Races

Champions Crowned in Bellingham

BELLINGHAM, Wash. (Aug. 7, 2005) â?? Eight national champions were crowned and three world championship teams were determined on a busy Sunday at the Baker's Breakfast Cookie Healthy Start Foundation Triathlon in Bellingham.

At the USA Triathlon elite national championships, world No.1 ranked Hunter Kemper (Longwood, Fla.) won the fifth elite national title of his career while Becky Lavelle (Los Gatos, Calif.) continued her comeback from injury by winning her first.

The race was an International Triathlon Union (ITU) Continental Cup race, meaning athletes added to their ITU point totals, and was also the fourth out of five races in the USA Triathlon Elite Cup Challenge â?? The Haul to the Great Wall. Kemper and Barb Lindquist (Alta, Wyo.), who finished second in the elite women's race, hold the men's and women's series leads with only the Boston Triathlon on Sept. 4 left to go.

Among the under-23 athletes, who raced alongside the elites, Jasmine Oeinck (Littleton, Colo.) took the womenâ??s title and Matt Seymour (Honolulu, Hawaii) was first among the men.

Jennifer Spieldenner (Findlay, Ohio) finished second to Canadaâ??s Kirsten Sweetland, but won the U.S. junior girls title, while U.S. junior Duncan Hoge (Chapel Hill, N.C.) was first among the boys.

Finally, Samuel Sutherland (The Woodlands, Texas) won the youth boys title and Courtney Convey (Aurora, Ill.), who was second to Canadaâ??s Shanee Landolt, won the girls title.

The following teams have been selected to represent the United States at the ITU Triathlon World Championships on Sept. 10-11 in Gamagori, Japan.

Elite Women: Laura Bennett (North Palm Beach, Fla.), Becky Lavelle (Los Gatos, Calif.), Barb Lindquist (Alta, Wyo.), Sheila Taormina (Livonia, Mich.), Susan Williams (Littleton, Colo.) and Joanna Zeiger (Boulder, Colo.)

Elite Men: Mark Fretta (Portland, Ore.), Hunter Kemper (Longwood, Fla.), Andy Potts (Princeton, N.J.), Matt Reed (Boulder, Colo.), Victor Plata (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) and Joe Umphenour (Bellevue, Wash.)

U23 Women: Jasmine Oeinck (Littleton, Colo.), Sara McLarty (DeLand, Fla.) and Michelle Lindsay (Herndon, Wash.)

U23 Men: Matthew Seymour (Honolulu, Hawaii), Manuel Huerta (Miami, Fla.) and Jarrod Shoemaker (Sudbury, Mass.)

Junior Boys: Duncan Hoge (Chapel Hill, N.C.), Steven Duplinsky (Kensington, Md.) and Kyle Hughes (Lake Forest, Calif.)

Junior Girls: Jennifer Spieldenner (Findlay, Ohio), Yasmine White (Arcata, Calif.); Jenna Yeakel (Canton, Ohio) and Alexandria Lechner (Clearwater, Fla.)

Complete results with splits will be available at www.trithecookie.com.