With a great pro starting line up, the Ogden Xterra Mountain Championship couldn’t help but be exciting.

Mike Vine took the win with Seth Wealing behind by one minute.

The women’s race was claimed by Melanie McQuaid, who beat her rival, Jaime Whitmore by four minutes and 20 seconds.

Utah finishers represented the national field well with Ogden’s Guy Perry finishing 31st overall with a total time of two hours, 50 seconds and 22 seconds and Sara Watchorn of Salt Lake City finishing in three hours, 16 minutes and 39 seconds.

Popularity: 11% [?]

The 2006 Scofield Triathlon, under new directorship, was a huge success and an exciting event, complete with a roasted pig at the end of the race! Some of Utah’s fastest athletes showed up to claim the prize purse.

The Olympic race was exciting with Brad Gale first out of the water and an outstanding transition and bike. Heath Thurston was hot on his trail, but Gale kept his lead during the bike. Thurston claimed his victory during the run, beating Gale by a over four minutes.

The women’s Olympic race was won by Rachel Cieslewicz of Salt Lake City, but she didn’t have quite the lead that Thurston did over his competitors. Christy Turnbull was only two minutes and 10 seconds behind.

The men’s Sprint race came down to the last minute. Jared Allen of Kaysville, Utah took the purse with a total time of one hour, 13 minutes and 36 seconds.

Malaika Homo Demolished the women’s Sprint race with a total time of one hour, eight minutes and 39 seconds. Her closet competitor was over nine minutes behind her.

Popularity: 11% [?]

The 2006 Xango Echo Triathlon lured the fastest triathletes in the state with its $3,000 cash prize purse on the line. The majority of the 800+ athletes participated in the July 15, 2006 event for personal glory.

Park City resident, Marcel Vifian stormed the Olympic distance event. Vifian and Tom Thorum distanced themselves from the rest of the field in the water. Vifian was on his bike first after a quick transition, where he stretched his lead to over five minutes. He completed the event in one hour, 56 minutes and 54 seconds – over five minutes faster then race runner up, Michael Nordberg.

The womens Olympic race went down to the wire, with Malaika Homo finishing first. Homo, a Salt Lake City resident distanced herself enough in the swim to hold on for the overall win.

Anne Heiner lost six and a half minutes to Homo in the swim but closed the gap to 37 seconds by the end of the race with the days fastest bike and run splits (1:04:59 & 40:51)

Popularity: 11% [?]

Held on May 13, 2006, the 2006 St. George Triathlon hosted over 1,000 triathletes from throughout the United States. The race started on a cool spring morning that quickly heated up. Temperatures soared into the upper 90’s as athletes began the difficult run course.

Male overall winners, Dave Ference of the Olympic event and B.J. Christenson of the sprint, won their respective titles very convincingly. Ference beat his closest competitor, Heath Thurston, by nearly two minutes. Christensen distanced himself from his sprint distance runner-up, Guy Perry, by three and a half minutes.

The women’s races were much closer then the men’s. Sarah Jarvis nipped out Debbie Perry in the Olympic event by 21 seconds. Alli Gardner won the women’s sprint event, holding off Nicole Newton by 33 seconds.

The event, now in its sixth year proved to be a huge success.

St. George Triathlon
May 13, 2006
www.sgtri.com

Top 3 Men (Olympic)

1- Dave Ference 02:03:47
2- Heath Thurston 02:05:44
3- Al Thresher 02:10:24

Top 3 Women (Olympic)

1- Sarah Jarvis 02:24:35
2- Debbie Perry 02:24:56
3- Rachel Christina Cieslewicz 02:32:56

Top 3 Men (Sprint)

1- B.J. Christensen 01:09:28
2- Guy Perry 01:12:58
3- Randall Lewis 01:13:11

Top 3 Women (Sprint)

1- Alli Gardner 01:17:39
2- Nicole Newton 01:18:12
3- Mikkel Jones 01:22:26

Popularity: 14% [?]

Michael Norberg continued his early-season winning-streak at the In Training Spring Triathlon. Norberg completed the sprint course triathlon in 53 minuntes and 52 seconds, beating second place finisher Michael Mamales by nearly 40 seconds.

