Middaugh, Garrard win XTERRA USA Championship

September 19, 2015 (Ogden, Utah) – The 15th annual XTERRA USA Championship triathlon took place at Snowbasin Resort today with more than 700 racers from 41 states taking on a grueling challenge that combined a one-mile swim in Pineview Reservoir with an 18-mile mountain bike ride that climbs 3,000-feet to Snowbasin Resort, and then a 7-mile trail run.

Josiah Middaugh of Eagle-Vail, Colorado won the men’s race for the second time in four years in 2 hours, 21 minutes and 21 seconds, edging New Zealand’s Braden Currie in a thrilling side-by-side battle by just 26-seconds at the line.

“It’s the most important race I’ve done so far this year and to have that tight of racing from start-to-finish is just really special, really magical to have that kind of authentic racing all the way through,” said Middaugh, who is now an 11-time National Champ.   “Braden Currie just never gives up, and I was really wishing that every once in a while he’d just give up, but he doesn’t.  It was never over, I just kept having to dig deeper and deeper.

The two traded leads on the bike and the run and it wasn’t until “about mile four” of the run that Middaugh opened a little gap, maybe 10 seconds, and held it to the line.  The finish was closer than the 26-second difference as Currie walked through the finish line giving high five’s to the fans.

“I knew Josiah going to create a big challenge today, I just had to give it everything I could,” said Currie, who was able to come away victorious in a similar stride-for-stride race with Middaugh earlier this year at the XTERRA Southeast Championship.  “Coming into transition I knew it was going to come down to the run and I just tried to push as much as I could.  I thought I had a little more speed on the downhill but Josiah had the edge on the climbs, and somewhere in the middle there he pushed I tried to catch him at the top but he had a little too much on me.”

XTERRA veteran Brian Smith did his first XTERRA race in five years and overcome a big deficit out of the water with the third-best bike split of the day to enter T2 in fourth and get past Branden Rakita to finish third on the day.  Alex Modestou posted his career-best result with a fourth-place showing and Matt Lieto finished 5th.

Emma Garrard

In the women’s race Emma Garrad from Park City, Utah at long last had her dream come true.  After two years and eight straight runner-up finishes on the XTERRA America Tour she finally broke the tape with her two-year-old son Torin in her arms for her first career U.S. Championship win.  The victory also secured the XTERRA U.S. Pro Series title for Garrard, with a combined payout of $12,500.

“This is the first time I’ve ever held the mic,” said an emotional Garrard at the awards ceremony, with friends and family standing all around.  “I’m so happy to be on the top step.  Proud to be up here with these girls who pushed me so hard not just today but for the last 10 years.  It’s great to have my family here, and for XTERRA to be my family too.”

Garrard took the lead on the bike from Catherine Sterling before the top of the big climb up Sardine Peak and never looked back.  Sara Schuler, who also has a two-year-old, finished in second-place more than four-minutes behind Garrard. It was her best-ever result at Nationals.

Catherine Sterling was the first out of the water and lead for the full first-half of the bike before Schuler and Garrard caught up.  She held that position through the finish line while Jaime Brede placed fourth and Maia Ignatz fifth.

Below is a look at the elite race results, final XTERRA U.S. Pro Series standings, and amateur national champions.  More stories, quotes, age group recaps, a full slate of photos and videos from the day will be loaded soon to XTERRA’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/XTERRAplanet.

Now that the race is over the celebration begins with a gathering for the Tribe at the Harvest Moon Celebration where all the day’s champions get recognized on-stage in front of thousands of party-goers in a massive block party on Historic 25th street in Ogden.  Then, tomorrow, it’s the trail runners turn to race with the Paul Mitchell XTERRA Trail Running National Championship half-marathon at Snowbasin Resort.

