Duffy, Chura win AG Nationals
Brian Duffy of West Chester, Pennsylvania and Haley Chura of Atlanta, Georgia won the men’s and women’s overall titles at the USA Triathlon Olympic Distance Age Group Nationals in Burlington, Vermont.
The Men
Duffy’s 1:53:32 time also won the men’s 20-24 title by 36-seconds over fellow 20-24 contender Drew Scott of Boulder, Colorado. Dan Hedgecock of St. Louis Park, Minnesota took 3rd overall and also won the men’s 25-29 title in 1:55:05.
Duffy advanced from 4th overall in 2010 at Tuscaloosa to 2nd last year at Burlington to finally grab the overall USA Triathlon Olympic Distance overall and 20-24 age group titles.
“I wanted to keep coming back until I was able to bring home the title,” Duffy told USA Triathlon media. “Last year it was tough getting runner-up, but I’m thankful I was able to put it all together today and all the hard work paid off.”
Duffy combined a 4th-best overall swim of 19:21, a 6th-best 58:24 bike split and 6th-best 33:33 10k run to edge Drew Scott by 36 seconds.
“I felt really good coming out of transition two,” Duffy told USA Triathlon media. “I knew I was going to have a strong run and that gave me a lot of confidence. One thing I learned from last year was to take that initial hill a little more conservatively, and I did so and I was able to let it rip for the rest of the run.”
Scott gave away 1:11 to Duffy on the swim, gained back 1:13 with a race-fastest 57:11 bike split, and surrendered 29 seconds back to Duffy with a 10th-best 34:02 run that added up to a runner-up overall finish.
Dan Hedgecock of St. Louis Park, Minnesota combined a 21:58 swim, a 2nd-fastest 57:49 bike split and 5th-best 33:01 run to finish 3rd overall and win the 25-29 men’s category.
“I think I came out of the water in pretty good position and I just hammered the bike and felt good today,” Hedgecock told USA Triathlon media. “The bike this year was awesome, because there was a tailwind all the way going uphill, and then all the way into the wind on the downhill so it was a fast, fun bike this year.”
The Women
Chura won the women’s overall title and the 25-29 age group in 2:05:40, with a 37-seconds margin over 2nd overall women and 35-39 champion Catherine Sterling of West Boylston, Massachusetts. Katie Hursey of Hampstead, Maryland finished 3rd overall woman and won the 20-24 category with a time of 2:07:43.
Chura, who was an NCAA swimmer for the University of Georgia, took an early lead with the overall best women’s swim split of 18:57 that was 1:53 better than her ultimately closest overall women’s rival Catherine Sterling of West Boylston, Massachusetts, and 1:48 better than her next closest rival Katie Hursey of Hampstead. Maryland.
Chura held on to the lead with an 8th-fastest 1:05:54 bike split, then closed the deal with a 5th-best 37:22 run.
“Since the swim is my strength, my goal was to lead it from the start,” Chura told USA Triathlon media. “I took the swim out pretty hard and then I’ve been working on my biking and my running has come along pretty well this last year.”
Sterling combined a 20:50 swim, 4th-best 1:04:20 bike split and an 8th-best 38:37 run to sew up 35-39 and finish as the women’s overall runner-up.
Hursey swam 20:45, biked out of contention for the overall win with a 1:09:21 split, then roared back with a race-best 35:24 10k run to win the 20-24 age group and place 3rd overall woman.
Swim tragedy
The race was marred and the 2,000-plus competitors were saddened by the death of a male competitor in his 50s who was pulled from the waters of Lake Champlain approximately three-quarters of the way through the 1500-meter swim. USA Triathlon officials stated said that the man was given CPR and transported to Fletcher Allen Healthcare hospital in Burlington, but attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful.
Race observers said the waters of Lake Champlain were turbulent and that some waves exceeded 3 feet in size.