“I was hoping to make up enough time on the bike and transistions to get close to his (Norberg’s) overall time. When he passed me on the run, I estimated I was within a minute of his TT time. Once he hit the 1.5 to 2 mile mark, I knew he was the overall winner. He ran a great leg to secure the win,” said Mamales about chasing Norberg.

Jana White won the women’s race edging out Mandi Merideth-Dunlop by 10 seconds.

TriUtah picked another perfect day for an early season triathlon in Utah. Morning temperatures were mild for the 218 participants at the race. 203 athletes completed the event.

April 22, 2006
In Training Spring Triathlon
Saratoga Springs, Utah
250 yard pool swim, 12 mile bike, and 5K run
www.triutah.com

Top 3 Men

1- Michael Nordberg 53:52
2- Michael Mamales 54.29
3- James Lawrence 57:53

Top 3 Women

1- Jana White 1:03:34
2- Mandi Meredith-Dunlop 1:03:47
3- Cherell Jordin 1:04:06

Other Results

April 8, 2006
Bountiful Perfect Triathlon #1
Bountiful, Utah
400 meter pool swim, 9.6 mile bike, and 2.4 mile run
www.utahrunnertriathlete.com

Top Male & Female

- Floyd Lerdahl 51:46
- Heather Gooch 1:06:29

April 15, 2006
4th Street Clinic Triathlon
Salt Lake City, Utah
300 yard pool swim, an 8 mile mountain bike ride, and 5K run
http://umed.med.utah.edu/Triathlon/

Top Male & Female
- Karl Jarvis 56:32
- Sarah Jarvis 1:05:54

April 22, 2006
Bountiful Perfect Triathlon #2
Bountiful, Utah
400 meter pool swim, 9.6 mile bike, and 2.4 mile run
www.utahrunnertriathlete.com

Top Male & Female

- Floyd Lerdahl 48:23
- Sarah Hansen 56:45

May 6, 2006
House of Bread Triathlon
Cottonwood, Utah
400 yard pool swim, 9.5 mile bike, and 2.5 mile run
www.utahrunnertriathlete.com

Top Male & Female

- Gerald Robinson 51:54
- Susan Pope 1:00:20

Popularity: 7% [?]

The In Training Icebreaker Triathlon was TriUtah’s first scheduled tri of the season and their first ever pool event. The Icebreaker used an uncommon triathlon format, the time trial start, where triathletes waited in a line outside of the pool waiting for their chance to begin their race. Racers entered the pool in 10 second intervals.

Despite the title of the race, the weather was perfect for an early spring day in Utah. “It couldn’t have been better. Sunshine and no rain or snow…beautiful conditions,” said triathlete Joe Riley.

First to cross the finish line was Michael Nordberg of Murray, Utah. Nordberg’s time appeared to have been broken as racers started to trickle across. Once the majority of athletes had crossed the line timing officials posted Nordberg’s time as the fastest of the day.

Mandi Meredith-Dunlop of Holladay, UT took women’s top honors beating her closest competitor by over one and a half minutes. Mandi’s victory wasn’t sealed until days after the race, when it was realized the previous winner had completed only one loop of the bike course.

Over 150 triathletes attended the In Training Icebreaker Triathlon. Many we’re thrilled to finally have the warm weather return and to be racing once again.

In Training Icebreaker Triathlon
www.triutah.com
March 25, 2006
American Fork, UT

Top 3 Men

1- Michael Nordberg 54:54
2- Shane Morris 58:31
3- Manny Cypers 59:00

Top 3 Women

1- Jill Whelan 1:02:24
2- Mandi Meredith-Dunlop 1:04:35
3- Emily Moeller 1:06:00

Top 3 Kids

1- Kade Hunter 24:51
2- Parker Robison 25:05
3- Tanner Robison 25:41

Other Results

Frostbite Triathlon
2.5 mile run, 8.1 miles, 425-yard swim
www.utahrunnertriathlete.com
March 25, 2006
Tooele, UT

Top 3 Men

1- Drew Purdy 48:38
2- Ryan Thierbach 50:43
3- Nate Gerlach 53:07

Top 3 Women

1- Jannalynn Thierbach 1:02:32
2- Heather Gooch 1:03:58
3- Shannon Kitchens 1:04:05

Popularity: 10% [?]