Morales, Jacobs win IM Wisconsin

Ezequiel Morales of Argentina's 8:45:18 topped Stefan Schmid of Austria by 12 minutes 33 seconds; Jessica Jacobs erased Meredith Kessler's big lead off the bike to win Ironman Wisconsin by 9 minutes 42 seconds.

French Pro Romain Guillaume was first out of the water, 3- minutes up on Freddy Lampret from South Africa and local Madison professional Blake Becker. Guillaume also rode well and stayed up front during the entire bike course. Ezequiel Morales caught Lampret and Becker in the early part of the bike segment and reached the bike-run transition in second position.

Morales then used a 2:53:06 run to take the Ironman Wisconsin men's title by 12 minutes 33 seconds over runner-up Stefan Schmid of Germany. American Mac Brown rounded out the podium.

Jessica Jacobs of Green Bay Wisconsin surrendered nearly 12 minutes on the swim to Meredith Kessler of San Francisco, then gave up just 7 more seconds to Kessler's race-best 5:15:31 bike. But the run was a different story, as former US Duathlon national champion Jacobs ran past Kessler halfway through her race-best 3:13:39 marathon.

At the finish, Kessler's 3:34:51 run left her 9 minutes 42 seconds behind Jacobs' 9:41:03 winning time.

Ironman Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin
September 11, 2011
S 2.4 mi. / B 112 mi. / R 26.2 mi.

Results

Men

1. Ezequiel Morales (ARG) 8:45:18
2. Stefan Schmid (GER) 8:57:51
3. Mac Brown (USA) 9:08:14
4. Ernst Moser (AUT) 9:09:42
5. Thomas Brunhold (USA) 9:12:44 * M40-44
6. Andreas Wolpert (GER ) 9:13:57
7. Brendan Halpin (USA) 9:17:13
8. Adam Jensen (USA) 9:17:47
9. Jared Milam (USA) 9:25:36
10. Toby Radcliffe (GBR) 9:32:49

Women

1. Jessica Jacobs (USA) 9:41:03
2. Meredith Kessler (USA) 9:50:45
3. Whitney Garcia (USA) 10:03:53
4. M. Omar Soledad (ARG) 10:06:57