Nissan Xterra USA Championships
Incline Village, Nevada
Sunday, September 26, 2004
1500 meter swim, 32k mountain bike, 10k trail run
Complete Results

In front of friends, family, and a growing legion of fans, northern California native Jamie Whitmore won the Nissan Xterra USA Championships race and the Pro Points Series title for the third straight year and walked away a winner with $19,400.

On the men's side Eneko Llanos (just a month removed from his 20th place finish at the Athens Olympics) traveled nearly 6,000 miles from Spain and held off an international field of Xterra all-stars for his first win in the continental United States. Both lead from virtually start-to-finish on what was an epic day of racing in the majestic Sierra Nevada mountain range. “This was one of the most beautiful triathlons I have ever done,” said the well-traveled Llanos. “On the bike I was watching the views and it was amazing, fantastic, really perfect.”

The day started in the crystal clear, and cold, 62-degree water fronting the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe. As expected, Kerry Classen jumped out to an early lead and put a gap on the field almost immediately. By the time they finished the quarter-mile run to get to the swim-to-bike transition Llanos had joined him, and was followed closely by Jan Rehula, Sylvain Dodet, Kelly Guest, Conrad Stoltz, Francisco Serrano, and Chris Volley.

There had never been so much money at stake in this event (70k for the Series, 40k for the race) or so many race favorites. There was Llanos - the reigning Xterra World Champ, Dodet - the Frenchman who took the U.S. Series by storm this year, Stoltz - who won this race three years running, Josiah Middaugh - the kid who caught fire in '04, Rehula - the 2000 Olympic bronze medalist from the Czech Republic, and on and on.

It turned out to be a two man battle with 15 other guys fighting for their share of the Series money. Dodet and Llanos traded leads back and forth on the bike, with Dodet going faster on the climbs (roughly 2,500 feet), and Llanos making up that ground on the descents. In keeping with their strategy, Dodet was on a hardtail (better for climbing) while Llanos rode his full suspension (better for bombing the downhill).

“When we arrived at the top of the mountain I prefer to go downhill easy because if I crash or flat all this gone,” said Dodet, referring to the $14,400 Series purse he took home. “Three or four times we traded leads,” said Llanos. “The downhill I was a little faster than him and he was a little faster than me on the climbs…I'd pass him and then he'd pass me.” Ultimately Llanos would take a 30+ second lead into transition and never look back.

In the meantime Middaugh and LeBrun were doing their best mountain goat impersonations in an effort to erase the four minutes they lost to the leaders in the swim. Playing catch-up the two had the fastest bike splits on the day - Middaugh at 1:36:26 and LeBrun just a second slower. By the time they got to the bike-to-run transition they had caught Jason Chalker, David Henestrosa, and Serrano.

Three minutes ahead of them and into the pine trees Llanos was gradually building on the lead he had on Dodet, while all the fans in the staging area wondered if Stoltz could put on a burst of speed like he did last year when he caught Larsen for the win. The “Caveman” was a minute-thirty back of Llanos and a minute or so behind Dodet heading into the run. The run, however, belonged to Middaugh on this day.

“I was motivated. I thought I could run with anybody and I think I proved that I can run with anybody today. With Nico I was just trying to hold him off as long as I could,” said Middaugh. “If he was feeling good he probably could have blown me out of the water but I thought if I could stay ahead, mentally I could stay in the race.” That he did en route to posting the fastest run split, catching Stoltz, and keeping LeBrun in his rear-view. The performance sealed his runner-up performance in the Series and the $7,000 check that comes with it, and also earned him the title of the sports top American.

“Josiah caught me on the downhill of the bike and he ran very fast and I could do nothing,” said LeBrun. “ I tried to stay with him but in the second loop he was too fast. I caught Conrad but it wasn't enough for the Series, and I was hoping that Henestrosa could catch Conrad but it didn't happen.” Holding on for fifth place Stoltz edged LeBrun by just two points in the Series to finish third overall. It's the first time in the last four years he hasn't been on top in Tahoe, and the first time LeBrun finished out of the top three in the Series.

WHITMORE MAKES IT THREE-IN-A-ROW IN TAHOE, AND NOTCHES 20^TH CAREER Xterra WIN

Whitmore had the fastest bike, the fastest run, and the fastest winning time on this course in Xterra history, and with her hometown of Elk Grove, California less than two hours away she had the contingent on hand to see it, cheer it, and believe it. “Tahoe has a special place in my heart because it's the U.S. Championship, I'm American, and I always want to come her to represent,” said Whitmore. “I come here with the most determination. I really want this race, it's important to me, and of course it's great to have my family and friends here.”

