The Kent Island Bay Times from Chester, Maryland • Page 27

Page 28The Bay Times June 13, 2012 PORTS Jersey Speed Skiff KISS leads one of races at the 22nd annual Thunder on the Narrows. Please see race results on Page 30. SOFTBALL TRIATHLON Patriots 6 Breeze 4 PHOTOS BY KRISTEN SEABOLT Reigning Ironman World Champion, Craig Alexander, left, won the division with a time of 3:44:57, while Meredith Kessler of San Francisco won the title in 4:12:40. By GAIL DEAN Special to Bay Times CAMBRIDGE Current Ironman World Champion Craig Alexander, 39, an Australian now living in Colorado, was the winner Sunday of the 16th annual Ironman EagleMan 70.3 triathlon with a time of 3 hours, 44:57 minutes. Alexander is a three-time winner of the full triathlon in Hawaii, in 2008, 2009, and 2011.

During his first EagleMan Sunday, he came close to breaking the course record of 3 hours, 42.07 minutes, set in 1993 by Troy Jacobsen. Last 70.3 EagleMan Champion, T.J. Tollakson, finished third Sunday, with a time of 3:48:52. was also the first EagleMan 70.3 for Meredith Kessler, 34, of San Francisco. She proved to be champion, with a time of 4:12:40.

Earlier this year Kessler was champion for both the Ironman New Zealand and the Ironman St. in Utah. Both winners took home a cash prize of $10,000. Mirinda Carfrae, 2011 Ironman 70.3 EagleMan Champion, had to drop out of the race during the bike portion, due to an illness. With temperatures that climbed to 93 degrees and 88 percent humidity, medical personnel were kept busy with triathletes suffering from dehydration and other heat-related health problems as well as other injuries, including a collision in which one cyclist ran into the back of another bicycle.

More than 2,400 endurance athletes from 37 states and 14 countries participated in race, according to event organizers, for a $50,000 prize purse. Greg Bennett of Queensland, Australia, finished second with a time of 3:47:14 and Richie Cunningham, another Australian now living in Colorado, finished fourth, with a time of 3:56:29. EagleMan course was everything I Ironman champion claims first EagleMan Alexander wins division; Kessler pulls away in competition By WILLIAM HAUFE Special to Bay Times CENTREVILLE The finish came sooner than Mike Brenton had hoped. But as girls from both teams went hunting for shade, a cold drink and in some cases the cool of a air conditioner in hopes of finding relief from the broiling 90-plus degree heat at Route 18 Park early Sunday afternoon, tone was the same as it had been the previous 90 minutes encouraging. are going to be a good team this said Brenton, coach of the Bayside Breeze under-14 softball squad.

do a lot of the basic things J.R. Grose, coach of the U-16 Howard County Youth Program Patriots that eliminated the Breeze yesterday with a 6-4 victory in the quarterfinals of the Eastern Shore U-16 Invitational, sounded as if gang had already arrived at that point. good technique; know the game, smart Grose said of the Breeze, who went 3-0 Saturday before dropping their first and only game Sunday. hustle everywhere. They just seemed like a very smart After winning two titles in two U- 14 tournaments this season, Brenton wanted to see how his team would fare against older competition.

Bayside did just fine Saturday, blanking the Maryland Chill (10-0) and beating the Blast (11-4) before closing with a 3-2 win over the Delaware Magic. U-14 team 3-1 in U-16 tourney Thunder on the Narrows See TRIATHLON Page 29 See BREEZE Page 29 PHOTO BY GREG REINBOLD.