Courtesy: USAT

USA Triathlon crowned its youth and junior elite national champions, and an exciting senior elite race capped off the day, at The Park City Mossman Triathlon in Bridgeport, Conn., on August 5.

The elite race - featuring several top U.S. and international athletes - was the third installment of USA Triathlon's five-city 2006 Haul to the Great Wall Series and served as an ITU Continental Cup event.

YOUTH ELITE NATIONALS

The first athletes out onto the course in Bridgeport were the 13-15 year old Youth Elites. In the boys' race, top-ranked triathlete Lance Wolfsmith (Morgan Hill, Calif.) rode like another "Lance" and cruised to the national championship title by following up his dominant solo ride in front a large chase pack with a strong run. Second place went to Luke Verbus (Naperville, Ill.) and third to Kevin McDowell (Geneva, Ill.).

Christine Ridenour (Cowichan Bay, Canada) blitzed the swim course and never looked back to win the girls' race. But Jennifer Howland (Elburn, Ill.), just a minute back, grabbed the Youth Elite National crown as the top American finisher. Natalie Russell (Batavia, Ill.) rounded out the top three.

JUNIOR ELITE NATIONALS

For the 16-19 year old Junior Elite athletes, three slots per gender to the 2006 World Championships were on the line in Bridgeport as well as the national title. USA Junior National Team athlete Zack Paris (Solana Beach, Calif.) led the boys out of the water, but it was his teammate Willy Pickhardt (Fayetteville, Ark.) who took command of the race on the bike, riding solo and building a large lead in the short and flat 20k bike leg. Onto the run, Pickhardt ran strong and never looked back to claim the junior national title and his rightful slot on the Worlds team after a very consistent season.

Behind Pickhardt, fellow American, but resident of Great Britain, Gregory Billington used a strong run to pull away from Paris and defending national champion Duncan Hoge (Chapel Hill, N.C.) to take second, while Paris placed third. Pickhardt, Billington and Paris will join 2005 Junior World Champion Steven Duplinsky on the Worlds team for 2006.

The junior women racers were led out of the water by USA Junior National Team athlete Taylor Cooke (Homosassa, Ga.), who entered transition by herself and led out onto the flat bike course. There the young women organized into small groups and worked together while Yasmine White (Arcata, Calif.) rode from the middle of the pack to the front group, putting her into position for her best event, the run.

White did not disappoint on the run, taking the national championship title after finishing second in 2005. White will return to the World Championships for the second year in a row. Alex Lechner (Clearwater, Fla.), White's teammate on the Junior National Team, took second to claim her second consecutive trip to Worlds as well. Newcomer to the ITU-style of racing, Kate Ross (Doylestown, Pa.), took third to claim her spot on the podium and the Worlds team. Joining White, Lechner and Ross in Switzerland at the World Championships will be consistent top finisher Danielle Kehoe who finished fourth and earned a discretionary spot on the team.

ATHLETE DEVELOPMENT TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP

For the second year in a row, the Multi-Sport Madness team from Chicago, Ill., won the team title at Youth Elite / Junior Elite nationals. The young athletes from Multi-Sport Madness raced like a true team, controlling the pace on the bike by having multiple athletes in the main packs of nearly all of the races and displaying their well-practiced drafting skills while cheering each other on from the sidelines.

HAUL TO THE GREAT WALL

In the women's race, Kathy Tremblay from Canada and American Sarah Groff (Boulder, Colo.) followed U23 National Champion Sara McLarty (Colorado Springs, Colo.) out of the water. But once on the bike, McLarty hit the gas and the others were content to allow her to ride half of the 40k cycling leg by herself, before a large group driven by American Margie Shapiro (Annandale, Va.) reeled her back in on the flat seaside bike course.

"Plan A and plan B went out the window," said McLarty. "It was a runner's race."

Tremblay ran to the win, but hot on her heels at the finish line was super swimmer McLarty, who is fast becoming a contender on the run and posted one of the fastest run splits of the day and claimed a Speedo cash bonus for American athletes finishing in the top three. Rounding out the podium was Shapiro whose strong bike ride brought most of the group together.

The men's race saw USA National Team member Joe Umphenour (Colorado Springs, Colo) lead the pack through the two loop swim and out onto the bike course. After 5k a small gap opened up at the front of the pack allowing USAT Resident Team members Brian Fleischmann (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Tim O'Donnell (Colorado Springs, Colo.) to sneak off the front. The pair worked hard together to gradually build a one-minute lead over the Umphenour-led pack by the end of the ride.

Waiting to pounce from the chase pack was 2006 U23 National Champion Manny Huerta (Miami, Fla.) and 2005 U23 World Champion Jarrod Shoemaker (Sudbury, Mass.), and fleet footed Andre-Paul Baillargeon-Smith who will represent Canada at this year's U23 World Championships. The young guns used fresher legs to catch the breakaway duo of O'Donnell and Fleischmann at the 3k mark on the run.

By the start of the second half of the 10k run, Shoemaker and Huerta opened up a slight gap on Baillargeon-Smith while O'Donnell, Fleischmann and Umphenour, who had worked so hard on the bike, succumbed to the climbing temperatures and pace.

With 2k to go, Shoemaker accelerated easily away from his teammate Huerta to take the win, the second Continental Cup victory in his young career. "This was a great race," said a smiling Shoemaker after the event. "The park is beautiful, it was a strong field, I worked hard, and this feels great."

Huerta placed second for the second time in 2006 and joins Shoemaker in a tie for the lead in the 2006 Haul to the Great Wall series points chase. The third step on the podium went to Baillargeon-Smith.

ABOUT THE HAUL TO THE GREAT WALL

The 2006 Haul to the Great Wall Series kicked off with the Honolulu Triathlon in May and continued with The Beach Tri in Long Beach, Calif., in June. The Boston Triathlon in Boston, Mass. (September 3), and the Westchester Triathlon in Rye, N.Y. (September 17) are still ahead.

The series of intermediate distance triathlons - now in its second year - allows triathletes and spectators to get their first look at who might be competing at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. Each race is sanctioned by USAT and also the International Triathlon Union (ITU). The ITU world rankings system is used as part of the qualification process for the Olympic Games.

Each elite race, which allows drafting on the bike, has a prize purse of $20,000. Moreover, the overall series men's and women's champions - whether from the United States or another country - will each receive $10,000.

Swimwear and sports apparel giant Speedo is also providing $5,000 in bonus money for each race on the five-city tour. American men and women who finish in the top-three in their respective races are eligible for the bonuses, with $1,500 going to the top finisher, $750 to second, and $250 to third.

In addition to the individual race bonus pool, Speedo is providing a $15,000 end-of-the-season bonus to be split if U.S. athletes finish first or second in the Series. First place will receive $5,000 and second place will take home $2,500 in both the men's and women's categories.

More information on the 2006 Haul to the Great Wall Series, including series point standings, can be found at http://www.usatriathlon.org/HaulToGreatWall.htm.