Kasper Earns First ITU World Cup Medal, McDowell Fourth in Huatulco
HUATULCO, Mexico — USA Triathlon’s 2014 Rookie of the Year Kirsten Kasper captured bronze for her first career ITU World Cup podium finish, while Kevin McDowell led the U.S. men with a fourth-place finish at Sunday’s Huatulco ITU World Cup.
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Kirsten Kasper claimed her first ITU World Cup Podium in Huatulco on Sunday. (Rich Cruse/ITU) |
Kasper (North Andover, Mass.) logged a time of 1 hour, 6 minutes, 59 seconds on the sprint 750-meter swim, 20-kilometer bike, 5-kilometer run course. She finished behind Chile’s Valentina Carvallo, who won in 1:06:20, and Switzerland’s Jolanda Annen, who was second in 1:06:48.
Kasper posted the second-fastest run time of the day (17:30) while battling Huatulco’s trademark heat and humidity to secure her first World Cup podium finish of her career. Kasper’s bronze medal continues a streak for the U.S. women, who have earned a medal in all but one of the ITU World Cup or ITU World Triathlon Series races held this season. Chelsea Burns (Seattle, Wash.), a member of the USA Triathlon Collegiate Recruitment Program along with Kasper, finished eighth in 1:07:45.
“I was just trying to think about my race. I’m confident in my run so I knew I could get up there, so I just worked one lap at a time,” Kasper told ITU media after the race. “I knew it was going to be a very challenging course, but I knew it would prepare me well for the Rio test event.”
In the men’s race, McDowell (Geneva, Ill.) missed the podium by three seconds, finishing fourth in 59:34. Irving Perez of Mexico picked up the win in his home country in 59:25, followed by Germany’s Maximilian Schwetz in 59:29, and Austria’s Thomas Springer in 59:31.
McDowell came out of the water in the middle of the field, making up some of his time on the bike. His run split of 15:45 tied three other athletes in the field for the second-fastest run split in the men’s race. Sean Jefferson (Palisades, Calif.) and Greg Billington (Colorado Springs, Colo.) just missed the top 10, finishing 12th and 13th, respectively.
Huatulco ITU World Cup
750m swim, 20k bike, 5k run
Elite Women’s Podium – Complete Results
1. Valentina Carvallo (CHI), 1:06:20
2. Jolanda Annen (SUI), 1:06:48
3. Kirsten Kasper (North Andover, Mass.), 1:06:59
Elite Women – U.S. Finishers
8. Chelsea Burns (Seattle, Wash.), 1:07:45
12. Taylor Spivey (Redondo Beach, Calif.), 1:09:18
18. Erin Jones (Hood River, Ore.), 1:09:18
23. Renée Tomlin (Ocean City, N.J.), 1:10:07
25. Nicole Truxes (Tempe, Ariz.), 1:10:45
26. Johanna Gartman (Colorado Springs, Colo.), 1:10:51
37. Julie Stupp (Austin, Texas), 1:19:04
Elite Men’s Podium – Complete Results
1. Irving Perez (MEX), 59:25
2. Maximilian Schwetz (GER), 59:29
3. Thomas Springer (AUT), 59:31
Elite Men – U.S. Finishers
4. Kevin McDowell (Geneva, Ill.), 59:34
12. Sean Jefferson (Palisades, Calif.), 59:59
13. Greg Billington (Colorado Springs, Colo.), 1:00:02
30. Kaleb VanOrt (Mishawaka, Ind.), 1:01:45
39. Jason Pedersen (Simi Valley, Calif.), 1:03:13
44. Alex Libin (Colorado Springs, Colo.), 1:03:32
46. Dan McIntosh (Westminster, Colo.), 1:03:40
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FSN Triathlon – Florida Swim Network
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