Stephanie Nevin won her second straight Olympic distance event, while Steve Dyke added to his still-growing list of sprint titles at the 2019 Capital Subaru St. John’s Triathlon staged Sunday in St. John’s and Portugal Cove-St. Philips.
The men’s Olympic crown went to William Duggan, coming off a third-place finish last year, and Valerie Piercey took the women’s sprint championship.
The Olympic distance for the triathlon is a 1,500 metre swim in Healey’s Pond, a 46 kilometre bike ride followed by a 10K run.
The sprint triathlon is one-half that distance. The triathlon started and finished at Sunshine Camp.
The St. John’s Triathlon was a qualifying race for the 2020 world championships in Edmonton in spring and standard distance, and it’s believed a number of finishers Sunday qualified for the event.
Nevin’s combined time on the Olympic course was two hours, 37 minutes and 23 seconds, finishing an impressive sixth overall. Melanie Benson, who was first in 2017, placed second in 2:40. Sherri Myers was third in 2:51.13.
Duggan outraced everybody on the full course, stopping the clock in 2:21.10. Carl Barrett finished second for the second straight year in 2:27.47, followed by Chris Young in 2:29.07.
Fifty-seven triathletes completed the Olympic course.
In the sprint, Dyke finished by a comfortable margin over second-place finisher Max Kelly. Dyke’s time was 1:11.39, while Kelly came in at 1:12.56. Aubrey Sanders placed third in 1:14.48.
Piercey finished first among female triathletes in a time of 1:21.45, just in front of Jennifer Guy, who was right behind in 1:21.56.
Heidi Perry was third in 1:22.36.
