By Cara Mazzei, XTERRA
South African pros Conrad Stoltz (28) and Anke Erlank (23) had their day in the sun as they each walked away with first-place finishes in Sunday's Nissan Xterra USA Championship in Lake Tahoe, as well as becoming the 2001 Nissan Xterra Point Series Champions. This South African duo who have been friends for over 10 years earned $4,400 each for their first-place finishes today, as well as $10,000 apiece for winning the coveted Nissan Xterra Point Series Purse.
Stoltz was very happy with his performance. "I couldn't dream of winning the series. It is my first year, I am still on a borrowed bike and I didn't think the Tahoe course suited me. It is incredible that Anke and I won - two rookies from South Africa."
Erlank, too, was ecstatic, "Awesome! I was nervous about Tahoe but I prepared myself to suffer. And that's exactly what happened." When asked about their South African sweep, Erlank smiled. "Conrad and I went to the XTERRA website and did the math. He didn't have too many options; Conrad had to win Tahoe to win the series. For me I just had to look out for Kerstin Weule."
At 9 a.m. on Sunday, more than 100 qualified athletes converged on the private waters at Incline Beach at the Hyatt Regency for the inaugural Nissan Xterra USA Championship. The athletes approached the tranquil waters unaware of the pain and suffering that lay ahead on the freshly carved XTERRA course.
This off-road championship race consisted of a 1.5km swim in the 65-degree, crystal-clear water, a 34km grueling mountain bike that included parts of the scenic Flume Trail and a calf-burning 10km trail run around the legendary Ponderosa Ranch.
The XTERRA Tahoe course was punishing by all accounts. The Incline Village course will go down in history as the hardest XTERRA course to date. With its heavy climbing, technical, steep descents, sandy run and altitude, it brought new meaning to the word "breathtaking."
Athletes were greeted by ideal racing conditions. In the mid-70s, and with slightly overcast skies and no wind, athletes made their way to the very calm flat waters of Lake Tahoe.
With the start of the boom from the XTERRA cannon, the swimmers were sent off in one wave to tackle the two loops around the four buoys. In typical XTERRA fashion, swimmers were required to swim one lap, then exit the water running approximately 25 yards on the beach before they started the second lap of the swim.
In the men's race, California pro Kerry Classen (28) led the swim throughout and was first into T1. A brand new dad this week, Classen delivered the fastest swim of the day in 19:14. Hot on his heels was New Zealand pro Bryan Rhodes (31) who was making Classen work, only seconds behind him in 19:17. Third into transition was Mark Lees (28) in 19:19. Stoltz entered T1 fourth in 20:01.
Early on at about mile four, the climbing was well under way as the bikers started the almost 3000-foot vertical climb. Stoltz had worked his way up to the lead position on the bike. Trailing him was Classen and two-time XTERRA World Champion and climbing legend Ned Overend (46) of Colorado. By the time the riders hit the top of the second climb at the highest point on the course at 8,700 feet above sea level, Stoltz was well on his way to securing his first-place spot despite a crash after an enthusiastic spectator startled him. Not suprisingly, Overend delivered the fastest bike of the day in 1:34:48, followed by Canadian pro Andreas Hestler (33) in 1:34:58. Stoltz had the third-best time in 1:35:11.
Heading out of T2 on the most grueling XTERRA run course in history, competitors were slammed with an immediate steep, sandy climb to get up on the run course. While Stoltz continued his unchallenged lead, it appeared that things could change on the run as Classen and Overend entered T2 less than a minute apart. However Classen dug in deep delivering the fastest run of the day in 39:48, crushing Overend's window of opportunity. French pro Nicolas LeBrun (28), one of the series' best runners, had the second-fastest run in 40:46, followed by Stoltz with 41:16.
Stoltz found it very challenging. "I had to beat both LeBrun and Vine to win the point series. They are both very good runners and I was very worried."
With the thundering applause of the crowd, Stoltz crossed the finish line grinning ear to ear in 2:36:28 capturing his second XTERRA win of the season. Fortunately for Stoltz, Canadian Pro Mike Vine (27) who had been leading the point series all season, had his worst XTERRA finish ever - 10th place overall. Since the USA Championship points are counted double, Vine dropped to a painful third in the point series.
Vine identified the two factors that hurt his race. "It could have been the altitude, but I also recently made some changes to my diet. I completely cut out drinking beer." Laughing, Vine continued, "In hindsight I don't think that was good to break my routine before a such a big race."
Classen's second-place finish in 2:37:27 enabled him to move up to fifth place in the point series from seventh. Overend's third-place Tahoe finish in 2:41:28 also bumped him up one notch to third in the series, granting him the title as the first Nissan Xterra USA Champion. This title is awarded to the US pro with the most points accumulated from the four XTERRA Championship races held this year.
In the women's race, Australian pro Raeleigh Tennant (32) led both laps and delivered the fastest swim of the day in 20:19. In fact, Tennant's swim was so impressive she was ninth out of the water overall, only one minute back from Classen.
"Actually I felt terrible on the first lap. I tried to hang with the boys and draft. But by the second lap I had settled down and it was much better."
Another Aussie who had a very good swim was pro Jody Mielke (30) who delivered the second-best time in 21:31. Colorado pro Cameron Randolph (30) was only three seconds back in third with 21:34. Erlank exited the water in 15th place in 24:56. However things were about to change with the bike leg.
With legs still cold from the swim, Erlank steadily made her way up onto the start of the climb, and by the time she had reached the highest point on the bike she had secured her victory and her third XTERRA win of the season. Erlank's superior biking garnered her the fastest bike of the day in 1:52:58.
As Erlank's gap widened, it left the remaining women to do battle on the bike. While Randolph and Tennant were busy jockeying back and forth on the Flume Trail for second, Colorado pro Monique Merrill arrived to mix things up - catching them both to capture second place on the bike. Merrill was rewarded for her stealth biking with the second fastest time of the day in 1:54:35. Canadian pro Lesley Tomlinson (41) delivered the third fastest time in 1:58:40.
Heading out of T2 behind Erlank was Merrill, Tennant and Randolph. Somewhere on that calf burning 10km trail run, Idaho pro Jenny Tobin (32) popped in, carving the run up like a turkey on Thanksgiving. As one of the series' consistently best trail runners, Tobin caught and passed Merrill and Randolph, working her way into third behind Tennant. The run took whatever steam Merrill had left as she fell back behind Tobin to fourth place. Randolph was struggling on the run and had to briefly sit down, causing her to fall slightly behind. True to form Tobin had the best run of the day in 43:28, followed by Mielke in 46:47 and Erlank with 48:37.
In the end it was Erlank first in 3:06:31, Tennant second in 3:12:14 and Tobin third in 3:12:51. Erlank's win in Tahoe earned her double points securing her the title of 2001 Nissan Xterra Point Series Champion. Merrill's finish was especially sweet as she moved up to second in the series as well as recognized as the US female pro with the most points - so she was crowned the first Nissan XTERRA female USA Champion. Tahoe was Tennant's best XTERRA race to date, bumping her up six spots to third in the point series.