Kemah Tri - Olympic and Sprint

 Shannon Crowe wins her AG and qualifies for Alcatraz at Kemah Olympic Tri!

 Phillip DePrang places 3rd in his AG (fastest run in his AG) at Kemah Olympic!

Mike Novelli overwhelms his competition and secures berth to Alcatraz!

 Kent Morris wins his AG and qualifies for Escape from Alcatraz!

 Patrick Sexton places 2nd in his AG at Kemah Olympic distance tri.

 Scott Peterson placed 2nd per results (shown 3rd on podium?) at Kemah Olympic. Scott had the fastest run in his AG.

Rodrigo Abascal (1st) and Evan Stevens (2nd) in their AG at Kemah Olympic.

The Memorial Hermann Kemah Triathlon was held on Sunday, April 29. This was a two distance event day consisting of a Sprint (1/2k Swim, 20k Bike, & 5k Run) and an Olympic (1.5k Swim, 40k Bike, 10k Run).

The Olympic distance triathlon was a boat start. 800 athletes boarded the Colonel Paddlewheel boat from Moody Gardens early Sunday morning and were taken nearly 1 mile offshore into Galveston Bay where they exited the boat in a time trial manner (2-6 at a time) jumping from the edge of the boat (3-5 feet high). From the boat it was a straight swim following the buoy line all the way to the Kemah shoreline.

Finish Strong showed up in a big way with 22 competing in the Olympic and six in the Sprint distance. The age group winners of the Olympic distance qualified for Alcatraz tri. Qualifying to represent Finish Strong at Alcatraz were the following triathletes who won their age group in the Olympic race: Rodrigo Abascal, Shannon Crowe, Kent Morris, and Michael Novelli. Others who finished on the podium for the Olympic tri were Evan Stevens (2nd), Scott Peterson (2nd), Patrick Sexton (2nd), and Phillip DePrang (3rd).

700 athletes participated in the sprint distance triathlon. Among them were Pam Ferguson, Julie and Daryl Parker, Scott Reaves, Casey Clark and Brian Waldrop. Brian Waldrop enjoyed a 2nd place finish in the Clydesdale division.

Overall results for Olympic Distance
Chelsea Estes 2:59:11.5 - 25-29 AG
Shannon Crowe 2:37:56.2 - 1st in her 40-44 AG!
Irasema de Aquino Abascal - 3:31:29.5 40-44 AG

Rodrigo Abascal - 2:29:01.0 1st in his 20 and under AG!
Evan Stevens - 2:47:17.5 2nd in his 20 and under AG!
Scott Peterson - 2:16:20.8 (fastest run in his AG) - 2nd in his 30-34 AG!
Ronnie Delzer - 2:23:22.9 - 5th in his 30-34 AG

Tim Taylor - 2:47:09.1 30-34 AG
Jose Contreras - 3:01:38.2 30-34 AG
Michael Flake - 2:43:57.6 35-39 AG
Terry Peppers - 2:57:40.1 35-39 AG

Patrick Sexton - 2:22:59.7 - 2nd in his 40-44 AG!
Stephen Clouthier - 2:41:34.1 40-44 AG
Leo Morales - 2:45:46.9 40-44 AG
Abraham Hernandez - 3:09:53.4 40-44 AG
Steve Hardy - 2:54:31.3 45-49 AG
Manuel Abascal - 3:11:02.1 45-49 AG

Kent Morris - 2:34:22.3 - 1st in 50-54 AG!
Kirk Langford -3:13:41.9 50-54 AG

Michael Novelli - 2:27:17.7 - 1st in 55-59 AG!
Charlie Schuber - 3:03:01.0 55-59 AG
Phillip DePrang - 2:48:43.4 - 3rd in 60-65 AG! (fastest run in his AG)

Overall results for Sprint Distance
Pam Ferguson 1:27:23.3 - 4th in her 30-34 AG
Julie Parker - 1:44:40.9 30-34 AG
Daryl Parker - 1:18:20.7 30-34 AG
John Scott Reaves - 1:24:12.5 35-39 AG
Casey Clark - 1:14:44.3 4th in 40-44 AG
Brian Waldrop - 1:23:57.5 - 2nd in Clydesdale 40+

What a day for Finish Strong athletes!