AUSTIN, Texas -- The reigning Hy-Vee overall amateur champ Nathan White passed James Bales at the 5-mile mark of the run and Sierra Snyder blasted to an unassailable lead on the swim in Lady Bird Lake as both won elite titles at the 20th Capitol of Texas Triathlon on Memorial Day.
On a day as hot as the chilis in local Tex-Mex cafes, White's 2:03:09 was microwaved slow but just enough to edge the 2008 Cap Tex champ, Air Force Captain James Bales, by 16 seconds. Snyder, an Austin native living in Pasadena, California, slammed to a 4 minute lead with a 24:10 swim and never let go as she survived 90-plus temperatures and high humidity to notch a 2:19:53 finish and a 3:16 margin of victory over current Austin resident Lesley Smith.
"I came up on Bales at Mile 1 of the run, but decided to play it conservative in the heat and stayed on his heels until I made my move with a mile to go, said White, 26, of Des Moines, Iowa, whose best 10k in a triathlon - 32 minutes flat -- was by far the best in the field. On this day, all White could manage was a closing 36:42, but it was a race-best and enough to seal the deal.
"I could hear him breathing back there for four miles," said Bales, whose run was 26 seconds slower than White's. "When he made his move, he put 10 second on me and there was nothing I could do."
White, who turned pro in January, plans to take on tougher competition in his pro debut in two weeks time at Hy-Vee.
Snyder was able to withstand the heat and a survival-style 48:14 run thanks to a race-best 24:10 swim that put 5:16 on eventual runner-up Lesley Smith and women's second -best 1:05:00 bike that gave her a 7:49 lead starting the run.
"I tried to be conservative - don't be stupid," said Snyder, an emergency room physician's assistant who placed 7th in women's 30-34 at Ironman Hawaii and 3rd in her age group at Wildflower recently.
"When I saw the woman who was second out of the swim start fading badly, I felt a rush of lightheadedness, and thought, "My God I'm going to have a heart attack," said Smith. "My knees were feeling weak, so I relaxed, picked up my cadence, and made it through. If I kept pushing hard, I'd have been on my butt."
20th Capitol of Texas Triathlon
Austin, Texas
31 May 2010
S 1.5 k/ B 40k/ R 10k
Results
Elite Men
1. Nathan White (Des Moines IA) 2:03:09
2. James Bales (San Antonio TX) 2:03:25
3. Nicholas Sterghos (Fort Hood TX) 2:05:37
4. Ryan Borger (Denver CO) 2:06:09
5. Keith Yoho (Tomball TX) 2:06:14
6. DJ Snyder (Idaho Falls ID) 2:10:13
7. Ben Hall (Ruston LA) 2:10:29
8. Weslie Anderson (San Antonio TX) 2:10:33
9. James Duff (Los Angeles CA) 2:11:03
10. Todd Gerlach (Austin TX) 2:11:09
Elite Women
1. Sierra Snyder (Pasadena CA) 2:19:53
2. Lesley Smith (Austin TX) 2:23:09
3. Natasha Van Der Merwe (RSA) 2:23:42
4. Joanna Fidler (Stillwater OK) 2:24:17
5. Patricia Murphy (Boston MA) 2:26:48
6. Becky Keller (Richmond VA) 2:30"17
7. Jenny Gilkerson (Austin TX) 2:32:34
8. Erin Anderson ( Colorado Springs CO) 2:33:23
9. Lisa Pohlit (Tempe AZ) 2:33:31
10. Michelle Garel (Austin TX) 2:34:17
