Kemper, Haskins top CapTex
Hunter Kemper avenged his loss to Andy Potts last year and Sarah Haskins repeated her 2011 victory with a wire-to-wire win at the CapTex Triathlon in Austin on Memorial Day.
The Men
Coming off his rousing qualification for his 4th Olympic team two weeks ago in San Diego, Kemper combined a 4th-fastest 18:11 swim in Lady Bird Lake, 4th-best 56:27 bike and a 30:06 men's fastest run to finish in 1:45:50 with a 16-seconds margin over Andy Potts.
"It is tough to come back from the peak fitness and emotional high of my race in San Diego with a good effort," said Kemper. "But I did it and I was happy to come back with a win today against tough competitors like Andy Potts. It feels good."
Last year Kemper and the vast majority men's pro field were misdirected off the swim course by an ill informed volunteer and lost two minutes to Andy Potts, who knew the course and refused to heed the bogus directions. While Kemper charged hard with a race-best run, he fell a few seconds short of Potts at the finish.
"It was a good day today," said Kemper. "Everyone stayed on the same course, so that was a good start."
This year, everyone swam the correct course and Potts emerged from the water in 17:12, 5 seconds back of super swimmer Dustin McLarty, 1 second ahead of Cameron Dye, 3 seconds ahead of Kyle Leto, 5 seconds ahead of Kemper, 7 seconds ahead of Courtney Atkinson and 13 seconds ahead of Ben Collins.
Ben Collins posted the fastest bike split – 54:28 – and overcame a 1 minute penalty for racking his bike incorrectly to finish third – just 58 seconds back of Kemper and 42 seconds back of Potts. Combined with his 2nd place finish at the first 2012 Race to the Toyota Cup event in Miami's South Beach, Collins now stands atop the 2012 Toyota Cup men's point standings.
Dye, whose 3rd-fastest 17:15 swim and 2nd-fastest 55:13 bike split brought him to T2 with a 37-seconds lead over Collins, fell to 4th with a 33:13 run that left him 52 seconds behind Collins.
Kemper arrived in T2 virtually tied for 3rd with Potts, then left his rival behind as he set out at a torrid pace on the run. Kemper rolled inexorably past Collins and Dye and was in the lead by 4k. Potts, who recovered his momentum a few miles into the run, also passed Collins and Dye on his way to a second-fastest 30:15 run that locked up second place for the defending Cap Tex champ.
"Happy with my race in Austin. I seemed to feel better as each discipline went on – I guess that is no big surprise. The biggest thing missing from my race at CapTex was a little pop in my legs for the first 1/3 of each leg," said runner-up Andy Potts to slowtwitch.
It though appears that the run was on the short site, at least according to the champion. "I wish I ran a 30:06 10k today. Run was 400m shorter than last," tweeted Kemper.
Australian Courtney Atkinson, who is likely a member of the 2012 Australian Olympic team despite not traveling to the Madrid World Triathlon Series contest this weekend to defend the Australian men's three Olympic slots against a challenge from Portugal, placed 6th in 1:48:39, just 24 seconds behind fellow Australian James Seear.
The women
In the women's race, Haskins jetted through the 1.5 kilometer swim in 18:40 and came out of the water one second ahead of Annabel Luxford, 53 seconds ahead of Jenna Parker, 58 seconds over Becky Lavelle, 59 seconds over Abby Geurink, 1:10 over Lauren Goss, 1:13 over Jillian Petersen, 1:14 over 2004 Australian Olympian Maxine Seear and 1:15 over U.S. star Alicia Kaye.
Haskins added a little to her lead with a 1:00:53 split for the 40k bike, which was 7 seconds faster than Luxford, 30 seconds faster than Kaye, 38 better than Petersen, and 1:52 faster than Parker.
Haskins then sealed the deal with a 35:01 10k run that was 1:50 faster than Luxford, 2:51 faster than Petersen, 2:33 faster than Parker and 3:16 faster than Kaye.
Haskins broke the finish tape in 1:57:58. With 11 seconds faster transitions, Haskins' margin of victory over Luxford was 2:06, and 3:30 over 3rd place Jillian Petersen.
"It's great to win here again," said Haskins, last year's Toyota Cup series champ, who was coming off after a disappointing loss to Laura Bennett for the third and final U.S. women's Olympic slot at the San Diego World Triathlon Series event in San Diego. "I'd like to win this series again."
CapTex Triathon
Austin, Texas
May 28, 2012
S 1.5 k / B 40 k / R 10k
Results
Elite Men
1. Hunter Kemper (USA) 1:45:50
2. Andy Potts (USA) 1:46:06
3. Ben Collins (USA) 1:46:48
4. Cameron Dye (USA) 1:47:40
5. James Seear (AUS) 1:48:15
6. Courtney Atkinson (AUS) 1:48:39
7. Francesc Godoy (ESP) 1:50:28
8. Kyle Leto (USA) 1:51:15
9. Michael Poole (NZL) 1:51:33
10. Dustin McLarty (USA) 1:52:17
Elite Women
1. Sarah Haskins (USA) 1:57:58
2. Annabel Luxford (AUS) 2:00:04
3. Jillian Petersen (USA) 2:01:28
4. Jenna Parker (USA) 2:02:02
5. Alicia Kaye (USA) 2:02:07
6. Lauren Goss (USA) 2:03:05
7. Abby Geurink (USA) 2:04:00
8. Lesley Smith (USA) 2:04:50
9. Jennifer Tetrick (USA) 2:05:03
10. Becky Lavelle (USA) 2:056:16