USA Triathlon Age Group Nationals
Olympic Distance
Burlington, VT
S 1.5k / B 40k / R 10k
Unofficial Results
Top 10 Men Overall
1. Brian Duffy (West Chester, PA) 1:53:32 M20-24
2. Drew Scott (Boulder, CO) 1:54:08 M20-24
3. Dan Hedgecock (St. Louis Park, MN) 1:55:05 M25-29
4. Adam Webber (Denver, PA) 1:55:17 M30-34
5. Chris Nocera (Pittsburgh, PA) 1:57:02 M25-29
6. Patrick Parish (Bloomington, MN) 1:57:11 M25-29
7. Brandon Nied (Reno, NV) 1:57:14 M20-24
8. Jacob Rhyner (Lacrosse, WI) 1:57:16 M25-29
9. Doug Clark (Morristown, NJ) 1:57:27 N40-44
10. Hunter Lussi (Lutherville, MD) 1:57:48 M1-19
Top 10 Women Overall
1. Haley Chura (Atlanta, GA) 2:05:40 F25-29
2. Catherine Sterling (West Boylston, MA) 2:06:17 F35-39
3. Katie Hursey (Hampstead, MD) 2:07:43 F20-24
4. Corrie Kristick (Houston, TX) 2:09:59 F25-29
5. Kirsten Sass (McKenzie, TN) 2:10:00 F30-34
6. Lauren Capone (Santa Barbara, CA) 2:11:18 F20-24
7. Adrienne Leblanc (Scottsdale, AZ) 2:11:31 F40-44
8. Elaine Nelson (Duluth, MN) 2:11:44 F30-34
9. Christina Person (Boulder, CO) 2:12:20 F25-29
10. Karin Biscovich (Weare, NH) 2:12:38 F35-39
Age Group Winners
Age Group Men
Male 1-19
1. Hunter Lussi (Lutherville, MD) 1:57:48
2. Connor Weaver (Parker, CO) 2:01:30
3. Gil Cukierman (Huntington Valley, PA) 2:05:13
Male 20-24
1. Brian Duffy (West Chester, PA) 1:53:32
2. Drew Scott (Boulder, CO) 1:54:08
3. Brandon Nied (Reno, NV) 1:57:14
Male 25-29
1. Dan Hedgecock (St. Louis Park, MN) 1:55:05
2. Chris Nocera (Pittsburgh, PA) 1:57:02
3. Patrick Parish (Bloomington, MN) 1:57:11
Male 30-34
1. Adam Webber (Denver, PA) 1:55:17
2. James Chesson (Bedminster, NJ) 1:57:51
3. Jason Frank (Burlington, VT) 2:01:05
Male 35-39
1. Matthew Payne (Columbia Heights, MN) 1:57:51
2. Mark Harris (Madison, WI) 1:58:46
3. Daniel Domingo (Jacksonville, FL) 1:59:51
Male 40-44
1. Doug Clark (Morristown, NJ) 1:57:27
2. David Luscan (Richmond, VA) 1:59:50
3. Shane Arters (Morristown, NJ) 2:02:25
Male 45-49
1. Brian Bich (Duluth, MN) 2:00:01
2. John Murphy (Napa, CA) 2:01:08
3. Donny Forsyth (Charlotte, NC) 2:01:42
Male 50-54
1. Michael Meteyer (Madison, WI) 2:06:09
2. Eduardo Bernal (Plantation, FL) 2:06:30
3. Kyle Welch (Sunnyvale, CA) 2:07:17
Male 55-59
1. Ron Gierut (Cedar Rapids, IA) 2:12:55
2. Thomas McGee (Ottawa, ON) 2:13:36
3. Michael Christie (Cos Cob, CT) 2:14:04
Male 60-64
1. Dale Mosher (Anderson, SC) 2:20:52
2. Greg O’Donnell (Pahrump, NV) 2:21:01
3. J. Mark Jensen (McCall, ID) 2:23:38
Male 65-69
