to win. This bike course is tougher than it looks, and Jasmine is turning into a monster on the bike. She has the fastest ride of the day at that U23 worlds.

1:04 EST They're off! In fact, they were off 3 minutes ago, but we wanted to see if we could get an idea of the early leaders. It looks like McLarty has already gapped the chase pack, towing one swimmer who we're guessing is Ertel. Then the chase field, and then one trailer by herself.

1:10 EST Margaret Shapiro and Rebecca Wassner and numbers 81 and 88 in the ITU rankings. Margaret has come to big time triathlon late. At 32 years old, mother of two, she emerged from the Age Group ranks. She and Ms. Wassner have had good recent results. Wassner won only last month at the Nevis Pan American Cup race, and Ms. Shapiro was 4th. Shapiro is a very good cyclists. Wassner is a very capable swimmer and a crack runner.

1:13 EST More on the bike course. The hill is on Queen City Street, it's four-tenths of a mile long, with an average gradient of about 7 percent, with short pitches of 15 percent or slightly more. That's plenty enough to cause havoc, especially in the women's race. In fact, I'll wager that at least half the women in this field don't have gears on their bikes low enough to properly negotiate this climb during the last 2 or 3 laps.

1:15 EST The women are on their way shoreward. It has split up substantially. One person swims alone, 30 yards in front of a pack of four. It's anybody's guess who is who, but nobody's betting the swimmer in front is any other than Sara McLarty. The final of the four in the chase pack has about four body lengths in front of two who're swimming together. Then it's a big gap of 40 yards before one lone swimmer, then 10 yards to another lone swimmer, then one trailer.

1:19 EST These dynamics in the swim, this is what works in the favor of the good swimmer and cyclists, and not in favor of the good runners. You can't sleep your way through the bike here, and if you lose your attention during the swim you're breaking your own water. Those lone swimmers are losing 5sec per 100 yards versus when they can swim in a pack.

1:22 EST Sarah McLarty was out first, then Groff and Ertel together, Zeiger and Stevens together, then Oeinck by herself. Then a significant gap followed by Lavelle and Ellis. Wassner is now out of the water :20 behind them. Margaret Shapiro was always likely the final swimmer, and she's just now running up the steps toward the transition area.

1:26 EST Joanna Zeiger. If triathlon sportwide ever gets itself a recognized Hall of Fame, Zeiger will be in it. She races at all distances, is very versitile, and can uncork a run at times that peels the paint off her running shoes. This is a respectable swim for Dr. Zeiger, and if she and Amanda Stevens can make their way to Groff and Ertel, that'll be a fearsome foursome should they work together.

1:29 EST Slowtwitch readers on the reader forum have pointed out Sarah Haskins. Yes, of course, our omission! We missed her at the start, and missed her at the swim finish. It's very likely it was her, not Stevens, out with Zeiger. In fact, there are four women riding together up the Queen St. hill at the moment, and it's McLarty, Haskins, Ertel and Groff. Oeinck and Zeiger follow.

1:32 EST Sarah Haskins is now Sarah Kortuem, having married professional triathlete Nate Kortuem. Nate is the terrific biker of the family, while Haskins is the age-group swimmer turned scholarship runner at the University of Tulsa. Who is the better runner between Haskins and Ertel? Good question. Ertel outsplit her at Cancun in November, 36:32 to 36:49, when they were first and third overall. Ertel won the people's race at the Carlsbad 5000 a couple of weeks ago at 17:05. But Haskins comes from running. Hmm.

1:38 EST The women are starting the third lap of eight. There are still four out front: Haskins, Ertel, Groff and McLarty. They have :40 on Mary Beth Ellis, then :06 later comes Lavelle, Stevens, Oeinck and Zeiger. One assumes that Ellis will get swallowed up. In any case, it appears the leading 4 are working together well and putting time on the chase group.

1:42 EST Our spotter on the Queen Street hill says Sarah Haskins has led her group up the hill on each of the three laps.

1:47 EST As we suspected, the front pack of four is continuing to put time on what is now a pack of five who trail. The lead is now :44 roughly halfway through the bike ride.

1:53 EST While we're in our apologizing mode, having missed Haskins from obvious mention, we should point out that she is ranked #12 by the ITU and is in front of Ertel in the ITU rankings, notwithstanding Ertel's victory over her in their most recent World Cup matchup. We bitterly apologize for clinging to our inaccuracy. Keep in mind that Haskins spanked a stellar field last month in Miami. We've got a good one going here!

1:54 EST In that Miami race, which you might call a tune-up for this race, Haskins bested third place Jasmine Oeinck (USA) by 4min and Joanna Zeiger by 6min.

