Dye, Haskins take St. Anthony’s
Cameron Dye beat out a stellar field to take the win at the 2010 St. Anthony's Triathlon in St. Petersburg, Florida in a time of 1:48:44. Sarah Haskins led from start to finish and grabbed the women's title in 1:58:49.
The men
Dustin McLarty was first out of the water but he had Cameron Dye, Stuart Hayes, Kyle Leto, Brian Fleischmann and Matty Reed hot on his heels.
Dye then pounced on the bike and managed to get away from the other guys. His 54:42 bike split was only bested by Andrew Starykowicz (by 11 seconds), but the Long Grove, IL resident was riding about a minute behind Dye after the swim. Solid bike splits by Bennett and Alexander put them into good position by the time they hit T2, but they certainly had the work cut out for them.
Dye looked very smooth on the run and topped his good day with a 33:34 run and a very impressive win. Bennett managed a faster second transition and slightly faster run than Alexander to get the runner-up spot in the men's race, while 2-time Ironman World Champion Craig Alexander had to be content with third place.
"This race is huge for me. I think it validates me as more than just a swimmer in the sport of triathlon and gives me a lot of confidence for the upcoming races and the future," said a clearly happy Cameron Dye to slowtwitch. "St. Anthony's is the Paris-Roubaix of triathlon. It's that spring classic that everyone goes to and everyone wants to win."
The women
After the swim Laura Bennett was still in striking distance of Sarah Haskins, but those 16 seconds was as close as she would come to Haskins on that day. Mirinda Carfrae exited the water over 2 minutes later and needed to make up quite a bit of time
Haskins flew away on the bike and had no competitors around her. Her 1:00:47 bike split was actually the second fastest among the women and only Jillian Petersen managed to go faster. Petersen lost 1:28 to Haskins in the swim, but took a few seconds back in T1 and with her 1:00:26 bike time was now 1 minute behind Haskins as they reached T2. Carfrae was next into T2, but was now looking at an even bigger gap.
Petersen took another 6 seconds back in T2, but behind her Carfrae managed to go through transition even faster. Haskins though was virtually unchallenged and ran a 36:14 on her way to the title. Carfrae's 34:55 split allowed her to run past Jillian Petersen late in the race to take second place, but Petersen managed to hold on to third place. Bennett, who celebrated her birthday today, finished fifth.
"It is always great to finish up on top, but I was hurting out there today. It was quite humid and windy, so racing conditions were tough," said Haskins to slowtwitch. "I love racing and putting it all out there on the line."
St. Anthony's Triathlon
St. Petersburg, FL / April 25, 2010
Top 10 men
1. Cameron Dye (USA) 1:48:44
2. Greg Bennett (AUS) 1:49:04
3. Craig Alexander (AUS) 1:49:14
4. Stuart Hayes (GBR) 1:50:50
5. Matthew Reed (USA) 1:51:13
6. Andrew Starykowicz (USA) 1:51:19
7. Brian Fleischmann (USA) 1:51:32
8. Viktor Zyemtsev (UKR) 1:52:06
9. David Thompson (USA) 1:52:26
10. Maxim Kriat (UKR) 1:53:01
Top 10 women
1. Sarah Haskins (USA) 1:58:49
2. Mirinda Carfrae (AUS) 2:00:20
3. Jillian Petersen (USA) 2:00:35
4. Jodie Stimpson (GBR) 2:01:44
5. Laura Bennett (USA) 2:02:16
6. Alicia Kaye (USA) 2:02:45
7. Jodie Swallow (GBR) 2:03:55
8. Nina Kraft (GER) 2:06:30
9. Laurel Wassner (USA) 2:06:36
10. Rebecca Witinok-Huber (USA) 2:08:25
Pics are courtesy of Eric Wynn of EricWynn.org