Tri United 2: Victory double for Canadian; Torres shows ’em
MATTHEW O’Halloran completed an impressive triathlon weekend as the Team Alaska TBB racer copped two titles in two days.
O’Halloran ruled the Elite male division just a day after topping the sprint in the Tri United 2 over the weekend at Playa Laiya in San Juan, Batangas.
Hardly spent from his sprint race, O’Halloran conquered the 2K swim-60K bike-15K run distance with a time of two hours, 50 minutes and 27 seconds to capture the Elite male crown.
The Canadian racer admitted that he only wanted “to test” the sprint distance.
O’Halloran’s closest competitor Benjamin Rana of CamSur clocked nearly 20 minutes behind (3:08:26), while veteran August Benedicto of Unilab finished third (3:09:02).
Duathlon queen Monica Torres of TriMac reigned in the women’s Elite (3:19:55), edging former national champion Ani de Leon-Brown (3:31:06)
Former triathlon coach Peter Gonzalez led his PLDT-Bike King crew to the team title (37:48:34), while Unilab Active Health (39:36:50) and TriMac (41:54:48) completed the podium finishers.
Over 620 racers competed in the second of the triathlon trilogy.
Other age-group winners in the sprint distance include Eric Stroem (18-24), Marisol Abad and Luigi Robles (25-29), Andrea Barreto (30-34), Brian Acosta and Kate Abelarde (35-39), Oliver Kempo and Maricel Laxa Pangilinan (40-44), Ronald Honrede (45-49), Edwin Cagiyat (50-54) and Gary Brown (55-above).
In the long distance race, the top finishers were Nino Lagasca and Keisha Fule (18-24), Don Velasco and Izah Sueno (25-29), Philip Atento and Camilla Brooks (30-34), Julian Valencia and Ani Brown (35-39), Peter Gonzalez and Bernstein Tan (40-44), Celma Hitalia (45-above), Albert Altura (45-49), Eduardo Francisco (50-54), Alfredo Santos (55-above) and IMC-PAF Air Force (team relay). Jasmine W. Payo
