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By PETE YOUNG
© St. Petersburg Times, published April 30, 2001
ST. PETERSBURG -- The multiple-wave start in the St. Anthony's Triathlon amateur race makes it nearly impossible to know who the overall winners are until results are posted hours later.
That might change. Race director Steve Meckfessel said an elite amateur wave that would go off first is being considered for 2002. With the current system, the overall winner usually comes from a wave that starts 20-30 minutes after the first wave, and therefore the overall winner finishes after numerous competitors from earlier waves. With an elite wave, the overall winners would be the first man and woman across the finish line.
"I'm worried about it getting crowded with (non-elites) who just want to start in the first wave," Meckfessel said. "But it takes away from the event when you have to wait four hours to see who the winner is."
The weekend marked the third year St. Anthony's had separate days for its professional and amateur races.
GOOD KIDS: The first wave Sunday contained junior elite (ages 17-20) competitors, as the race was a qualifying event for the Junior World Championships on July 21-22 in Edmonton.
Felipe Bastos, 20, of Gainesville was the men's winner, but Bastos is from Brazil, so runner-up Bryan Beckman, 18, of El Dorado Hills, Calif., earned the qualifying berth. Two women's berths were available, and Sara McLarty, 18, of DeLand claimed the first one. Ashley Carusone, 16, of High Springs placed second, but she is not old enough to qualify. USA Triathlon could petition for her entry.
BETTER WITH AGE: Linda Musante, 47, of Tampa repeated as women's masters champion in a near-duplicate performance. Her time of 2:20:46 was three seconds faster than last year.
BLAME CANADA: The Canadian military helped cap a spectacular weekend for Canada at St. Anthony's. Saturday, Canadians Carol Montgomery and Simon Whitfield won the professional races. Sunday in the military challenge, Canada outscored the United States 57-53 despite the performance of women's overall winner Susie Stark, a U.S. Marine. The men's military individual winner was Kharim Schliewinsky, 30 of Midhurst, Ontario, in 2:04:46.
BAH HUMBUG: Montgomery was a no-show at the awards ceremony Saturday, and men's amateur winner Daniel Domingo also skipped the ceremony Sunday. Runner-up Marty Gaal said Domingo left early to attend church.
OH, BROTHER: Laura Reback of North Palm Beach was sixth in the women's professional race in 2:04:07, but she wasn't the weekend's fastest Reback. Older brother John, 31, was fifth in the men's amateur race in 2:02:43.