Dye, Kaye Win 32nd Annual St. Anthony’s Triathlon

Americans Cameron Dye and Alicia Kaye returned to their non-drafting, Olympic-distance racing roots today at the St. Anthony’s Triathlon in St. Petersburg, Fla. This was the 32nd running of the race, which has always been a favorite among the pros and is now one of the few remaining triathlons offering a prize purse in the non-drafting, Olympic-distance discipline. The $30,000 total prize paid out eight deep for both the men and women, with the winners each taking home $5,000.

Men’s Race
American Tommy Zaferes, who is a regular on the ITU scene, led the men out of the 1.5K swim at 19:18, with fellow Americans Eric Lagerstrom and Dye chasing only a few seconds behind. With every second counting at this distance, the next group of Brian Fleischmann (USA), Ben Collins (USA), Stuart Hayes (GBR) and Kaleb VanOrt (USA) would have some work to do to make up on the nearly one-minute deficit out of the swim. Dye used his usual tactics and pushed hard on the bike.

“… I just tried to hammer it,” Dye said after the race. “With all the extra running I’ve been doing, the bike was a wild card. That has been my thing, but without having spent quite so much time riding, I wasn’t sure how that was going to go.”

It worked out well for him as he posted the fastest bike split of the day (52:36) to earn a lead starting the 10K run. Dye followed the powerful bike ride with a strong run, turning in a 34:31 run split to earn the 1:47:59 victory. VanOrt showcased his run strength, turning in by far the fastest 10K of the day at 31:41 to run his way up to the silver spot (1:48:36). Lagerstrom concluded his well-rounded race with a 34:11 run split to finish third at 1:50:03.

“It’s nice when your race plan comes together,”Dye said of his win. “All the hard work pays off. That’s why we train so hard.”

Women’s Race
Americans Heather Lendway and Kaye led the women’s field out of the water at 21:38 and 21:40, respectively. Canada’s Magali Tisseyre has not been known for being a strong swimmer but she impressed today, coming into T2 third after a 22:17 swim.

The race from there was all about Kaye as the American rode away from the field with a dominant 59:38 bike split. She backed that up with the strongest run time of the women (37:24) to take the victory in 2:00:30. Tisseyre was also strong on the bike (1:01:14) and run (37:44) at a distance that isn’t usually her specialty, finishing second at 2:03:03. Lendway, who is competing in her first year as a pro, rounded out the top three at 2:07:04.

Kaye, who also won this race in 2013, said this is an especially memorable victory for her: “I consider my win at the 2013 St. Anthony’s to be the highlight of my career. I was truly upset when I didn’t win last year, so this is very special.”

2015 St. Anthony’s Triathlon
St. Petersburg, Fla. – April 26, 2015
1.5K swim, 40K bike, 10K run

Men
1. Cameron Dye (USA) 1:47:59
2. Kaleb Vanort (USA) 1:48:36
3. Eric Lagerstrom (USA) 1:50:03
4. Stuart Hayes (GBR) 1:51:28
5. Ben Collins (USA) 1:51:42

Women
1. Alicia Kaye (USA) 2:00:30
2. Magali Tisseyre (CAN) 2:03:03
3. Heather Lendway (USA) 2:07:04
4. Carla Moreno (USA) 2:09:21
5. Jillian Petersen (USA) 2:10:39

*Finish line quotes were provided by the St. Anthony’s Triathlon