June 2008 - Spokes Magazine

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TRISPOKES by RON CASSIE ron_cassie@yahoo.com
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Wassner Smashes Course Mark at Columbia
Failing to perform her best at the Olympic Trials in
Tuscaloosa earlier this Spring was a disappointment;
the silver-living is that pursuing the 2008 Beijing
Summer Games got Rebecca Wassner in the best
shape of her life.
The 32-year old Gaithersburg-native, who won
last year’s second IronGirl event held on much of
this course, smashed former U.S. Olympian Susan
Williams course-record in winning the women’s side
of the 25th Columbia Triathlon, held May 18th in
Howard County, Md.
Wassner took the 1.5K swim, 41 K bike and 10 K run
in 2:04:49, cutting nearly five minutes off the previous
women’s course record of 2:07:22 set by Williams in
2005. The women’s professional leaders had a strong
local flavor, with Margie Shapiro of Northern Virginia,
and Desiree Ficker, originally from Potomac, Md. now
training out of Austin, Texas, finishing third and fifth,
respectively, behind Wassner. Amanda Lovato and
Fiona Docherty, both of Boulder, Colo., took second
and fourth, respectively, while Wassner’s twin sister
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The top pro female finishers
Laurel, rookie pro this year, grabbed sixth-place overall
for the women.
Wassner’s record-breaking performance was matched
on the men’s side by Chris Lieto of Danville, Calif.,
who also set a new mark, crossing the finish line in
1:51:13. Lieto topped 2008 U.S. Olympic team qualifier
Matt Reed’s previous best, 1:51.46, set last year.
“The conditions were perfect,” said Lieto, referring
to the cloud cover and comfortable temperature. “I
swam a little a slow, three guys off the front, and took
a little while to get in rhythm on the bike, but felt
strong on the hills. I just keep pushing myself.”
Lieto said he didn’t know he was on record pace until
he saw the clock coming down the back stretch of the
running path that encircles Centennial Lake. And,
in fact, one more key mark was broken at Columbia
as 18-year old Andrew Yoder, a high schooler from
Lancaster County, Pa., amazingly took second-place
overall, shattering the 19-and-under mark with a time
of 1:54:31.
Not to take anything away from Lieto or Yoder’s
record-breaking performances, but two top male
triathletes expected to compete for the overall victory,
San Diego’s Chris McCormack, and Richie
Cunningham of Brook line, Mass., suffered from some
confusion and poor course direction on the bike portion
of the race and missed a crucial turn. They took
third and fourth, respectively on the men’s side.
Course director Robert Vigorito told SPOKES that the
mistake caused both riders, who finished third and
fourth, respectively, to ride roughly an extra two miles,
costing them several minutes and a shot at winning.
“It’s too bad, obviously Lieto made the correct turn,”
Vigorito said. “We had someone there, but apparently
they didn’t signal or stop them. Otherwise, I think it
would’ve been a dogfight until the end.”
16 June 2008