1:55 EST The women are now on their fifth of eight laps. The gap continues to inch up. The pack of four have :47 on the pack of five. Otherwise, we're talking some several minutes to the next chasers. Your winner will come from among these nine riders.

2:00 EST Julie and the Sara(h)s are trading pace nicely. At the top of Queen Street on lap-5 they had :51 on the five chasers. This time, it was Groff who led up the hill. But nobody seems interested in breaking up the chemistry by diving solo to the finish. As soon as they crest the hill these front four quickly organized into their paceline and continue as allies-of-convenience.

2:04 EST They're now on lap-6, still with the gap @:51, and while the chasing group is limiting its losses, its cohesion is not what it was. They're fraying at the edges and one would not be surprised if someone from that group either charges forward or charges backward.

2:06 EST They're working hard up the hill now—all riders in both groups. Haskins led her pack up the hill again. Ellis seems to be doing the most of the work in the chase group. Ellis seems the more proficient bike racer. She always gaps the girls in the several corners through town, and her followers have to snap back the elastic on the straightaways. Two laps remaining, the gap is now :56.

2:15 EST Time is short. Less than 10k left before the run. There is truly no second place here, and it's unlikely anyone from that second group can take a minute out of either Haskins (who again led up Queen Street) or Ertel on the run. Somebody is that second pack is going to have to grow a set and take a flyer, otherwise I'm afeared it's game-over. That person might be Jasmine Oeinck, who just put the pedal down while riding up Queen Street. But, she's still unable to shake anyone in the group. It's still at :56.

2:20 EST The one cagey rider in the second group is Joanna Zeiger, who seems to be in second position more often than anyone else is. No doubt she's conserving for the run, but this group just doesn't seem to have the horsepower required to reel in that front pack.

2:21 EST They're on the bell lap of the bike. They'll be in transition in three miles. The gap is about :58, and each group still contains all its constituent riders.

2:24 EST They're up Queen Street for the last time. The gap remains as it was, just under a minute. The only change this time 'round is that Becky Lavelle led her chase group up the final hill. Speaking of Lavelle, she is riding her Felt. I must digress for a moment and state there is a school of thought, if you're a promotions manager at a bike company, that the sponsorship of women's ITU racing is the tree that falls in the forest. Does it make a sound if there's no one there to hear it? To that end, may we state that Haskins, Oeinck, Groff, McLarty and Ellis are all riding bikes made by Blue. So, to you forest dwellers, that means three of the four in the lead pack in an Olympic Trials, as well as one of the significant hammers in the chase pack, are all riding bikes made by the same company: Blue, Blue, Blue! Otherwise, Shapiro is on her Elite. Wassner on a Wilier, Zeiger's riding Guru, and Stevens is on a Cannondale.

2:30 EST McLarty and Ertel had a superfast transition, heading out together several seconds in front of Haskins and Groff. Stevens, Zeiger, Ellis, Lavelle and Oeinck exited onto the run in that order, :52 back of the leader.

2:34 EST As stated earlier, there are four laps of the run. We have spotters on either side of the course, so if things go well we'll give you a split every 4.5 minutes.

2:35 EST First lap of the run is in the bag, and it's Ertel by 9sec over Haskins, and Groff is trying to hang on Haskins' shoulder. McLarty is out of it, :53 back, and Zeiger is the first of the second packers at 1:12. Ertel only had a few seconds on Haskins out of T2, so she has put a little time on her over the span of the first lap.

2:39 EST As an aside, the wind is really picking up. That won't have much import for the balance of the women's race, but the water is whitecapping. It's going to add another tactical element to the men's race.

2:42 EST Halfway through lap-2 of the run, Ertel now leads by :15 over Haskins, who's got :04 on Groff. By all rights, Ertel should not be leading this run. When she came to tri, and while she was no doubt talented, she just was not a runner by any stretch, nor was there obvious prognosis for improvement. She may or may not win this race, but it's remarkable that she's gotten herself to this level, when the run is the one event of the three that is more prone to nature than nurture (swimmers are made, runners are born).

2:45 EST We're 5k into the run, and Ertel is now :20 up on Haskins and :29 on Groff. Our spotter says his watch now shows 1:10 since Ertel has passed and there is no one else in sight.

2:50 EST On the backside of lap-3, Ertel has extend to :25 in front of Haskins, who remains :09 up on Groff. No doubt Haskins is giving it her all. That may cost her second, but as stated there is no second place here, practically speaking. Nevertheless, absent a meltdown, the race will be for second place, whatever its worth. Haskins has to start her push now if she can.

