Burkey, Renner win YMCA/Kewpee Triathlon
Jul. 24—LIMA — At Sunday's Lima YMCA/Kewpee Triathlon and Duathlon at the Ottawa Metro Park, two women crossed the finish line first.
Emma Burkey, a 17-year-old high school senior-to-be at Mayfield High School (Cleveland area), took the lead in the final stage of the triathlon, the 5k run, and went on to win the event in one hour, 18 minutes, 19.6 seconds.
The triathlon consisted of a 500-yard swim, 15-mile bike and a 5k run.
Coming off the bike portion of the event, 50-year-old Daphne Glover from Fort Wayne, Indiana had a seemingly comfortable lead.
However, Burkey managed to reel Glover in during the run, en route to being the first overall finisher. Glover finished second in 1:19:41.2.
"She (Glover) passed me (on the bike) around mile seven," Burkey said. "So, I just made sure she was in view. ... Then, I just kept going.
"I felt like I had a shot. I was like, 'I'm just going to finish, and hopefully I'll catch up'."
Burkey competes in three sports at Mayfield.
"I do cross country, track and I'm on the swim team," Burkey said. "I try to balance them all throughout the entire year. I just kind of do these (triathlons) for fun. I have swim practice and cross country in the mornings. Then, I bike like once a week. So, I thought, why not just put them all together. I hope to run in college."
Glover felt pretty good about her chances during the bike stage.
"She (Burkey) came out ahead of me in the swim; then I caught her on the bike," Glover said. "Then, she caught me on the run. So, it was a really good battle. ... It was a lot of fun."
Glover, a veteran triathlete, is just now getting back to doing triathlons, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Actually, the last time I raced was in Switzerland at the ITU Worlds (triathlon, 9/1/2019)," Glover said. "So, it's been about three years; and this is my first race back, post-COVID. So, I'm super excited to be here.
"I've done all the distances, from sprint on up to Ironman, but I like this the best. A short course suits me better."
The Ironman events include a 2.4-mile swim (3.9k), 112-mile bike (180.2 k) and a 26.2-mile run (42.2k).
Kelly Hoying (1:29:22.1) was the third overall female finisher in Sunday's triathlon.
The first male to cross the finish line in Sunday's triathlon was 37-year-old Logan Renner, a Bath graduate. Renner's winning time was 1:27:51.2. Renner still resides in the Lima area.
Renner admitted that he was a little surprised at how things turned out on Sunday.
"Somebody said something to me on the way back in here, that I was the top male," Renner said with a grin. "I didn't quite understand what she said. So, when I was coming back (from the run), I was only seeing females. I thought, 'Well, maybe she said top male'."
Christian Mains (1:29:11.8) and Nicholas Sorg (1:29:12.7) finished second and third, respectively, for the males in the triathlon. Those two spots came down to a sprint to the finish line.
Renner, who does run, is fairly new to doing triathlons.
"I did it (Lima YMCA/Kewpee Triathlon) last year, for the first time," Renner said. "So, this is just the second time that I've done one. It was fun last year. So, I wanted to give it a shot again this year."
Renner said he plans to continue to compete in triathlons.
"I have a couple buddies who do 70.3s (1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike, 13.1-mile run). So, I'm going to start training with them and do some bigger ones. This was really fun," Renner said.
In Sunday's duathlon (2-mile run, 15-mile bike, 5k run), 28-year-old Austin Bruns was the first overall finisher with a time of 1:30:47.6. Kent Stuckey (1:34:24.7) and Jason Hemmelgarn (1:36:39.7) finished second and third, respectively, on the men's side.
For the women, 27-year-old Samantha Bruns won the duathlon (1:44:24.9). Maggie Cremeans was the second female to finish (2:04:55.9). There were just two females in the duathlon.
There were triathlon relay teams that competed as well on Sunday. However, the names of the team members were not provided in the results.
TRIATHLON
Female Overall
1) Emma Burkey 1:18:19.6
2) Daphne Glover 1:19:41.2
3) Kelly Hoying 1:29:22.1
Male Overall
1) Logan Renner 1:27:51.2
2) Christian Mains 1:29:11.8
3) Nicholas Sorg 1:29:12.7
Female — 15-19
1) Heidi Bruns 1:38:47.7
2) June Essinger 1:40:09.1
3) Emma Burkey 1:47:41.9
Female — 25-29
1) Veronica Brunet 1:35:24
Female — 35-39
1) Becky Williams 1:45:27.7
Female — 45-49
1) Kristi Counts 1:38:38.9
2) Alice Essinger 1:38:47.7
3) Pamela Samsey 2:22:58.7
Male — 20-24
1) Andrew Rohweder 1:35:38.6
2) Michael Harrikissoon 1:39:48.2
Male — 30-34
1) Jon Keske 1:35:30.9
Male — 35-39
1) Chris Massie 1:53:11.5
Male — 40-44
1) Trayton Mains 1:32:44.2
2) Joshua King 2:08:24.0
Male — 45-49
1) Kevin Nickel 1:33:26.3
2) Dave Essinger 1:35:04.6
Male — 50-54
1) Dean Altstaetter 1:31:56.9
2) Kevin Krisle 1:34:18.8
3) Walter Myers 1:51:25.1
Male — 70-74
1) Jerry Rex 1:39:59.7
2) Lyle Symonds 1:52:29.9
3) David Bucher 1:57:18.7
DUATHLON
Male Overall
1) Austin Bruns 1:30:47.6
2) Kent Stuckey 1:34:24.7
3) Jason Hemmelgarn 1:36:39.7
Female Overall
1) Samantha Bruns 1:44:24.9
2) Maggie Cremeans 2:04:55.9
Male — 15-19
1) Nate Niemeyer 2:23:15.6
Male — 30-34
1) Tom Cremeans 2:04:56.1
2) Garth Lough 2:05:38.8
Male — 35-39
1) Matthew Chiles 1:40:45.2
Male — 60-64
1) Jonathan Pitts 2:01:04.6
