Gunnison Athletes Sweep Winter Tri Titles

BEND, Ore. — A pair of experienced winter endurance athletes earned national titles Sunday in the 2009 USA Triathlon Winter Triathlon National Championships under sunny skies at Mount Bachelor.

Brian Smith from Gunnison, Colo., won the run, bike, cross country ski event with a time of 59 minutes, 3 seconds. Two-time defending champion Mike Kloser (Vail, Colo.) was second with a time of 1:02:15. Professional bike racer Carl Decker of Bend, Ore., took third place in 1:03:24. Legendary mountain biker Ned Overend who came from Durango, Colo., to compete, finished in the top 10.

The elite women's race was decided very early with Nordic ski racer and Olympian Rebecca Dussault taking an early lead on the run and finishing with a time of 1:05:39. XTERRA racer Emma Garrard (Truckee, Calif.), finished second in 1:15:20 and 2008 national champion Heather Best from Fairbanks, Alaska, was close behind in third with a time of 1:15:43.

Top finishers for men and women in the elite category receive a $1,000 stipend and paid entry fee to the World Championships in Gaishorn, Austria, in February.

With a prize purse of $3,000, the winners earned $1,000 each while the second-place finishers took home $400 apiece and the third-place finishers earned $100 each.

"The bike course was much better than last year, when the soft snow conditions forced almost everyone to walk for long sections," said Bill Warburton, the race director. "The unusually warm, clear weather provided a perfect day for an excellent race and there's talk of bringing the World Championships to Bend for 2010."

Links
Results
USAT Winter Triathlon National Championship website
Winter Nationals website
Find out more about winter triathlon