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Idaho man races to victory in Lake Tahoe Triathlon

Staff report
Athletes enter the water at Sugar Pine Point State Park at the start of the Lake Tahoe Triathlon on Saturday. Find a photo gallery from the race at www.lefrakphotography.com.
Courtesy Harry Lefrak / Lefrak Photography |

For the first time this summer, someone beat JP Donovan to the finish line of a race.

Thirty-year-old Derek Garcia of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, raced to victory in the Olympic distance of the Lake Tahoe Triathlon on Saturday, posting a time of 2 hours, 22 minutes, 54 seconds.

Donovan, 27, who had won all four triathlons he had entered this summer, finished runner-up with a time of 2:24:45. Chris Cloyd, 29, of Olympic Valley placed third in 2:31:59, and Rob Laurie, 48, of Incline Village was fifth in 2:39:43.



In the women’s field, Rebecca Eckland, 32, of Reno claimed the win while finishing sixth overall with a time of 2:44:29.

Anna Mae Flynn, 27, of Tahoma was the second female finisher and seventh overall in 2:45:24, and Truckee’s Christie Jackson, 29, was third among women and 10th overall in 2:50:35.



A total of 149 people competed in the Olympic-distance triathlon, which included a 1,500-meter swim off the shore of Sugar Pine Point State Park, a 24-mile bike and a 6.9-mile run.

Among other top local finishers, 17-year-old Peter Carroll of Truckee finished ninth overall in 2:48:24, Markham Gross, 40, of Incline was 11th in 2:54:50, Peter Hanson, 49, of Incline was 13th in 2:55:49, and Kirk Brennan, 39, of Tahoma was 18th in 2:59:55.

The Half triathlon, which measures half the distance of an Ironman, challenged participants with a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike and 13.1-mile run.

Truckee 32-year-old Donatas Ereminas, who’s set to compete in the Ironman Lake Tahoe next month, edged runner-up Jerry Cooper, 33, of Pleasant Hill by exactly one minute, posting a time of 4:39:06 to Cooper’s 4:40:06. Shane Whitney, 40, of Lodi was third in 4:46:11.

Danielle Widenmann, 32, of Vacaville placed first in the women’s field and seventh overall with a time of 5:07:37. She was trailed by Susannah Breen, 33, of Pleasant Hill, who was 10th overall in 5:18:12, and Kristina Hentschel, 41, of San Francisco, who was 17th overall in 5:32:00.

Adrian Tieslau, 42, of Tahoe Vista was 11th overall in 5:19:52, while Michael Sharp, 56, of South Lake Tahoe was 16th in 5:30:45, Craig Morgan, 52, of South Lake Tahoe was 18th in 5:34:41, Chris Riha, 44, of Incline was 22nd in 5:40:12, and Joshua Wheeler, 40, of Truckee was 27th in 5:49:15.

The Sprint triathlon proved most popular, with 220 participants.

Nineteen-year-old Cody Forman of Sparks took the win with a time of 54:24 and was followed by Charlie Chen, 20, of Moraga (54:28) and Stefan Laursen, 44, of Fairfax (55:03).

Jennifer Moore, 41, of San Carlos was the top woman and sixth overall in 1:03:01.

At 13 years of age, Haydn Halvosen of Truckee was the top local finisher, placing 14th in 1:05:33. Kimberly Larson, 40, of Truckee was sixth among women and 18th overall (1:06:36), Laurie Axell, 51, of Carnelian Bay was the seventh woman (1:07:44), and Hannah Halvorsen, 16, of Truckee was the ninth woman (1:08:17).

Find complete results at http://www.bigblueadventure.com and a photo gallery at http://www.lefrakphotography.com.


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