2:53 EST Four laps are in the books. That means 1.5 miles remain, and at this point Ertel leads Haskins by :29. Unless Haskins can take :20 per mile out of Ertel from here to the finish, it's all over but the waving of that little flag in the finish chute. But, this is women's racing, which is unpredictable, and I don't need to mention what has happened to Barb Lindquist, Paula Newby-Fraser, Sheila Taormina, Sian Welch and Wendy Ingraham with less distance to go in the run than we have in this race. Groff looks to be closing a bit on Haskins, and Zeiger is next, almost 2min down.

2:58 EST Half a lap to go, and it's Ertel by :35 and Groff by :42. There is some question as to whether second place is in fact important here. It all comes down to whether the HyVee race is the ultimate determiner of the third position on the team, or whether there's some other calculus that determines the third slot. Therefore, second place may be important. and if so, second place is shaping up to be a gangbuster race, as Haskins just cannot shake Groff, who's actually slightly closed over the last mile.

3:03 EST Julie Ertel wins! Sarah Haskins hangs on for second, :30 down, and Sarah Groff finishes third :08 later.

3:06 EST It's noteworthy how triathlon is the great leveler of backgrounds and talents, once you get to these highest levels. Great swimmers become good swimmers and great bikers. Great runners become good runners and great cyclists. Julie Ertel, who could not run to save her life when she entered triathlon. has taken :07 per mile out of the run specialist in the field. Like Mark Allen, Dave Scott and so many other swim specialists in triathlon, who knew of that latent run talent? How many other great swimmers are out there who may in fact be better pure runners than swimmers?

3:12 EST Joanna Zeiger finished 2:50 down, Oeinck came next, a fair bit further back. We'll try to provide some better results later on, but we're focusing our attention on the men, as they are finishing their warm-ups and preparing for their start.

Men's coverage

3:22 EST Alrighty, 8min to go for the men. Two years ago, most would've considered Hunter Kemper the runaway favorite. Two-time Olympian. Pan American Games champion. US Pro National Champion at least 5 times. Hunter of the Wheaties box. But... now it's not so clear cut. Speaking of those runners who learned to swim, we have Jarrod Shoemaker to consider, who's already nabbed the first spot on the Olympic Team. And speaking of those swimmers-turned-runners we have Andy Potts to consider. Like Julie Ertel, he's not just found his running legs, he's found legs nobody ever thought he'd find, and that probably includes Andy himself.

3:25 EST But we have more than Andy and Hunter in the race. Here's the start list:

Andy Potts
Hunter Kemper
Joe Umphenour
Matt Reed
Brian Fleischmann
Doug Friman
Tim O'Donnell
Mark Fretta
Victor Plata
Manny Huerta

3:27 EST Three minutes to go. Two-fifty-nine. Two-fifty-eight.

3:28 EST About the other men: you have Victor Plata, who at important moments has this way of pulling great races out of his... bag. Then there's Joe Umphenour, whom I consider one of the more well-rounded and accomplished of the male pros. If I was going to choose a business partner out of that group, it would be Joe. For some reason, Joe reminds me of Levi Leipheimer. I don't know why.

3:29 EST Matt Reed has terrific talent. He swims very well. But, as in the women's race, will anybody be able to hang with the field's resident fish?

3:31 EST They're off. Potts is in Blue Seventy. Umphenour and Fretta are in Orca. Reed, Friman, Plata, Huerta and O'Donnell are swimming in Aquaman, though a couple are in the Profile Design version of it. They're all... ahem... in fullsuits, which I mention for those AGers on our reader forum that are just sure sleeveless suits are faster—just imagine how much faster Potts would be if he could retain all that longjohn shoulder mobility and feel of the water ;-)

3:36 EST In the women's race, they all dragstripped it for the first couple of hundred yards, side-by-side. Then they gradually slid in each in front or behind the others. Not so the men, who are so afraid (rightly so) of getting a bad spot they're immediately slotting in behind Potts, or whomever is just behind Potts. Nobody wants to get gapped around a buoy because he's too far back and behind the split.

3:38 EST A few hundred yards in, two are off the back, otherwise the balance of the field is still intact. There are some long arms in second place, we reckon those to belong to Matt Reed. That's a great position for him. Hang, Matty, hang!

3:43 EST The course is configured like the number-9. They go out the long arm of the 9, then round that first buoy and turn left. As they did so the wind and chop hit them from the side, and it appears that this is where Potts separated himself from the field. They've now made the second turn, and are now swimming straight into the chop. The entire rest of the swim will either be into the chop or with the chop hitting the swimmers from the side. This works to Potts' favor. He may have a substantial lead out of the water. Halfway through the swim it was :17 over second place, but that might stretch considerably.

