McDowell's 4th highlights 3 locals at triathlon world championships

Of the six American youths competing at the ITU Triathlon World Championships in Australia earlier this month, three of them came from right here in Kane County.

Geneva's Kevin McDowell, Kaneland's Jenn Howland and Marmion's Ben Kanute all ran, swam and biked at the event, held in Gold Coast, about an hour from Brisbane, from Sept. 9-13.

At the qualifier in Strawberry Fields, Calif., in July, McDowell and Kanute finished first and second, respectively, to snag the last two spots in the 16-19 age group.

That had to feel special.

"Yes, a little bit," said Kanute.

The trio had a different type of special feeling when they all got stomach flu, but it was out of their system before the fateful day. And fateful it was.

McDowell finished fourth out of 66 athletes, while Kanute pulled in at No. 38. Howland, a Kaneland sophomore who got a physician's clearance to compete despite stress fractures in both legs, placed 16th out of 49 girls.

She's not running for Kaneland, girls cross country coach Dave Ecker said, instead serving as a team manager this fall.

"She's a triathlete year-round," Ecker said. "It seems like she gets a little beat up."

McDowell, a junior at Geneva, required 9 minutes, 41 seconds to complete the half-mile swim, 29:01 for the 20-kilometer bike and 15:35 for the 5K run. His overall time of 55:06 was 31 seconds off the winning pace.

"My swim was better than I'd hoped, still back a little," he said. "The bike is where I really hit. I got in a group and we all worked together really well."

Evidently.

"I didn't expect (fourth place) at all because I was going there for the experience and I wanted to see how I would do," he said.

"My goal was a top-twenty. I still have a couple more years (in the age group). Then when I was fourth I didn't know what to think. It was a dream."

Both McDowell and Kanute are members of the Multisport Madness Triathlon Team, out of the Tri-Cities area.

"The race played out really well for him," Kanute said of McDowell. "He had some really good bike groups and he ran a really fast run that day."

Interestingly for a cross country runner, Kanute said his best leg of the triathlon is the swimming portion followed by the bike. Varied experiences are to be expected when both parents - Mike and Eileen Kanute - and younger brother Josh are all triathletes.

In fact, 14-year-old Josh, a Marmion freshman, won his youth elite division Aug. 8 at the USA Triathlon National Junior Olympic Festival in Colorado Springs. McDowell and Ben Kanute went 1-3 in their division, book-ending Lincoln-Way Central phenom Lukas Verzbikas, who qualified for World Championships but didn't compete.

With consistent results like this, McDowell may have bigger fish to fry.

"The Olympics is a goal but I don't want to look too far ahead, and just enjoy what's in front of us," he said. "I don't want to look too far in the future and miss the enjoyment of what's happening right now."

What's happening right now is Howland's clerking for Ecker while she waits three weeks for her legs to heal before she can put more mileage on them.

McDowell and his Geneva teammates will head to the Rock River Run on Saturday morning in Sterling.

"I think he's going to make a big difference," said Vikings teammate Kevin Sparks. "It's kind of tough training wise, kind of having to go through the workouts alone is a little more challenging. It will be nice to have him back."

Kanute and Marmion, ranked No. 6 in AA this week by Dyestat, will compete Saturday at the Aurora Central Catholic Charger Classic at Oakhurst Forest Preserve.

Before his return Sept. 14, Kanute hadn't been with Marmion since the 2008 outdoor track season ended. Cadets cross country coach Dan Billish isn't worried.

"We've been coordinating what he's been doing with his running program, so we kind of knew where he was at," Billish said. "It takes a little bit of time, but by the time October rolls around he's usually in pretty good shape."

There's no rest for the weary on this schedule.

"I'm going to finish up in cross country. Hopefully Marmion will make it to state and we'll have a chance to get a trophy," Kanute said.

"Then I'll go into high school swim season and compete there, then in the spring hopefully start training again for the triathlon."

John Lemon contributed to this article.

doberhelman@dailyherald.com