Tommy Zaferes of nearby Soquel, California and Julie Ertel of Irvine, California won the elite titles at The Triathlon at Pacific Grove on Saturday. Ertel’s win was her third at Pacific Grove (2016, 2015 and 2012) and Zaferes’s was his fourth (2016, 2015, 2013 and 2011).

Men

Zaferes and Davide Giardini of Italy emerged from the kelp-ridden waters of Pacific Grove in a tight duel, 17:23 to 17:24, which gave them a 1:13 lead on John Dahlz and Andrew Roos and 2:25 on Mauro Cavanha and Casey Bateman.

After riding the multi-lap, draft-legal 40k bike leg in identical race-best 1:01:29 splits, the dueling leaders increased their lead to 4:08 on Timothy Winslow, 4:13 over Dahlz, 6:25 on Casey Bateman, and 6:46 on Mauro Cavanha.

Zaferes and Giardini began the run together, until Zaferes slowly and inevitably drew away to a second-fastest 35:40 10k that was 18 seconds quicker that Giardini. Zaferes finished in 1:55:58, which gave him a 24 seconds margin of victory on Giardini and 4:13 on 3rd place finisher Dahlz (race-best 35:34 run).

Women

Much like Zaferes and Giardini in the men‘s race, Julie Ertel, Emily Cocks and Kelsey Withrow sprinted to the lead with 20:00, 20:01 and 20:03 swim splits. Then the trio added virtually matching 1:09:26, 1:09:12 and 1:09 26 bike splits that gave them a 2:58 lead on Amanda Felder starting the run.

Ertel wrapped up the win with a women’s-fastest 38:57 run that brought her to the finish in 2:09:58, with a 1:08 margin of victory on Cocks (39:56 run) and 2:18 on 3rd-place finisher Withrow (40:37 run).

The Triathlon at Pacific Grove
Pacific Grove, California
June 11, 2016
S 1.5k / B 40k / R 10k

Results

Men

1. Tommy Zaferes (USA) 1:55:58
2. Davide Giardini (ITA) 1:56:22
3. John Dahlz (USA) 2:00:11
4. Timothy Winslow (USA) 2:00:24
5. Mauro Cavanha (BRA) 2:03:59

Women

1. Julie Ertel (USA) 2:09:58
2. Emily Cocks (USA) 2:11:06
3. Kelsey Withrow (USA) 2:1144
4. Amanda Felder (USA) 2:15:28
5. Marissa Ferrante (USA) 2:19:16