Pro Women
1. Anke Erlank (RSA) 3:00:59
2. Cherie Touchette 3:11:51
3. Kerstin Weule 3:12:37
4. Monique Merrill 3:13:41
5. Lesly Tomlinson 3:14:35
6. Jamie Whitmore 3:15:18
7. Erin McCarty 3:15:30
8. Candy Angle 3:15:57
9. Jenny Tobin 3:16:16
10. Linda Gabor 3:17:50
11. Ute Schaefer 3:22:05
12. Raeleigh Tennant 3:22:38
13. Shari Kain 3:23:39
14. Jody Mielke 3:30:39
15. Lorraine Barrows 3:33:31
Honolulu, HI (October 14, 2001)… XTERRA returned to Maui for the sixth year of the Nissan Xterra World Championship held this morning at Wailea on Maui’s hot south shore. Once again the South Africans dominated the race and never looked back. South African pros Conrad Stoltz (28) and Anke Erlank (23) delivered outstanding performances in sweltering temperatures. Most agree the Maui XTERRA course is the hardest. Maui is a course that delivers many harsh lessons and can’t be won on one’s first attempt. Today the South African duo proved that you could win Maui on your first try. Each walked away with $20,000 for their first place finish today.
Stoltz was very pleased with his race today, "This is just incredible! Anke and I both XTERRA rookies from South Africa and winning here is just incredible!"
"On the run I felt strangely confident - I ran steady but not too hard. I was able to look around, enjoy the Maui beach and spectators. I didn't enjoy the deep sand on the run. That was hard."
Erlank echoed Stoltz’s enthusiasm, "I am really happy I had no idea how hard the XTERRA Maui course was and what was in store for me today. I just had the best luck ever. I don't know what I will spend my $20,000 on. One thing is for sure - quite a bit will be on cocktails tonite!"
A sold out field of 400 competitors came from all over the globe to test their racing skills in this off-road competition that has been described as part triathlon, part mountain bike race, and part survival of the fittest. It consists of a 1.5-kilometer rough water swim at Wailea Beach, a grueling 30-kilometer mountain bike on the slopes of Haleakala and an 11-kilometer trail run from Makena to Wailea.
With the start of the boom from the XTERRA cannon, the swimmers were sent off in one huge wave to tackle the two loops around the four buoys. In typical XTERRA fashion, swimmers were required to swim one lap, exit the water running approximately 25 yards on the beach before they started the second lap of the swim. The waters were clear and beautiful, but the sun was blazing.
In the men’s race, Oahu lifeguard and world-class swimmer John Flanagan (26) dominated the swim and pushed the limits of the other top swimmers in the field. Flanagan was rewarded for his fish-like abilities delivering the fastest swim of the day in 18:19. Today was Flanagan’s first big triathlon. Another Hawaiian, North Shore lifeguard Glenn Wachtell was second in 18:55 followed by Eneko Llanos of Spain in 19:34.
Making his first XTERRA appearance was Australian pro Chris McCormack. The winingest triathlete in North America this year and hot off the Goodwill Games, McCormack was 10th into the transition area in 19:43 followed by Stoltz in 19:44 and Australian pro Marc Lees in 19:46. McCormack, Stoltz and Lees worked together as they followed to top swim leaders.
Stoltz was on his way as he caught the swim leaders about fifteen minutes in, at the first small downhill. He then caught Llanos on the bike and was well positioned to start his total domination of the XTERRA World Championship.
“I had raced with Llanos before at the Olympics and ITU and knew he was good but I just bombed him on the first downhill and took off fast.”
Aside from his tire tracks in the red Maui dirt, this was the last anyone saw Stoltz. He took off like a runaway train and delivered the fastest bike time of the day in 1:27:31. On familiar turf, 1999 and 1998 XTERRA World Champion Ned Overend (46) of Colorado had the second fastest time in 1:31:09. Another XTERRA veteran Jimmy Riccitello, the 1996 XTERRA World Champion, had the third fastest time in 1:32:17. It has been rumored that Riccitello compares his climbing legs to those of the Bison.
Overend complimented Stoltz on his incredible bike performance, “He put three and a half minutes on me with his new bike. My biking was just not strong enough.”
French pro Nicolas LeBrun (28) had worked his way up into the lead pack on the bike and was riding with Overend and Classen, until he got a flat on the downhill before going into “Ned’s Climb”, was unable to recover and dropped out of the race.
By the time the men hit T2, Stoltz had at least a seven-minute lead. Behind him in their own battle for the $10,000 second place check was Riccitello, with Overend hot on his heels. This is where the real race begun – in the run. California pro Kerry Classen (28) arrived on the scene exiting T2 in fourth about one minute behind Riccitello and Overend. Ned later commented on his run, “After Kerry passed me, I went from racing to survival mode.”
About half way into the run Classen dug in really hard and caught Overend. Then he pushed it even harder and passed Riccitello on the new section of the run course. Classen’s fast footwork paid off big as he ran himself into second place. In the end Paul Amey, who won the 2001 Boston International Triathlon captured the best run of the day in 39:07. Llanos had the second fastest time in 39:19 followed by today’s champion – Stoltz in 40:15.
Classen responded,” Once I passed Ned, then Jimmy, I started to do the medical tent thing. I was in big trouble. I just kept thinking that Riccitello was going to come back on me.”
In the end – it was clearly Stoltz’s day. His lead was so great that by the time the others arrived at the finish arch, he had worked onto Mai Tai number three and had already cashed his $20,000 first place check. Stoltz crossed the finish line in 2:28:48. In second was Classen in 2:37:02 followed by Riccitello in 2:37:31 and Overend in 2:38:05.
The big question of the day - what was Stoltz going to do with his big money? “Pay off my new house I purchased in South Africa. My mother helped me arrange the finances – now I can set her free!”
In the women’s race – it was Anke Erlank’s day again as she went on to totally dominate the woman’s Nissan Xterra World Championship.
In the swim – California pro and Ironman Champion Wendy Ingraham had the fastest swim of the day in 20:27, followed by Australian pro Raeleigh Tennant in 21:07 and fellow countryman Jody Mielke in 21:40. Erlank was entered T1 in 25:48.
After feeling poor in the swim, Erlank steadily battled her way up to the top of the first climb and secured a 1st place victory and her fourth XTERRA victory of the season. Erlank’s superior biking garnered her the fastest bike of the day in 1:46:34. Canadian pro Lesley Tominlison was not far behind with 1:50:40.
"I just had the best luck today ever - I took the lead at the top if the climb and just bombed the downhills and really made some great time. I read Ned Overend's mountain biking book last nite. I took his advice - NO BRAKES!"
Heading out of T2 behind Erlank was Cherie Touchette and Erin McCarty of California. As Erlank’s gap widened on the run, the other ladies were left to fight it out for second place. Somewhere on that calf burning Makena beach run, Colorado pro an defending 2000 XTERRA World Champion Kerstin Weule (32, made her presence known and delivered the second fastest run time of the day in 47:04, Erlank was 47:05.
In the end it was Erlank who was greeted by cheering crowds and her fellow countryman and XTERRA World Champion Stoltz. Erlank finished her first Nissan Xterra World Championship very happy in 3:00:59. Touchette who had a devastating bike crash at last year’s Maui race, finished in second today with 3:11:51, followed by Weule in 3:12:37.
The Nissan Xterra World Championship will again be televised for CBS and will be broadcast January 2002.
