Return
to the "POINTER VIEW"August 22, 2003
Return
to the "POINTER VIEW"
August
22, 2003
Annual West Point Triathlon draws biggest crowd to date
Story and photos by Kathy Eastwood
Staff Writer
Under a gloomy sky with an unusual chill in the air, 641 athletes swam, biked and ran at Camp Buckner Sunday in the annual West Point Triathlon. Six hundred twenty-two finished with 443 males and 179 females completing the event.
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| Sixteen-year-old David Bates of Garrison, N.Y. grabs a drink on his way out to the running portion of the sprint triathlon Sunday. Bates was 46th overall completing the course in 1:18:54. Bates was fifth out of 33 in his age group, men’s 13-19 and 44th out of 443 men overall. |
The Triathlon, sponsored by the Directorate of Cadet Activities, sold out quickly and topped last year’s numbers by 50. The event features a half-mile swim in Lake Popolopen, a 14.3-mile bike ride on Route 293 and a 3.1-mile run at Camp Buckner.
Forty-one year old Mark De Leon from Florida, N.Y. clocked the best overall time at 1:09:52 and 26 year old Danielle Sullivan from Bayport, N.Y. had the best overall for the top female finisher with a time of 1:16:07.
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| Amy Voorhees (left) posted a 1:37:17, while David Janes finished in 1:38:52. |
Many of the athletes in the event last year found themselves besting their scores this year.
Cadet 3rd class Trevor Jones placed first this year in the male cadet category with a time of 1:20:14 and fourth overall beating out last year’s 5th place overall standing. Cadet 3rd class Amy Bauer placed first in the cadet female category with a time of 1:25:21 and 144th overall beating her 313th overall placement in last year’s triathlon by five minutes.
Forty-three year old Lt. Col. Michael Johnson, assistant professor in the Math department here placed first in the male military category. Melissa Epstein from Poughkeepsie, N.Y. placed first in the female military category with a time of 1:40:24.
Sixteen year-old Derek Oskutis from Hummelstown, Pa. came in third overall in his first time competing in the event.
"This is a great event and my fourth event this season," he said.
"I started swimming at age five and saw my first Iron man competition on television when I was eight. Then later on, I got my first racing bike and finally I started to train and compete. Competing
