Kemper, Haskins take Chicago
U.S. stars Hunter Kemper and Sarah Haskins overcame pouring rain and talented fields to win the men’s and women’s professional titles at the Life Time Fitness – Toyota Cup Challenge Chicago Triathlon today.
Kemper combined a 2nd-fastest 20:23 swim, 6th-fastest 55:30 bike split and a by-far-fastest 32:00 run to finish in 1:48:51 with a 50-seconds margin over runner-up Stuart Hayes of Great Britain and 1:18 over Australian-born U.S. citizen Greg Bennett.
Haskins won her 4th Chicago Triathlon and continued her dominance of the 2012 Life Time Fitness-Toyota Challenge Series with a well balanced race that included a 2nd-fastest 21:25 swim, 2nd-best 59:49 bike split and 3rd-fastest 38:21 10k run along Chicago’s famous waterfront to finish in 2:00:37 with a 1:45 margin over the runner-up, 2012 U.S. Olympian Laura Bennett and 1:55 over 3rd-place finisher Annabel Luxford of Australia.
The Men
Kemper emerged just one second back of Dustin McLarty’s race-best 20:22 swim, one second ahead of non-drafting star Cam Dye, 4 seconds ahead of fellow 2012 Olympian and non-drafting adept Stuart Hayes and surprisingly, 1:28 ahead of multiple Toyota Cup Challenge series winner Greg Bennett.
Bennett (53:55) and Dye (54:07) made up ground fast with the race’s two fastest bike splits which allowed Dye to take the lead and Bennett to make up his deficit to Kemper (55:30) and Hayes (55:09).
On the run, Kemper unleashed the day’s fastest 32:00 10k run which blew by Dye’s off-form 35:28 and held off Hayes (33:14) and Bennett’s not-at-his-best (33:28) effort. At the finish, Kemper could take some of the sting from his disappointing 14th place Olympic finish.
With this win, Kemper advanced to third in the 2012 Toyota Cup Challenge points standings with 31. Cameron Dye, who finished 4th today, leads the Toyota Cup Challenge points chase with 39, followed by Ben Collins with 37.
The Women
Laura Bennett led the women out of the water in 21:19, followed by Haskins (21:25), Annabel Luxford (21:29), Liz Blatchford (22:31), Jenna Parker (22:50) and Alicia Kaye (22:52).
Kaye (59:00), Haskins (59:49) and Luxford (59:51) rode away from Blatchford (1:01:41), Parker (1:02:20), Abby Geurink (1:03:04) and the off-form ride of Bennett (1:03:08).
After crashing coming into T2 in the rain, Haskins started the run 1st in 1:22:16 with 3-seconds advantage on Luxford, 45 seconds on Kaye, 2:56 on Blatchford and 3:11 on Bennett.
Haskins closed the deal with a 3rd-fastest 38:21 run which was enough to hold off Bennett’s race-best 36:55 and Blatchford’s 2nd-best 37:53 runs.
After Haskins, Bennett and Luxford filled podium, Blatchford took 4th in 2:03:05 and Kaye 5th in 2:03:11.
Haskins’ win put her into a massive lead in the 2012 Toyota Cup Challenge series points with 53 after wins at Nautica South Beach, Cap-Tex, Philadelphia and Minneapolis plus split bonuses. Kaye remains in 2nd as her point total advanced to 33 with her 5th place finish. Annabel Luxford advanced from 5th to 3rd in the points chase as her 3rd place finish increased her points total to 26. Jillian Petersen, who finished 8th, remained in 4th place with 23.5 points.
Life Time Fitness – Toyota Cup Challenge Chicago Triathlon
Chicago, Illinois
August 26, 2012
S 1.5 k / B 40k / R 10k
Results
Pro Men
1. Hunter Kemper (USA) 1:48:51
2. Stuart Hayes (GBR) 1:49:41
3. Greg Bennett (USA) 1:50:09
4. Cameron Dye (USA) 1:50:56
5. Ben Collins (USA) 1:51:18
6. Brent McMahon (CAN) 1:51:52
7. Chris Foster (USA) 1:52:18
8. Clayton Fettell (AUS) 1:57:33
9. James Seear (AUS) 1:57:46
10. Nikolaus Early (USA) 2:01:35
Pro Women
1. Sarah Haskins (USA) 2:00:37
2. Laura Bennett (USA) 2:02:22
3. Annabel Luxford (AUS) 2:02:32
4. Liz Blatchford (GBR) 2:03:05
5. Alicia Kaye (USA) 2:03:11
6. Jenna Parker (USA) 2:07:42
7. Abby Geurink (USA) 2:08:39
8. Jillian Petersen (USA) 2:10:20
9. Emily Cocks (USA) 2:10:49
10. Annie Warner (USA) 2:13:42
