Stoltz, McQuaid take XTERRA in Waco
Conrad Stoltz fought off late-run heroics by Josiah Middaugh and Seth Wealing to take a career record 38th championship victory, while Melanie McQuaid edged Shonny Vanlandingham to take the women’s title at the XTERRA South Central Championship in Waco, Texas Sunday.
Stoltz, the South African star with a record 4 XTERRA World Championship titles, had a 3-minute lead over Middaugh after a race-best 1:05:59 bike, then held off the Vail, Colorado XTERRA star’s race-best 34:50 run by a mere 8 seconds as he hit the finish line in 2:05:34. Seth Wealing, among the leaders who put 90 seconds on Stoltz at the swim, was just 7 more seconds behind Middaugh at the finish after a second-best run that gave up more than a minute to Middaugh's charge.
“It wasn’t a perfect race for me, that’s for sure,” Stoltz told XTERRA media. “With this kind of technical stuff [on the Waco bike course] you really have to focus and ride smooth when the pressure is on and I had some hiccups today. At one point I had just passed Seth Wealing and I dropped my chain on an uphill and was running up the hill trying to put it back and Seth was heckling me from behind, saying ‘what’s a matter old man, can’t climb this stuff anymore?’”
Midway through his race-best run 34:50 run, Middaugh caught Wealing and had to evaluate his chances of catching Stoltz. “I ran really, really hard and when I caught Seth he stayed with me on the flats,” Middaugh told XTERRA media. “We picked up the pace together and closed in on Conrad, but I had already been sprinting when he turned around and saw me behind him. So there was no turbo button left to push to close the gap that last half-mile.”
Stoltz offered a tribute to former career XTERRA championship race wins record holder Jamie Whitmore at the finish. Stoltz said that had Whitmore not come been afflicted with career-ending cancer at the end of the 2007 season, he’d still be chasing her race wins record.
Melanie McQuaid came out of the swim second only to fellow Canadian Christine Jeffrey, passed her on the bike and never looked back on her way to a finish time of 2:20:31 while taking her second straight XTERRA Championship series win of 2011.
If McQuaid had looked back, she might have seen current XTERRA World Champion Shonny Vanlandingham gaining on her. Vanlandingham, a former NORBA mountain biking star who took up XTERRA triathlons late in her sporting career, was a typical 3:30 back of McQuaid after the swim and made up 1 minute 30 seconds with a race-best 1:13:41 bike. But even after posting a race-best run, Vanlandingham fell 41 seconds short of catching McQuaid.
“I actually had a good swim for me and I had so much fun on the bike course,” Vanlandingham told XTERRA media. “Some of those whoop-turns I took weren’t the fastest route but they were the most fun, and it only cost a second, so it was worth it.”
While Jeffrey kept McQuaid and Vanlandingham in sight on the bike, she relinquished more time on the run and finished 3rd, 7:36 back of McQuaid.
XTERRA South Central Championship
Waco, Texas
April 17, 2011
S 1.5K / B 15 mi. / R 5.5 mi.
Results
Pro Men
1. Conrad Stoltz (RSA) 2:05:34
2. Josiah Middaugh (USA) 2:05:42
3. Seth Wealing (USA) 2:05:49
4. Nicolas Lebrun (FRA) 2:08:33
5. Branden Rakita (USA) 2:08:51
6. Craig Evans (USA) 2:11:37
7. Trevor Glavin (USA) 2:13:10
8. Will Ross (USA) 2:13:16
9. Patrick Valentine (USA) 2:13:21
10. Cody Waite (USA) 2:14:35
Pro Women
1. Melanie McQuaid (CAN) 2:20:31
2. Shonny Vanlandingham (USA) 2:21:12
3. Christine Jeffrey (CAN) 2:28:07
4. Suzie Snyder (USA) 2:29:55
5. Emma Garrard (USA) 2:30:20
6. Jessica Noyola (USA) 2:35:41
7. Tracy Thelen (USA) 2:560:36
8. Caroline Colonna (USA)m 2:51:02
2011 XTERRA Pro Series Standings (after 2 races)
Pro men
1. Conrad Stoltz (RSA) 190
2. Josiah Middaugh (USA) 190
3. Branden Rakita (USA) 151
4. Nicolas Lebrun (FRA) 150
5. Seth Wealing (USA) 140
Pro Women
1. Melanie McQuaid (CAN) 200
2. Shonny Vanlandingham (USA) 180\
3. Christine Jeffrey (CAN) 164
4. Suzie Snyder (USA) 133
5. Emma Garrard (USA) 132