Whitmore put more than five minutes on rival and reigning Nissan Xterra World Champion Melanie McQuaid. On her back tire climbing up Tunnel Creek road at the beginning portion of the bike was as close as McQuaid got. “I knew Melanie was 30-seconds behind me coming out of the swim and I didn't want her to catch me, and she came close on the climb. I didn't want her to see me on the Flume so it was just go, go, go,” Whitmore added. “You've got to redline the whole race and you can't be conservative if you want to win, and that's what I did.”

The prize money has her smiling, too. “Now we can get (husband) Courtney's teeth fixed, pay for my dog's medicine, and make the payments on our new house. I get to move out and my dad doesn't have to put up with me and Courtney and my two dogs. It's great.” For McQuaid, it was going to take a particularly strong performance to beat Jamie in her backyard.

“I'll be the first to admit that I would have had to have a phenomenal race at altitude to win but it really was a tough day at the office today,” said McQuaid. “I really didn't have the legs on the bike I was looking for to win, and in fact it got to the point where I wasn't sure if I had the legs to finish. After the first 500 meters of running I was doing the bonk shuffle and was worried that I was going to go backward and Candy was going to catch me. I was in full-on survival mode for most of the race just to get through it.”

She did get through it though, and was able to hold off the strong-running Angle, who placed third both in the Series and the race. Kiwi Lynley Allison hung in for fourth and first-year pro Janae Deverell placed fifth. “Now I've got a little bit of disappointment to fuel me for Maui,” smirked McQuaid.

THE AMATEUR RACE: Athletes representing 41 states made their way to the north shore of Lake Tahoe for their shot at the national championship of off-road multisport. Taylor Tolleson, an 18-year-old from Pacific Grove, California, won the amateur title in impressive fashion by finishing 17th overall and bettering nine male pros in the process. His time of 2:50:00 was less than 15 minutes off the winning pace set by Llanos, and almost four minutes better than the next amateur - Jim Vance of San Diego. In the women's race Lara Usinowics of Evergreen, Colorado came in 8th overall and was the top amateur for the second time this season. (she was also the top age grouper in Keystone). Both of last year's top amateurs in this race, Greg Krause and Janae Deverell, went on to pro careers with Xterra. Barbara Peterson won her unprecedented fourth consecutive national title. Here is a complete list of age group champions:

2004 Xterra National Champions - Amateur Women
Division ,Name -Hometown -Time
15 - 19 ,Kate Chapman -Breckenridge, CO -3:56:54
20 - 24 ,Suzie Snyder -Averill Park, NY -3:58:14
25 - 29, Nicole Rutkowski -Avon, CO -3:36:51
30 - 34, Lara Usinowicz -Denver, CO -3:31:14
35 - 39, Karen Lefebre -Big Sky, MT -3:46:55
40 - 44, Jean Hadley -Avon, CO -3:48:44
45 - 49, ` Barbara Peterson -Berkeley, CA -3:56:11
50 - 54 ,Cindi Toepel -Littleton, CO -4:14:10
55 - 59 ,* Wendy Minor -Honolulu, HI -5:35:55
* Top Amateur Female
^ * Two-time, ^Three-time, and `Four-time national champions 

2004 Xterra National Champions - Amateur Men
Division ,Name -Hometown -Time
15 - 19 ,* Taylor Tolleson -Pacific Grove, CA -2:50:00
20 - 24 ,Maxwell King -Bend, OR -3:01:20
25 - 29 ,Jim Vance -San Diego, CA -2:53:50
30 - 34 ,Tim Menoher -Erlanger, KY -2:55:22
35 - 39 ,Mike Smith -Santa Barbara, CA -3:07:47
40 - 44 ,^ Tom Lyons -Reno, NV -2:59:44
45 - 49 ,Ian Davidson -Clemson, SC -3:14:09
50 - 54 ,David Rakita -Durango, CO -3:26:25
55 - 59 ,^ Kent Robinson -Reno, NV -3:30:19
60+ ,Peter Wood -La Jolla, CA -3:51:45
* Top Amateur Male
^ * Two-time, ^Three-time, and `Four-time national champions 

COMING UP: The 9th annual Nissan Xterra World Championship, held at the Wailea Marriott Resort in Maui, on Sunday, October 24th. The World Championship is the final stop on the Xterra Global Tour - the culmination of a national and international series of 78 qualifying events held in Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Saipan, Italy, South Africa, Japan, and the United States.