Docherty, Sweetland win New Plymouth Oceania Cup titles
Bevan Docherty won a second straight Oceania Cup duel with fellow Kiwi Clark Ellice, and Canada’s back-from-injury prodigy Kirsten Sweetland followed last week’s rousing Mooloolaba World Cup win with a victory at the New Plymouth (New Zealand) Oceania Cup Sunday.
Docherty and Ellice arrived in the bike-to-run transition in a huge pack that included Germany’s Andreas and Michael Raelert, Kiwi Olympian Shane Reed, ITU Duathlon World Champion Paul Amey, France’s Laurent Vidal, Callum Millward and top biker Martin Van Barnevald. Fellow Kiwi Olympian Kris Gemmell and top Kiwi contender Graham O’Grady dropped out after the swim.
On the run, Docherty’s ITU World Championship gold (2004 and silver (2008), and Olympic silver (2004) and bronze (2008) form prevailed. Docherty’s race-best 31:44 10km propelled him to the win in 1:51:33, while Ellice’s third-best 31:53 run gave him the runner-up slot 10 seconds back. Andreas Raelert, the two-time German Olympian who found a long course niche with a second at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship and a win at Ironman Arizona last Fall, ran a second-best 31:47 to take third, seven seconds back of Ellice.
In the women’s race, Sweetland’s race-best 35:22 10km run outclassed the field, as she finished in 2:02:21 with a 1 minute, 29 seconds margin over runner-up Nicky Samuels, who ran 36:49. Japan’s Kiyomi Niwata came out of the pack with a second-best run of 36:19 to finish third, 47 seconds back of Samuels.
An anticipated duel with top Australians Felicity Abram and 2004 Olympian Maxine Seear failed to materialize when both pulled out after the swim.
New Plymouth ITU Triathlon Oceania Cup
New Plymouth, New Zealand
April 5, 2009
S 1.5k/ B 40k/ R 10k
Results
Elite men
1. Bevan Docherty NZL 1:51:32
2. Clark Ellice NZL 1:51:43
3. Andreas Raelert GER 1:51:50
4. Claude Eksteen RSA 1:52:02
5. Michael Raelert GER 1:52:15
6. Adam Carlton AUS 1:52:36
7. Hauke Horstmann GER 1:52:52
8. Shane Reed NZL 1:52:55
9. Laurent Vidal FRA1:52:56
10. Callum Millward NZL 1:52:58
11. James Elvery NZL 1:52:58
DNF included: Kris Gemmell, Graham O’Grady, Stephen Sheldrake,
Elite women
1. Kirsten Sweetland CAN 2:02:21
2. Nicky Samuels NZL 2:03:50
3. Kiyomi Niwata JPN 2:04:37
4. Andrea Hewitt NZL 2:05:43
5. Misato Tagaji JPN 2:06:39
6. Jenna Shoemaker USA 2:06:48
7. Lena Brunkhorst GER 2:07:14
8. Kate Roberts RSA 2:07:31
9. Katie McIlroy NZL 2:10:26
10. Michelle Wu AUS 2:11:54
DNF included: Felicity Abram, Maxine Seear