XTERRA USA Championship Results                   PRO MEN           Pl Name Age Hometown Time Points 1 Josiah Middaugh 36 Eagle-Vail, Colorado 2:21:21 100 2 Braden Currie 29 Wanaka, New Zealand 2:21:47 90 3 Brian Smith 39 Gunnison, Colorado 2:30:46 82 4 Alex Modestou 28 Durham, North Carolina 2:32:44 75 5 Matt Lieto 36 Bend, Oregon 2:33:42 69 6 Branden Rakita 34 Colorado Springs, Colorado 2:33:47 63 7 Karsten Madsen 23 Guelph, Ontario, Canada 2:34:12 58 8 Ryan Ignatz 36 Boulder, Colorado 2:35:47 53 9 Kieran McPherson 23 Waikato, New Zealand 2:35:52 49 10 Brad Zoller 37 Avon, Colorado 2:36:07 45 Also: Olly Shaw (41), Chris Ganter (37), John O’Neill (34), Will Ross (31), Todd Wells (28), Walter Schafer, Chris Foster, Andrew Russell, Chris Legh PRO WOMEN         Pl Name Age Hometown Time Points 1 Emma Garrard 33 Park City, Utah 2:50:06 100 2 Sara Schuler 34 Boulder, Colorado 2:54:49 90 3 Catherine Sterling 38 Ayer, MA 2:58:14 82 4 Jaime Brede 38 Breckenridge, Colorado 3:01:39 75 5 Maia Ignatz 34 Boulder, Colorado 3:05:35 69 6 Genevieve Evans 42 Carnelian Bay, California 3:08:50 63 7 Kara LaPoint 28 Truckee, California 3:16:38 58 8 Debby Sullivan 33 Rocklin, California 3:18:32 53 9 Caroline Colonna 52 Taos, New Mexico 3:23:19 49 10 Jenny Fletcher 39 Santa Monica, California 3:24:17 45 Also: Rebecca Blatt (41), Suzie Snyder (37)

Complete Results

MIDDAUGH / GARRARD ALSO WIN XTERRA U.S. PRO SERIES

With their wins today in Utah Josiah Middaugh and Emma Garrard also secured the top spots in the XTERRA U.S. Pro Series.  More to come on the U.S. season, but for now here’s a look at the final standings…

2015 XTERRA U.S. Pro Series Standings (Tentative Final) Pros count best 3-of-4 regionals, plus Nationals PRO MEN               Pl Name West S’East East Mtn USA Totals 1 Josiah Middaugh, USA x90 90 100 100 100 390 2 Braden Currie, NZL DNS 100 90 82 90 362 3 Chris Ganter, USA 82 82 75 x49 37 276 4 Alex Modestou, USA x49 58 63 69 75 265 5 Branden Rakita, USA 69 63 69 x31 63 264 6 Ryan Ignatz, USA x45 53 82 63 53 251 7 Brad Zoller, USA 53 x49 53 53 45 204 8 Craig Evans, USA 58 75 49 DNS DNS 182 9 Karsten Madsen, CAN 63 DNF 58 DNS 58 179 10 Olly Shaw, NZL DNS 69 DNF DNS 41 110 11 Francisco Serrano, MEX 100 DNS DNS DNS DNS 100 12 Ben Hoffman, USA DNS DNS DNS 90 DNS 90 13 Chris Foster, USA DNS 45 DNS 41 DNP 86 14 Brian Smith, USA DNS DNS DNS DNS 82 82 15 Ben Allen, AUS 75 DNS DNS DNS DNS 75 16 Rom Akerson, CRC DNS DNS DNS 75 DNS 75 17 Will Ross, USA DNS 41 DNS DNS 31 72 18 James Hadley, GBR 37 DNS DNS 34 DNS 71 19 Matt Lieto, USA DNS DNS DNS DNS 69 69 20 Chris Legh, AUS DNS DNS DNS 58 DNP 58 21 Kieran McPherson, NZL DNS DNS DNS DNS 49 49 22 Ben Collins, USA DNS DNS 45 DNS DNS 45 23 Thomas Spannring, USA DNS DNS DNS 45 DNS 45 24 JP Donovan, USA 41 DNS DNS DNS DNS 41 25 Ian King, USA DNS DNS 41 DNS DNS 41 26 Eli Hemming, USA DNS DNS DNS 37 DNS 37 27 Jimmy Archer, USA 34 DNS DNS DNP DNS 34 28 John O’Neill, USA DNS DNS DNS DNS 34 34 29 Kyle Hughes, USA 31 DNS DNS DNS DNS 31 30 Ben Torvik, USA DNS DNS DNS 28 DNS 28 31 Todd Wells, USA DNS DNS DNS DNS 28 28 PRO WOMEN             Pl Name West S’East East Mtn USA Totals 1 Emma Garrard, USA x90 90 90 90 100 370 2 Suzie Snyder, USA 82 82 100 x69 37 301 3 Sara Schuler, USA 58 58 DNS 82 90 288 4 Maia Ignatz, USA x49 63 75 58 69 265 5 Kara LaPoint, USA 63 53 69 DNS 58 243 6 Catherine Sterling, USA DNS 75 82 DNS 82 239 7 Debby Sullivan, USA 45 x31 58 49 53 205 8 Lesley Paterson, GBR 100 100 DNS DNS DNS 200 9 Jaime Brede, USA DNS 49 DNS 75 75 199 10 Rebecca Blatt, USA x31 34 45 41 41 161 11 Sara McLarty, USA x41 45 49 53 DNS 147 12 Brittany Webster, CAN 69 DNS 63 DNS DNS 132 13 Caroline Colonna, USA 37 DNS DNS 45 49 131 14 Flora Duffy, BER DNS DNS DNS 100 DNS 100 15 Emily Bashton, USA DNF 37 53 DNS DNS 90 16 Melanie McQuaid, CAN 75 DNS DNS DNS DNS 75 17 Christine Jeffrey, CAN DNS 69 DNF DNS DNS 69 18 Tamara Donelson, AUS DNS DNS DNS 63 DNS 63 19 Genevieve Evans, USA DNS DNS DNS DNS 63 63 20 Katie Button, CAN 53 DNF DNS DNS DNS 53 21 Jenny Fletcher, CAN DNS DNS DNS DNS 45 45 22 Amelia McCracken, USA DNS 41 DNS DNS DNS 41 23 Lauren Thompson, USA 34 DNS DNS DNS DNS 34

