Kemah Triathlon

Twenty-Four OutRival Racing athletes raced either the Kemah Sprint on Saturday or the Kemah Olympic on Sunday. Well over half of these athletes saw personal bests in  their races!  This race was definitely a "swimmers-race" in that the swim was quite challenging compared to other races.  

Sarah Gray and Grace Benes posted the 3rd and 4th best non-pro female times in the Olympic race! Sarah finished third in the Invitational Wave with a time 2:18:47! Grace easily won her age group with a 2:19:40. Both ladies had sub 23-minute swims, which were some of the fastest swim times of the entire day.  Grace Benes had the third fastest female swim of the day, including the pro athletes! Next up for both ladies is the CBI Sprint Triathlon.

Sarah Gray, 3rd in Inviiational Wave

Grace Benes, 1st AG

Tate Wright had a big personal best Oly time with blazing bike and run splits.  Tate finished 3rd in the competitive 35-39 age group, finishing right on the heels of speedy triathlete Tim Monk.

Jonathan Sterchy won the 30-34 Age Group and also had one of the fastest swim splits of the day. Jonathan had a solid bike and ran 6:51 min/mile pace on the 10K run to help solidify his win. 

Tate Wright, 3rd 35-39 AG

Jonathan Sterchy, 1st 30-34 AG

Several ORR men finished very high in their age-group divisions.  Ed Wandell missed the podium by one lonely spot with a 4th place finish in the 50-54 AG. Ed had solid splits in all three disciplines to help him finish in 2:31:59.  Blake Henning had a big personal best and also finished fourth in his division with a 2:38:15.  After a 10-year hiatus from the sport, Guillermo Maldonado had a great come-back to the sport, finishing with a 2:20:35 for the day.  Guillermo's fast run split helped him finish sixth in the 40-44 AG. Adam Currier also finished sixth in his AG (30-34) with a 2:26:30.    Lance McClain also had a personal best with a speedy run split, finishing in 2:31:29.  Roberto Guiot is back to racing after an unfortunate bike crash last Fall that led to a broken vertebrae in his next (and a long road to recovery).  Roberto finished in 2:30:43 and is very happy to be back to training and racing. Jesse Balboa wasn't too fond of the swim, but pushed strong to the finish with a 2:53:05.  Mikey Benes had a great swim split and first-18-miles-of-the-bike split, until... POP... the dreaded flat!  Mikey hitched a ride back to transition and ran his 10K in 42 minutes.  Sorry for the misfortune, Mikey!

Ed, Blake, Lance, and Mikey are all training for IMTX. Next up for Adam and Jesse is the Lonestar Sprint this weekend.

Raul Luzardo, Rick Wilson, Richard Tramm, Lance McClain and Corey Oliver are also training for Ironman Texas and used this race as preparation.  Raul, Rick, Richard, and Lance all had personal bests in the Olympic race. Rick finished almost an hour faster than last year's race, and Richard and Lance saw over 10-minute Oly personal bests.  Corey Oliver wants it noted that he might have gone much faster had he not been visiting the porcelain throne the few days prior to the race. :-)  Hope you are feeling better Corey!  

Cassandra Mays finished her first Olympic Triathlon with strong splits in all three disciplines!  Her 9:05 min/mile run split helped her finish overall in 3:01:11! Sharon Griggs finished with a smile on her face (as usual!) in 3:13:46. Next up for Cassandra is CB&I and for Sharon is Ironman Texas.

Here are the results from the Olympic Race:

Here are the results from the Sprint Race:

Allison Eden finished first in the 15-19 Age Group with a super speed bike split!  Connor Barry finished third in the very competitive 15-19 Age Group with the fastest bike split in his group.  Next up for Allison and Connor is the Memorial Hermann Sprint Triathlon this coming Saturday.

Allison Eden, 1st 15-19 AG

Connor Barry, 3rd 15-19 AG

Brandon Pounds finished fourth in his 25-29 Age Group.  Next up for Brandon is the Memorial Hermann Half Ironman and Ironman Texas.

Melissa Rothe raced her first ever triathlon in preparation for Memorial Hermann Half Ironman next weekend.  She ran a 6:55 min/mile run split! Welcome to the world of triathlon, Melissa!

Sandra Braniff and Shannon Butkus are both racing the Half Ironman next weekend and therefore wanted to get a short race in this weekend as preparation. They both had solid races and great splits in all three disciplines.

Great job athletes! Good luck next weekend!!!

Melissa, Shannon, Brandon and Raul

Connor being, well... Connor.

Brandon Pounds