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Brother And Sister Take Victory at Tri Rock Austin

1800 competitors faced hot and humid conditions during the TriRock Austin race on Labor Day. Without a doubt, the 84 degrees water temperature and >90 degree air with temperatures tested the strength and will of racers.

Not least of all, the climate tested the willpower of the brother and sister duo from San Antonio, Daniel and Tatiana Vertiz, who took the overall victories in the Open Olympic Division.

Champion ironman, Chris “Macca” McCormack, and a local Austin native, Glenda Adams, won the male and female divisions of the sprint distance.



Adrian Cameron led the way out of the water and posted the fastest time of the day (19:30) with Julie Stupp, Daniel Vertiz and returning champion Jamie Cleveland in pursuit leading into T1. The lead field broke into several smaller chase groups of 3-4 swimmers, all fighting to negotiate low visibility and vegetation in the water, which apparently caught most athletes off guard. Daniel Vertiz recounted, ”swimming through the algae and grass was hard. I tried not to fight it.”

Race organizers did their utmost to make sure the swim course was safe for competition. However, they could not tame all of the Hydrilla overgrowth, and many athletes had to swim through drifting patches of this plant.



Overtaken early on the bike, Adrian Cameron lost the lead to Daniel Vertiz, Scott Tonder and Jamie Cleveland, who stuck together through the entire 40k course with a time of 61 minutes. Cleveland took the lead at the end of bike and lead into T2 with Daniel Vertiz and Scott Tonder.

In the women’s race, Tatiana Vertiz passed Julie Stupp, who had a 3-minute lead after the swim, mid way through the bike leg.  Vertiz closed the 3-minute gap and completed the bike leg with a time of 67-minutes.

The bike course maintained its legacy for allowing notoriously fast split times, and athletes easily maintained top speeds through most of the sweeping course turns. Jason Lentzke posted the fastest bike time with 60-minutes and 58-seconds (24.4 mph) and held on to a top 5 finish overall.



As the temperatures soared to triple digits during the run leg, the attrition rate of participants rose significantly. Fundamentally, the run was an exercise in strength and willpower.

Jamie Cleveland, one of the first off the bike, worked to hold his lead through the run. However, Daniel Vertiz and Scott Tonder stayed on his heels. “Running in this heat off the bike, it hurt… it was painful,” Vertiz revealed after the race.

Cleveland was eventually overtaken by the Vertiz and Tonder, with Vertiz finishing first and Tonder finishing two minutes afterwards in second.  Cleveland reigned in a third place finish about 4 minutes behind Vertiz.

Vertiz, a student and track and field athlete at the University of Texas, demonstrated his running skills. He ran a sub 30-minute 10k on the track this season and threw down the fastest 10k split of the day, 34:29.

The womens’ run leg was equally impressive. Tatiana Vertiz left the bike transition with a 3-minute lead on Julie Stupp. However, 4 miles into the run, Stupp overtook Vertiz.  “ I didn’t know where she was at, with the course being so winding, she was able to close me down,” divulged Vertiz.

Julie Stupp put 2-minutes gap between her and Vertiz in the last 2 miles of the run. Unfortunately, Julie ultimately faced a 2-minute penalty from the bike leg, and she was not able to build enough of a time gap to take the overall victory, even though she crossed the finish line first.  The two competitors were separated by 19-seconds. Stupps finished with an overall time of 2:21:01 (including the penalty) and relinquished the victory to Vertiz, who finished with a time of 2:19:42.


Olympic Distance

Women’s Open Time
1. Tatiana Vertiz 2:19:42
2. Julie Stupp 2:21:01
3. Joni Mooore 2:43:14

Women’s Age Group Time
1. Neilia Bliss 2:18:21
2. Nusha Pelicano 2:26:11
3. Alison Miller 2:26:25
4. Sarah Jackson 2:26:40
5. Krystle Grant 2:26:51
6. Haley Koop 2:28:03
7. Jennifer Reinhart 2:28:31
8. Carolin Knobles 2:28:35
9. Ruthann Lobos 2:29:57
10. Liz Shelton 2:33:05

Mens Open Time
1. Daniel Vertiz 1:59:51
2. Scott Tonder 2:04:23
3. Jamie Cleveland 2:04:41
4. Ben Munguia 2:05:17
5. Jason Lentzke 2:08:07
6. Colin Sully 2:09:50
7. Adrian Cameron 2:13:06
8. Michael Buonaugurio 2:20:24
9. Rob Spooner 3:05:45

Men’s Age Group Time
1. Brian Miller 2:08:13
2. Troy Clifton 2:10:06
3. Benito Flores 2:12:33
4. Michael Ayer 2:14:18
5. Rich Sumrall 2:15:02
6. Kevin Martin 2:15:27
7. Roy Wung 2:16:05
8. Joe Stephens 2:16:49
9. Sean Blasko 2:17:00
10. Hunter Williams 2:17:04


Sprint Distance

Women’s Sprint Time
1. Glenda Adams 1:23:10
2. Erica Harshaw 1:26:12
3. Catherine Meihofer 1:27:24
4. Cornelia Kamp 1:29:16
5. Jessica Tranchina 1:31:25
6. Victoria Threadgould1:31:33
7. Leana Elliott 1:33:33
8. Michele Lopez 1:33:49
9. Meredith Johnson 1:33:58
10. Lindsey Ginko 1:34:15

Men’s Sprint Time
1. Chris McCormack 1:12:22
2. Mason Riley 1:18:36
3. Danny Craven 1:20:31
4. Colton Miller 1:21:11
5. Bryan Bourne 1:23:07
6. Dustin McInvale 1:23:42
7. Wyatt Collins 1:23:53
8. Rich Hurd 1:24:15
9. Luis Salinas 1:24:16
10. Cameron Alexander 1:24:35



2017-10-19T00:44:31-05:00 Categories: Local Runners - Elites, Race Coverage|Tags: , |