3:45 EST The lead swimmer, which we're assuming is Andy Potts, has :30 on the second swimmer around that buoy that's analogous to the bottom left part of the 9. He's finished his first bout of swimming into the chop, and now is swimming with the chop hitting his right side. The swim is splitting up throughout the field. It's going to end up onesies and towsies.

3:49 EST The nastier this swim is, the better for Potts. First, he'll exit with a bigger lead on the field. Second, there is no pack going to come out of this Tuscaloosa water. A pack will certainly form on the bike leg, but only after several miles. During that time, Potts will be making hay.

3:52 EST Potts is out. He's :41 up on Kemper and Fleischmann, and :53 ahead of Matt Reed. Then, @1:00 back, are Umphenour, O'Donnell and Friman together. Further, back, 1:28 in arrears, is Fretta, and Plata's @2:13 from Potts. Manny Huerta trails the field, is still in the water, but will exit in about 3min of Potts.

3:57 EST Potts got what he wanted, a nice lead out of the water, and a field in some reasonable disarray. You've got a 20sec gap between the Kemper/Fleischmann group and the Levi Umphenour threesome, with Matt Reed in suspended animation. How those half-dozen riders work things out among themselves will determine in large part how this race is going to go.

3:59 EST Potts has :36 after one lap of eight, and that's over the trio of Kemper, Fleischmann and Reed, the latter of whom must have chased like a son of a gun to get on. Then, one minute down on Potts is the Umphenour, O'Donnell and Friman. Fretta is falling behind, and Plata is in the race but out of contention.

4:03 EST A shout out for Chad Rucks, who's our spotter at the top of Queen Street. Hey Chad! Chad report that Potts is :26 up at the top of the hill on lap-2 on the Kemper trio, which is a further :28 up on the Umphenour trio.

4:06 EST Two laps in the bag. The Kemper group is :25 down on Potts, but the group is being driven by Matt Reed, at least when we see it. Brian Fleischmann is either really suffering to keep contact, or he's doing a really good impression of a guy who is. The second trio is a minute-and-five down. It's looking a lot like the women's race, with those two packs, except there is that one guy solo in front... for now. Andy Potts stayed out there a long time during the Clearwater 70.3. He's become an exceptionally well-rounded triathlete. He's a very good cyclist. It may be that somebody catches him on the bike, but that pack is going to suffer casualties in the effort, and nobody is getting a free ride.

4:10 EST The gap is closing. At the top of Queen Street the gaps from Potts to the two packs are :15 and :44 respectively. Everybody is still in contact, but Fleischmann cannot take pulls. Either he's gassed or sandbagging.

4:14 EST Potts has given up the chase. He's still in front after three laps, but he's saving himself for the inevitable. That second group, though, seems to be yoyoing a bit. It's gap is now back to a minute after three laps.

4:18 EST Potts has been absorbed, now it's Reed to the front and pushing the pace. The second group is 1:02 down. This is all working out very nicely for Hunter Kemper, who appears to have eaten his Wheaties this morning, and enjoys the benefit of good fortune. If I'm Hunter, I'm very happy right now.

4:23 EST The bike ride is half complete. The front group is together, three are working, Fleischmann is struggling. The Umphenour group is :57 back, and may need a change of name soon. Joe is looking a bit worked. But, he's wily and experienced. Plus, remember when he was gassed on the Alp d'Huez stage and came back on the Galibier? Oh, wait, that was Levi. Dang.

4:26 EST The top of Queen Street, on lap 5, no changes in the constituencies of the group, and the gap is @:56. It's the women's race all over again, tactically.

4:30 EST Five laps in the bag, the front pack really has its legs. Matt Reed and Hunter Kemper, with Andy Potts able to sit in for a couple of pulls, is putting time into the second group. Now all the hammers get a little rest and can really put in a strong pull. The gap is now about 1:15.

4:32 EST A group that appears to be MSNBC is here, with cameras everywhere, filming these trials. Coverage of the women's race is May 4, and it's May 18 for the men. I'm not sure what this means. MSNBC is a news channel, sort of like CNN, so what is the basis for the coverage, thematically? I don't get it. But it's cool. We'll try to find out more.

4:33 EST At the top of Queen Street the gap is now 1:20. O'Donnell has laid down a bit of a surge and got a little separation. We'll see what that portends.