COLE BUNN / JULIE BAKER WIN OVERALL AMATEUR CROWNS

A sophomore in college, Cole Bunn, and a soil surveyor, Julie Baker, took the overall amateur titles today.  Even more impressively, Baker finished 4th overall woman and Liz Gruber – who won the 25-29 division title – was right behind in 5th.  More from the age group race to come, for now, a look at this year’s XTERRA USA Champions…

XTERRA USA CHAMPIONS (FEMALE AGE GROUP)   Division Name Hometown Time 15  – 19 Rachel Anders Sandy, UT 3:24:04 20 – 24 Heather Wilson Temecula, CA 3:37:12 25 – 29 Liz Gruber Colorado Springs, CO 3:00:19 30 – 34 Sian Turner-Crespo Truckee, CA 3:19:59 35 – 39 *Julie Baker Sonora, CA 2:59:43 40 – 44 Deanna McCurdy Littleton, CO 3:20:03 45 – 49 Laura Morris Costa Mesa, CA 3:39:16 50 – 54 Janet Soule Davis, CA 3:32:42 55 – 59 Tamara Tabeek Ramona, CA 3:32:04 60 – 64 Cindi Toepel Littleton, CO 3:56:38 XTERRA USA CHAMPIONS (MALE AGE GROUP)   Division Name Hometown Time 15  – 19 Greg Schott Chesterfield, VA 2:41:27 20 – 24 *Cole Bunn Bettendorf, IA 2:39:01 25 – 29 Mikal Davis Washington, DC 2:55:34 30 – 34 Matt Balzer Reno, NV 2:40:34 35 – 39 Bryce Phinney Broomfield, CO 2:44:45 40 – 44 Daryl Weaver Lititz, PA 2:51:39 45 – 49 Rife Hilgartner Vail, CO 2:50:06 50 – 54 Dennis Farrell Morrison, CO 3:03:01 55 – 59 Matt Morell Ketchum, ID 3:06:57 60 – 64 Peter Dann Eagle, CO 3:11:52 65 – 69 Alan Moore Ada, MI 3:59:37 70 – 74 Clark Griffith Chattanooga, TN 5:32:01 PC Willie Stewart Boise, ID 3:24:52 * TOP AMATEURS

The 2015 XTERRA Nationals weekend is presented by Paul Mitchell, the Utah Sports Commission, and XTERRA Travel. Sponsors include Outrigger Resorts, the GOAL Foundation, Gatorade Endurance, PowerBar, ENVE, Utah Media Group, the U.S. Forest Service, XTERRA Wetsuits, Snowbasin Resort, Muscle Milk, XTERRA Fitness, LifeProof, Optic Nerve Sunglasses, Greenlayer, Salming, and XTERRA ??Boards.

