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XTERRA USA Championship Off-Road Triathlon Preview

By XTERRA Managing Director “Kahuna Dave” Nicholas

The XTERRA America Tour wraps up on Saturday morning September 26at Snowbasin Resort in Utah with several hundred of the nation's top athletes who raced all year to qualify toeing the line in search of the XTERRA National Championship title.

A little more than two hours later our first pro man will cross the line, and within the next three hours the balance of the field, from top pro to the weekend warrior, will also feel the pride in completing the finish of a very special year of competition.

Conrad Stoltz, hurt in Richmond with a badly cut foot, will be fit and ready to win. Josiah Middaugh also took some time off to cure his ills and should be equally ready. Nico Lebrun has been in the States all summer and has shown amazing late season strength in winning the last two regional cup races at Sugarbush in Vermont and Beaver Creek in Colorado. Seth Wealing has come back from a bunch of early season bad luck to beat Lebrun in Mexico. With the Utah Snowbasin Resort course taking the place of Tahoe we also have the unusual situation where over the last three years the winners of the Mountain Champ race have been Stoltz (08), Wealing (07) and Mike Vine (06). Josiah has had great finishes and lives at altitude; Nico is staying in Colorado and just won the XTERRA points series race at Lake Tahoe, so he is prepared.

Melanie McQuaid has five wins this season and has won Utah twice. But the last three races of the season saw Shonny Vanlandingham win Arkansas and Colorado and Switzerland’s Renata Bucher win in Vermont. Both will be in Utah. The end of season phenom Danelle Kabush was second in Colorado and is notoriously dangerous in September and October where the big money lives. What does all that mean? There is no sure bet. We’ve got a bundle of top pros, men and women, who can win in September.

The age group champs are even tougher to predict, but there are those “unusual” folks who have more championships than Kahuna has beers at the race briefing.

Reno’s Tom Lyons has 7 crowns but cannot use his local knowledge of Tahoe in Utah. Kent Robison has 6 championships but did not race last year and is back to go for #7. Hans Dieben also has 6 wins but faces a tough Peter Lilly if he is to grab #7. Tommy Monica holds 2 championships but lost last year and will face some tough competition to take it back to California.

On the womens side, Cindi Toepel has 4 as does Barbara Peterson. Bev Enslow has 3 championships and is heads up with Peterson in 50-54. Kathy Frank holds 3 titles, Suzie Snyder has 4 (but is hurt and not racing) and Kathy Eckert and Sara Hanson have 2 each.

While Utah has elevation, it is not as high as Tahoe was, nor as technical. The water will be cold, but nothing like that glacier lake so conditions have changed considerably. Lots of great friends and athletes will be there for the end of the season party on Saturday night and to celebrate the 2009 XTERRA champs.

Who will get those honors? Come on out and see for yourself.