1. Tom Dutton (Livonia, NY) 2:29:56
2. Roger Freeman (San Diego, CA) 2:31:18
3. Harry Barnes (Guelph, ON) 2:32:02
Male 70-74
1. Roger Little (Bedford, MA) 2:43:16
2. William Marshall (Santa Rosa, CA) 2:46:29
3. Marshall Wakat (Charleston, SC) 2:47:59
Male 75-79
1. Jon Anderson (Alpharetta, GA) 2:45:05
2. Roger Brockenbrough (Pittsburgh, PA) 3:00:21
3. William Widnall (Lexington, MA) 3:10:57
Male Clydesdale 1
1. Evan Evans (Palm Coast, FL) 2:10:32
2. Ryan Johnson (Somerville, MA) 2:18:12
3. Thomas Burbank (Los Angeles, CA) 2:24:35
Male Clydesdale 2
1. Simon O’Leary (Newton, MA) 2:38:10
2. Dean Siedlecki (Ellicott City, MD) 2:53:58
Age Group Women
Female 1-19
1. Brooke Saunders (Newark, DE) 2:23:27
2. Melissa Teeple (Callaway VA) 2:23:32
3. Hannah Hubbard (Boise, ID) 2:29:05
Female 20-24
1. Katie Hursey (Hampstead, MD) 2:07:43
2. Lauren Capone (Santa Barbara CA) 2:11:18
3. Taylor Spivey (Redondo Beach CA) 2:14:48
Female 25-29
1. Haley Chura (Atlanta, GA) 2:05:40
2. Corrie Kristick (Houston, TX) 2:09:59
3. Christina Person (Boulder, CO) 2:12:20
Female 30-34
1. Kirsten Sass (McKenzie, TN) 2:10:00
2. Elaine Nelson (Duluth, MN) 2:11:44
3. Molly Roohi (King George, VA) 2:13:25
Female 35-39
1. Catherine Sterling (West Boylston, MA) 2:06:17
2. Karin Biscovich (Weare, NH) 2:12:38
3. Seeley Gutierrez (Tallahassee, FL) 2:12:41
Female 40-44
1. Adrienne Leblanc (Scottsdale, AZ) 2:11:31
2. Robyn Neam (Clovis, CA) 2:15:22
3. Julianna Batizy-Morley (Centennial, CA) 2:17:10
Female 45-49
1. Steph Popelar (Parker, CO) 2:16:11
2. Ann Davidson (Portland, OR) 2:18:12
3. Linda Robb (Juno Beach, FL) 2:19:05
Female 50-54
1. Ellen Hart (Denver, CO) 2:21:31
2. Sharon Kolarik (Littleton, CO) 2:23:54
3. Julie Billingsley (Chevy Chase, MD) 2:26:28
Female 55-59
1. Donna Smyers (Adamant, VT) 2:24:30
2. Carol Gephart (Strafford, NH) 2:27:16
3. Sharon Johnson (Andover MA) 2:30:02
Female 60-64
1. Nancy Avitabile (Bethesda, MD) 2:45:53
2. Mary Lou Lawrie (New Gloucester, ME) 2:53:52
3. Sue Dejesus (Henrico, VA) 2:54:46
Female 65-69
1. Lauren Binder (Portland, OR) 2:39:19
2. Sharon Money (Oswego, NY) 2:55:21
3. Anne Wright (Macon, GA) 2:56:50
Female 70-74
1. Beatrice Burns (Hamden, CT) 2:59:45
2. Elizabeth Brackett (Chicago, IL) 3:08:15
3. Sibyl Jacobson (Canaan, NY) 3:13:22
Female Clydesdale 1
1. Kimberly Lee (US Air Force Academy, CO) 3:09:10
Female Clydesdale 2
1. Susan Stefanowicz (Enfield, CT) 3:12:17
Complete results here: 2012 USAT Age Group Nationals
