Sports

Monday, Jul. 28, 2008

SLO Triathlon: Stehula runs away with another title

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After years of dominance, Chris Stehula had all but waved goodbye to the San Luis Obispo Triathlon.

But after a phone call from good friend and longtime rival Keith Schmidt, Stehula was convinced to return to the event in which he won three consecutive titles from 2002-04.

Apparently, not much has changed in four years.

Stehula wowed the crowd at Sinsheimer Park on Sunday morning by literally running away with the 29th annual SLO Triathlon in 1 hour, 6 minutes, 59 seconds. San Luis Obispo’s Muir Black won the women’s race in 1:17:38.

“(Schmidt) said that I didn’t have a choice,” Stehula said. “He called me up one day and said, ‘I signed you up for the San Luis Triathlon.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, OK. Cool.’ That’s Keith, so here I am. That’s pretty much how it went.”

How it went was, Stehula finished nearly five minutes ahead of everyone else and posted the fastest time at the event since 2004 — when he won the championship in 1:05:28.

And none of that might have happened had Schmidt not called Stehula last month, after Stehula took 20th in the male pro division at the internationally-renown Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon on June 8.

“He’s a young kid who’s got talent coming out of his ears,” Schmidt said. “It’s hard to stay motivated when you don’t make a lot of money doing something, and you see your career in front of you and you’re trying to figure out what you’re going to do next.

“I just called him up out of the blue, and he said, ‘Yeah, I’ll do it.’ I knew we wouldn’t be in the same zip code when we finished.”

In fact, Schmidt, 47, of Atascadero took fourth in 1:13:34.

But the race was owned by Stehula, a fixture on the local triathlon circuit since the Arroyo Grande native won the 15-to 16-year-old division of the 2001 Wildflower Mountain Bike Triathlon at Lake San Antonio.

“I really think the only time I felt good was on the second half of the bike,” Stehula said. “The water was really, really warm, so I was sick for half of the bike. The run, you just try to get through it and hope your fitness will carry you through.”

The triathletes began a half-mile swim at 7 a. m. before transitioning into a 15.3-mile bike ride and 3.1-mile run.

Stehula, who will transfer from Cuesta College to Cal Poly in the fall, said school has become a bigger priority than triathlons. The 23-year-old has also recently diverted much of his time into coaching youth swimmers at the San Luis Obispo-based Puma Aquatic Team.

“I’m actually taking a little bit of time off,” Stehula said of his future triathlon plans.

San Luis Obispo’s Scott Machado, 38, was second in 1:11:43 — in what he dubbed his final triathlon after 20 years in the sport.

“First time my kids have seen me do it, so that’s pretty fun,” Machado said. “A lot of it is stressful. In a lot of ways I’m glad it’s over, but I wanted to give it one last try.”

San Luis Obispo’s Sam Shaner, 18, took third in 1:12:55.

Schmidt, the 2005 individual champion, used the bike portion to “make up the most ground” on his way to fourth place.

San Luis Obispo’s George Newland, 50, was fifth in 1:15:51.

Black, 28, won the women’s race and was 15th overall at 1:17:38.

“The bike and the swim are my better events, and the run was really tough for me,” said Black, a long-distance veteran who was competing in her first sprint triathlon. “It was really fun (and) over really fast, which was nice compared to the longer ones.”

The top 10 overall was rounded out by: San Luis Obispo’s Stefan Peitge, 33, sixth in 1:16:54; San Luis Obispo’s Gary Willey, 44, seventh in 1:17:19; Visalia’s Justin Levine, 28, eighth in 1:17:29; San Luis Obispo’s Mark LaFaille, 40, ninth in 1:17:44; and San Luis Obispo’s Ryan Mason, 31, 10th in 1:17:55.

Behind Black, the top five women were: San Luis Obispo’s Maggie Roberts, 41, in 1:24:38; Templeton’s Kelly Dakin, 43, in 1:25:02; La Quinta’s Dotty Wilmeth, 43, in 1:26:05; and Arroyo Grande’s Marguerite Harris, 40, in 1:26:47.

Neither of last year’s top two overall finishers, Evan Rudd and Bret Brown — nor women’s champion Erin Reed —competed Sunday.

Nearly 1,200 triathletes participated in this year’s event, said Rich Ogden, who has directed the event for 19 years.