SALISBURY — Racing in the Vermont Sun Sprint Triathlon for the 18th time in nine years, Cory Coffey, 38, of Vergennes won his first overall title in 1:03:54. Cory Robinson of Brandon was the runner up in 1:05:22.
The triathlon — which consisted of a 600-yard swim, 14-mile bike and 3.1-mile run — was held Sunday, Aug. 9, at Branbury State Park in Salisbury for the third and final time in the 2015 season.
Coffey finished fourth in the June race and second in July.
Coffey has competed in a total of 24 Vermont Sun Series Triathlons since 2006, always finishing in the top 10. He has three second-place results, three thirds and five fourths.
The Vermont Sun Triathlon Series completed its 30th season with this race and the Olympic-distance Lake Dunmore Triathlon. The events were held in perfect conditions of almost 80 degrees, sunny skies, low humidity and virtually no wind.
Robinson was the first to finish the swim in Lake Dunmore in 7:42. Sean Fleming of Charlotte was right behind him in 7:49. Coffey came out of the water fourth, about a minute behind the leaders.
Robinson completed the transition from bike to run 22 seconds faster to increase his lead. Coffey caught Robinson halfway through the bike, as he rode the course in a day’s-best 34:08 to Robinson’s second-best 37:10; Coffey got off the bike with a commanding 1:30 lead. Robinson outran Coffey, 18:57 to 19:09, to make the finish closer.
Fleming had the second best run of the day, 18:41. He outran Robinson by 16 seconds to close to within 22 seconds of him to take third in 1:05:46. Two Canadians rounded out the top five as Mathieu Dorian of Sherbrooke, Quebec, finished fourth in 1:08:26 and Michel Prud’Homme took fifth in 1:09:38.
New Hampshire residents captured the top three places overall in the women’s race as Megan Boucher of Manchester won by over 6 minutes in 1:09:33. Katherine Aman, 18, held off her mother, Pam Aman, 49, in the run, to take second in 1:15:48. Pam was just 30 seconds behind, after outrunning her daughter by nearly 2 minutes, in 1:16:18. Both women are from Hanover. Pam Aman was an excellent distance runner at Dartmouth College, where she ran 10,000 meters in 34:11; and she took up swimming about six years ago and road cycling three years after that.
LONGER TRIATHLON
In the Lake Dunmore Triathlon, Shelburne’s David Connery, 47, had no competition as he won the 0.9-mile swim, 28-mile bike, 6.2-mile run in 2:12:33. James Horstmann of Havertown, Pa., was second in 2:20:30. He led Connery by 4:30 after the swim but Connery had a 9-minute faster bike and 3-minute faster run. Eric Cochran of Grand Isle was third in 2:22:33.
Jessica Cooper of Closter, N.J., was in second place, 3:23, behind race leader Susan Horstmann of Hartford, Pa., but used the day’s best women’s ride to take the lead and win the women’s Olympic-distance race in 2:31:47. Horstmann was second in 2:35:07 and 55-year-old Dot Martin of Montpelier claimed third in 2:40:50.
Seventeen states and provinces were represented in the triathlons. Christy Lynn of Middlebury was the top local woman in the sprint, finishing 12th overall and second in the women’s 30-34 age group in 1:23:25. In the women’s 40-44 age group, Sandy Chicoine of Leicester was fourth in 1:32:30, Shawna Sherwin of Bristol took eighth in 1:49:13 and another Bristol triathlete, Sheri Bedard, was right behind her for ninth in 1:49:52.
Sixty-two-year-old Andrea Halnon of Bristol won the 60-64 group in 1:44:36. Erica Zimmer of Brandon was sixth in the 35-39 group. Karen Deering of Bridport took ninth in the 55-59 group in 2:04:01 and Lisa Calitri was fifth in the 45-49 group in 2:14:46.
Brandon’s Pat Foley was second (11th overall) men’s 35-39 in 1:15:35 and Justin Huizenga of New Haven claimed fourth in 1:22:17. Fifteen-year-old Samuel Paradee of Bristol was third in the 15-19 group at 1:34:02 and Daniel Scharstein of Weybridge was ninth in the 45-49 group.
Fifty-eight-year-old Steve Hare of Middlebury was the top local finisher in the Olympic triathlon as he finished 10th overall in 2:30:49. Brandon’s Devon Fuller took fourth in men’s 50-54. For complete results of both races go to 802timing.com and for photos go to pathendrickphotography.com.
“Just a terrific day to celebrate fitness. I’m proud of the job our staff did in putting on this event and am so grateful for the strong turnout of all these fine people,” said Hare, who owns and operates Vermont Sun Fitness Center in Middlebury. He founded the series in 1986 and continues to direct them. The series benefits local youth sports teams and charities.
The final event in the run-triathlon series is the Vermont Sun Half Marathon Run. The 13.1-mile race will be held at Branbury State Park at 10 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 27. The same day will also see 5K and 10K runs. For information and details go to vermontsun.com (click on the run-triathlon logo).