2015 XTERRA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERS

The XTERRA USA Championship was the last of 40 events where the fastest amateur athletes from around the world qualify for the 20th annual XTERRA World Championship at Kapalua, Maui on Nov. 1.

 

DATE WORLD TOUR EVENT (Pro Winners) 8-Feb XTERRA Philippines Championship (Brad Weiss / Flora Duffy) 22-Feb XTERRA South Africa Championship (Stuart Marais / Flora Duffy) 7-Mar XTERRA Motatapu (Dougal Allan / Jess Simson & Simone Maier) 28-Mar XTERRA Saipan Championship (Ben Allen / Jacqui Slack) 29-Mar XTERRA Malta (Nicolas Fernandez / Brigitta Poor)
29-Mar XTERRA Costa Rica (Rom Akerson / Lesley Paterson)
11-Apr XTERRA Guam Championship (Ben Allen / Carina Wasle)
11-Apr XTERRA New Zealand Championship (Braden Currie / Suzie Snyder)
18-Apr XTERRA Asia-Pacific Championship (Braden Currie / Flora Duffy)
25-Apr XTERRA West Championship (Francisco Serrano / Lesley Paterson)
25-Apr XTERRA Tahiti (Brice Daubord / Sarah Backler)
26-Apr XTERRA Reunion (Brad Weiss / Carla Van Huyssteen)
2-May XTERRA Asian Tour Championship (Brad Weiss / Myriam Guillot)
10-May XTERRA Brazil (Diogo Malagon / Sabrina Gobbo)
16-May XTERRA Southeast Championship (Braden Currie / Lesley Paterson)
16-May XTERRA Portugal (Ruben Ruzafa / Kathrin Mueller)
7-Jun XTERRA Spain Championship (Ruben Ruzafa / Helena Erbenova) 14-Jun XTERRA East Championship (Josiah Middaugh / Suzie Snyder)
20-Jun XTERRA Greece (Kris Coddens / Helena Erbenova)
27-Jun XTERRA Switzerland Championship (Arthur Forissier / Carina Wasle)
27-Jun XTERRA Mine over Matter (Karsten Madsen / Heather Pady)
4-Jul XTERRA Freedom Fest (Sergio Florian / Laurel Dudley)
5-Jul XTERRA Victoria (Brent McMahon / Zoe Dawson)
5-Jul XTERRA France Championship (Ruben Ruzafa / Kathrin Mueller)
11-Jul XTERRA Sweden (Sam Osborne / Helena Erbenova)
18-Jul XTERRA Mountain Championship (Josiah Middaugh / Flora Duffy)
25-Jul XTERRA Parry Sound (Sean Bechtel / Heather Pady)
26-Jul XTERRA Italy Championship (Ruben Ruzafa / Helena Erbenova)
8-Aug XTERRA Mexico (Josiah Middaugh / Fabiola Corona)
8-Aug XTERRA Czech Championship (Ben Allen / Helena Erbenova)
15-Aug XTERRA Germany Championship (Ben Allen / Helena Erbenova)
29-Aug XTERRA Denmark (Kris Coddens / Carina Wasle)
29-Aug XTERRA Japan, Hokkaido+ (Courtney Atkinson / Mieko Carey) 30-Aug XTERRA European Championship (Ruben Ruzafa / Lesley Paterson)
19-Sep XTERRA USA Championship (Josiah Middaugh / Emma Garrard)
1-Nov XTERRA World Championship, Kapalua, Maui, Hawaii

* European Tour / + Asian Tour / # America Tour / ! Canada Series / = Hawaii qualifiers

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