McDowell, Russell and Kanute lead the way for Multisport
The International Triathlon Union World Championships took place last week in Vancouver, Canada, and the Multisport Madness Triathlon Team, comprised primarily of athletes from the Fox Valley, not only competed but ended up with many athletes on the awards podium.
The race consisted of an 800-meter open water swim, 20 kilometer bike, and 5 kilometer run.
On Thursday June 5, Geneva resident Kevin McDowell and former Batavia resident Natalie Russell competed in the ITU Junior World Championship race.
McDowell, a sophomore at Geneva, was one of two men representing the United States in that race, and Russell, a student at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, NH, was one of the two American women in the race. They competed against junior triathletes from over 30 countries, and finished 44th and 43rd, respectively.
Eleven other members of the Multisport Madness Triathlon team competed the following day in the 16-19 age group in the ITU Sprint Distance World Championship. The team crowned a new world champion -- 15-year-old Ben Kanute of Geneva, who not only won his age group, but ended up with the fastest time out of all men in the race from other age groups as well.
Ben outran two athletes from New Zealand in his age group to cross the finish line first. Jordan Heggen of St. Charles was also in the top 10 with a seventh-place finish.
In the girls 16-19 Sprint Distance race, St. Charles resident Jessica Clay took the silver medal, getting edged by nine seconds on the run by a Canadian athlete. Her sister, Jennifer Clay, had been leading the race on the bike leg when she crashed, requiring several stitches in her arm and forcing her to drop from the competition. Oswego resident Melanie Greiner finished third, putting two Multisport Madness girls on the podium. Aurora resident Courtney Convey just missed a medal, finishing fourth, and St. Charles resident Kelsey Clawson made the top 10 with an eighth-place finish.
Conditions for the races were extremely difficult as all the athletes competed in rain and temperatures in the low 50s. The water temperature in English Bay, site of the swim portion of the race, was measured at 52 degrees on race morning.
Kanute, a Marmion sophomore, becomes Multisport Madness' second world champion, following Natalie Russell's world title in the same race last year in Hamburg, Germany. The team also boasts nine national champions in the last six years.
The next major race for the team will be the Hy-Vee Triathlon in Des Moines, Iowa in June, followed by the 2008 USA Triathlon National Championships in Colorado Springs, Colo., in August. The team can be seen training almost every afternoon at Peck Farm Park in Geneva.
Midwest Distance Gala: Illinois is a prime locale for the long-distance runner.
Tonight at Benedictine University in Lisle, the Midwest Distance Gala will host some of the best not just from Illinois, but from across the country.
The fourth annual meet, co-directed by Patrick Tomasiewicz and Scott Bush, will offer an 800-meter battle between U.S. No. 4 Andrew Perkins of Wisconsin, and No. 8 Mat Smoody, the two-time state champion out of Palatine.
The 800 field also includes Willowbrook's Jeff Stapleton, Wheaton North's Graham Farnsworth, Waubonsie Valley's Sean Wiggan and Wheaton Warrenville South's Randall Babb. Along with Smoody, all placed top-9 in the 800 finals of the recent Illinois boys state track meet.
In the boys 1,600, St. Charles North's Chris DeSilva and Burlington Central's Ryan Phebus will join two Minnesota boys, No. 2 ranked Robert Finnerty and No. 4 Jordan Carlson, who each have run sub-4:08 times this season.