2006 Solstice Triathlon

By Jonathan Dennison

The Nissan Xterra USA Championship Series made another stop at Mason Lake in La Grande, OR for the 5th Annual Solstice Triathlon, the first NXPS Northwest Region event of 2006. 

After a day of heavy rain, the clearing skies and sunshine were a welcome sight to all participants.  But the rain left in its wake a wet and muddy mire which made an already challenging course more difficult.

Thanks to tireless work by course volunteers the race went off without a hitch and only a few bruised egos. 

Despite coming out of the water in 7th place, XTERRA pro Jason Jablonski from Wenatchee, WA hit the tape first in 2:25:41. He hit T1 three minutes behind Trevor Gray of Sandpoint, ID but took the lead on the bike and continuted building his lead on the run.

Coming in second and third overall were David Cloninger from Bend, OR (2:32:44) and Phillip Glenn (2:33:47) from Reno, NV.  La Grande's own Bill Gerst, at 48-years-young, crossed the line in an excellent 15th place overall in a time of 3:00:26.

On the women's side Brandyn Roark-Gray scorched the swim in 15:23.  There must be something in the water up there in Northern Idaho that makes them swim extra fast.  In fact, Brandyn's time was just two minutes and change off of the first male swimmer, her husband. Second out of the water, five minutes back, was Lori Harvey from Boise, ID. 

The 20K mountain bike portion was jut about all Harvey needed to wipe out that five-minute deficit as she entered T2 seconds after Roark-Gray departed.  This apparently didn't set well with Roark-Gray, because as she cast a quick glance over her shoulder and saw Harvey coming she let out a loud, "Oh no!!" for everyone to hear.  At the finish Harvey's superior running ability was clear as she crossed the finish line with a time of 3:05 to Roark-Gray's 3:12.

Rounding out the top three was Korrie Dubray from La Grande, OR - yet another strong showing for the hometown XTERRAists. 

Five states and three NXPS regions were in attendance at the event.  Special thanks go out to the La Grande locals that stepped up and contributed their time and energy to making the event happen.  Extra special thanks to course director/designer James Hasse and race director Mary Ellen LaBerge.  In her spare time Mary Ellen completed the race 41st overall in a time of 3:46:11.  Not too bad for a 57-year old with a new hip. 

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