Less than three minutes separated the top competitors at Sunday’s Crested Butte XTERRA triathlon as Gunnison local Brian Smith slipped across the finish line two minutes before Branden Rakita of Manitou Springs to claim first place. Smith finished the outdoor swim, off-road bike ride and trail run in 1 hour, 58 minutes, 33 seconds. Rakita finished in 2:00:47, and Cody Waite of Wheat Ridge was third in 2:01:22. New Zealand’s Jennifer Smith was tops among the women and seventh overall in the field of 150 athletes, finishing in 2:12:15, while pro mountain biker Shonny Vanlandingham of Durango was second in 2:13:09. XTERRA stalwart and current national points leader Melanie McQuaid of Victoria, British Columbia, was third in 2:19:15.
Bleiler worthy of ESPY.
After dominating halfpipes last season, Aspen snowboarder Gretchen Bleiler took home the Best Female Action Sports Athlete award at the 2008 ESPY Awards.
“The ESPY is one of the biggest awards in sports, and it was a huge honor to win,” Bleiler said after receiving her award in Los Angeles. “Justin Timberlake was the best host ever, and it was a great night all around.”
Bleiler’s award came on the heels of one of her typically successful seasons in the halfpipe. She dominated the competition, winning the opening U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix in Breckenridge, followed by a huge performance in her hometown to earn her third X Games halfpipe gold in February. She also made history as the first action-sports female on the cover of ESPN The Magazine last winter.
Scott Willoughby, The Denver Post