4:37 EST A Slowtwitch reader says, "Potts will outrun Kemper after they come into T2 together." That may be. But, may we remind you of last August, at the Longmont ITU Pan American Cup race. It was Kemper, Potts, Fleischmann, in that order, on the podium. Run splits? Fleischmann turned in 32:58. Potts ran 32-flat. Kemper—are you ready?—30:13.

4:39 EST O'Donnell and Friman are behind the lead group by 1:18. Umphenour has been dropped, and is @1:34. Fleischmann has found his legs and gone to the front. Or he always had his legs and has gone to the front.

4:43 EST Fleischmann tries a little mischief on the hill! That sandbagger! But they caught him up. Who can blame him? When a guy you're riding with can run :15 per mile faster than you while you're tapping out a 32:58...?

4:48 EST Matt Reed just put a move on up the hill! He's got a gap. Now we'll find out who's preserving for the run and who's just hanging on.

4:52 EST They've come into T2, and out of transition Matt Reed has :23 on Kemper and Potts. Fleischmann trails by another :04.

4:53 EST Our apologies, by the way. The Slowtwitch helicopter has been grounded by the FAA until it gets its wiring harnesses checked by our team in Bangladesh, and the Slowtwitch Ice Cream Truck can't make it up Queen Street. So, we're relying on spotters today.

4:57 EST Matt Reed is still up, halfway through the first lap of the run! He's got :26 on Kemper, with Potts running on his shoulder.

5:01 EST Reed is now :21 up, after one lap, that is, after about 1.5 miles. For the Reed family a win here would be huge. He's got a wife and a little'un stateside, of course, but then there's brother Shane, who's already made "his" country's Olympic team. He'll be representing New Zealand in Beijing.

5:04 EST Halfway through lap-2, Reed is still in the driver's seat. But, Hunter is stalking, now :19 down. Potts has dropped off a few steps, now :04 behind Hunter.

5:08 EST It's now midway through the run and "Matty" Reed has upped his lead to :28 over Hunter Kemper! Boom Boom is peaking right now, having won the Miami International Tri last month over a tough field. But that field did not include either of the two who're trying to run him down. Potts has now reestablished contact with Kemper, and they're both trying—so far in vain—to nail down Reed's gap.

5:10 EST The lead is now up to :31 over the Potts/Kemper duo, with 1.5 laps remaining. While she is not within my visage—me uploading at a discrete location—I can almost hear Matt's wife Kelly, who's at the race, child in tow. Nobody ever mistook Kelly for the shy, retiring type. It's impossible not to think of her, and how over-the-moon she would be were her man to bring it home in first.

5:15 EST One lap to go, and Matt Reed is just running away with it. He's :39 up on Kemper, and Potts looks cooked. Where did this run come from?

5:19 EST Half a lap to go, and Reed's lead is :38 over Kemper, :45 over Potts. There is no precedent for Reed's run that I'm aware of. One of his best run splits last year was at the Vancouver World Cup, but Potts outran him by a minute. Reed had a good run at Honolulu last year but, again, Potts outsplit him, and Reed was only fourth American.

5:22 EST Matt Reed wins it! Potts digs deep, finds something, and catches Kemper for second, Hunter ending up :05 behind Potts in third.

5:24 EST While Matt Reed won the race, he did not carry a tiny American flag across the finish, nor was he wearing any lapel pin that we could see. We, though, do not think this calls into question his love for his adopted country ;-)

5:30 EST Reflecting back on the women's race, I just got an email from Bill Leach, whom I mentioned during the coverage as Julie Ertel's "discoverer." He reminds us that Ms. Ertel is now a two-time Olympian, having earned a silver medal in 2000 as part of the U.S. Water Polo Team. It will be interesting to see what she has to say about earning a spot on this team, and how one honor compares to the other. Bill writes about her "6 years of dedication and perseverance" that resulted in "a complete transformation of her body and training skills." Bill is himself an Olympian, as part of the 1976 squad in kayak. He says, therefore, with some personal insight, "No one knows the kind of pressure you feel at the Trials except the athletes who are putting it all on the line to make that Olympic Team."

5:39 EST The Slowtwitch team will be signing off. The Ice Cream Truck has 4 tickets under the windshield wiper, we have to go see if we can get them fixed. I hope they're all parking tickets and none are for that one tire that has threads showing through (we'll get it changed, it's just hard to find bias ply tires these days). Congratulations to Julie Ertel and Matt Reed! Fine performances by both when it counted. And congratulations to Sarah Haskins and Andy Potts who both, we assume, have put themsevles in good position to take the third Olympic Team spot with a good performance at HyVee—though we don't pretend to fully understand the intracacies of the selection process. Bye for now!