June 18, 2015 –
Navy Lt. Kyle Hooker led the Armed Forces Triathlon
Championship all the way to finish his run in a torrential downpour with a
combined time of 1:51:24 in Hammond,
Indiana, June 7.
In team competition, the Navy and Air Force both finished
the race with 50 points, but a tiebreaker based on each team's seventh runner
(who doesn't normally count), put the Airmen in first place.
The Army women nearly swept their competition, placing three
of the top four finishers. Army 2nd Lt. Samone Franzese, a medical student,
finished first with a time of 2:13:15.
"I grew up in Portland, Oregon, and I have found that I
race well in rain," Franzese said. "The weather probably helped my
performance."
HOOKER LEADS PACK
Navy P-2 pilot Hooker from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island,
Washington, led the race from the beginning, finishing his 1500-meter swim in just
17:46.
The Army's Capt. Nicholas Sterghos from Fort Sill, Oklahoma,
was 53 seconds behind on the swim and finished the triathlon second with an
overall time of 1:52:50.
Army 2nd Lt. Gene Barrett LeHardy, from Fort Eustis,
Virginia, finished in third place overall with a time of 1:53:04, a personal
best.
"But Kyle Hooker owned the race," LeHardy said.
Hooker biked the 40 kilometers in 58:02, one second slower
than Sterghos and LeHardy, who both finished their laps around the lake in
58:01 -- but of course Hooker was still well out in front.
Hooker said being out front in the gusting winds took
somewhat of a toll on him.
"The bike ride was the hardest part," he said,
explaining that when heading into the southerly winds, he was biking up to 10 miles
slower than when pedaling north.
"I was getting more tired than the pack behind
us," Hooker said.
He jumped off the bike, however, to run the fastest 10
kilometers of his career at 34:46.
"It was a really good race for me," Hooker said.
"Hammond was certainly one of my better
competitions," said LeHardy, whose placement earned him a first-time spot
on the Armed Forces Triathlon Team, which will compete at the Military World
Games later this year in South Korea.
Air Force 2nd Lt. Cody Bohachek of Fort Wayne, Indiana,
finished the triathlon fourth with a time of 1:54:23; Ensign Clay Petty of the
U.S. Naval Academy, finished fifth at 1:55:24; and Air Force Maj. James Bales
of Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, finished sixth with a combined time of 1:56:30.
Based on their times, all six were selected for the Armed
Forces Triathlon Team that will compete in Korea.
Hooker has been on the Armed Forces Triathlon Team for seven
years, but he said this year is the first time he will have an opportunity to
compete in the Military World Games, Sept. 2-12 in Korea, and he's excited
about it.
WOMEN'S TEAM TITLE
Since only the top three women from each squad count in team
scoring, the Army easily took the team championship with Franzese finishing
first and runners coming in third and fourth.
Second place was claimed by Air Force Maj. Jamie Turner, of
Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina, who had an overall time of 2:15:28.
Army 2nd Lt. Jessica Clay, from Camp Casey, Korea, finished third
after beginning with a strong swim of 20:14 and a combined time of 2:16:29.
Army 2nd Lt. Justine Emge, an Apache attack helicopter
pilot, with the Missouri National Guard, now attending flight training at Fort
Rucker, Alabama, finished the race in fourth place with a time of 2:18:26.
Emge actually finished the swim - the first leg of the race
- in first place with a time of 20:09 alongside Clay, who swam 20:14.
"It's nice to come out of the water in front of the
pack," Emge said. But she fell back some on the biking and then the run,
as the cold and rain was a factor. She said the wind was gusting from 15 to 25
mph on the bike course, making it a challenge.
"Really, no triathlon ever goes as planned," she
said. "The wind, even on the run, was brutal."
"There were some strong crosswinds on the bike that
were particularly challenging," Franzese said, though she was able to
close the gap some before going into the run. Her group alternated drafting and
"worked really well together." They passed all but two of the women
and she moved into first place just before mile two of the run.
The Army team took first place with only eight points. Air Force
women took second place with 17 points and the Navy women came in third place
with 31 points. The Marines were disqualified.
MEN'S TEAM RESULTS
The top six finishers for each squad count in men's
triathlon team scoring.
With the Navy and Air Force tied at 50 points, seventh
competitor on each team determined the champion. Air Force Capt. Brett King, of
Beale Air Force Base, ran 2:00:35 to beat out the Navy's seventh competitor,
Ensign Christopher Brahm, from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
Brahm finished at 2:01:17.
The Air Force men thus took first place and Navy second. The
Army took third with 84 points and the Marine Corps finished in fourth place
with 142 points.
LOOKING AHEAD
The 2015 Armed Forces Championship was held in conjunction
with Leon's Triathlon in Hammond, Indiana. The service members began separately
out in front of the other triathlon participants, whose start time was held up
due to the weather. Results of the military competitors were used to select the
Armed Forces Triathlon Team, which will be representing the United States at
the Military World Games in South Korea, Oct. 2-11.
Franzese, Clay and Emge made the women's team, along with
Navy Lt. j.g. Jessica Hafey from San Diego, who finished the triathlon in
fourth place at 2:18:4; Marine Corps Capt. Christine Taranto of Monterey,
California, who finished in fifth place with a time of 2:18:57; and Air Force
Capt. Stephanie Mitchell of Fort Meade, Maryland, who finished at 2:20:05.
Hooker, Sterghos, LeHardy, Bohachek, Petty and Bales will
run for the men.
"I am very much looking forward to CISM [International
Military Sports Council] and the opportunity to represent the U.S. military at
the World Military Games in October," said LeHardy about the event in
South Korea this fall.
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