McNeice, Hauschildt take Port of Tauranga Half
Dylan McNeice of New Zealand and Melissa Hauschildt of Australia won the Port of Tauranga Half at Mount Maunganui Saturday.
McNeice opened the day with a 25:03 swim split that gave him a 1:01 lead on training partner Phillips and 2:49 over 45-year-old legend Brown. After gaining 8 seconds on Phillips at T1, McNeice surrendered 1:07 to Phillips’ race-best 2:07:53 bike split and thus the two men entered T2 in a virtual tie with a 5 minutes advantage over Brown. With a second-best 1:18:52 run, McNeice gained virtually all of his winning margin over Phillips. Brown closed with a race-best 1:16:43 run to close within 2:17 of McNeice and 46 seconds of Phillips.
McNeice opens the 2018 season on an up note after a decent 2017 season that included a win at Challenge Turku in Finland, 3rd at Challenge Rome, 4th at Challenge Geraardsbergen in Belgium and 5th at Challenge Prague.
Hauschildt quickly overcame a 4:40 deficit after the swim with a women’s-best splits on the bike and run legs to finish in 4:12:15 with a 7:06 margin of victory over Teresa Adam of New Zealand and 14:17 over 3rd place finisher and defending Port of Tauranga champ Amelia Rose Watkinson of New Zealand.
After a challenging 2017 season plagued by painful iliac artery surgeries and a long recovery, the three-time world champion returned to form with late season wins at the Asia Pacific Ironman 70.3 Championship and Ironman Western Australia. Today’s decisive victory continues Hauschildt’s top form highlighted by her by-far women's-best 2:15:50 bike split and 1:23:00 half marathon.
Port of Tauranga Half
Mount Maunganui, New Zealand
January 20, 2018
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. R 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1. Dylan McNeice (NZL) S 25:03 T1 00:40 B 2:09:00 T2 00:43 R 1:18:52 TOT 3:54:16
2. Mike Phillips (NZL) S 26:04 T1 00:48 B 2:07:53 T2 00:53 R 1:20:11 TOT 3:55:47
3. Cameron Brown (NZL) S 27:52 T1 00:54 B 2:10:12 T2 00:55 R 1:16:43 TOT 3:56:33
4. Simon Cochrane (NZL) S 26:35 T1 00:41 B 2:11:38 T2 00:55 R 1:21:28 TOT 4:01:17
5. Dan Plews (NZL) S 27:42 T1 00:46 B 2:10:30 T2 00:53 R 1:22:08 TOT 4:01:57
Women
1. Melissa Hauschildt (AUS) S 31:16 T1 1:15 B 2:15:50 T2 00:56 R 1:23:00 TOT 4:12:15
2. Teresa Adam (NZL) S 26:36 T1 00:48 B 2:22:21 T2 00:50 R 1:28:47 TOT 4:19:21
3. Amelia Rose Watkinson (NZL) S 30:53 T1 00:46 B 2:20:03 T2 00:55 R 1:33:58 TOT 4:26:32
4. Annika Pfitzinger (NZL) S 31:05 T1 00:45 B 2:28:39 T2 1:02 R 1:30:04 TOT 4:31:33
5. Rebecca Clarke (NZL) S 26:37 T1 00:45 B 2:28:59 T2 00:56 R 1:37:58 TOT 4:35:11
