Cebuano triathletes make the grade in Xterra Albay

LEGAZPI, ALBAY, Philippines — With lone Filipino pro Joseph Miller failing to meet expectations, Elmo Clarabal and Jose Mari "Tenggoy" Colmenares became Cebu's saving grace after posting coming up with a 1-3 finish in their respective classes during the slippery and muddy 2016 Xterra Albay from Sto. Domingo to Cansagwa ruins here.

Clarabal's decision to race under the age-group rather than in the Filipino elite proved to a wise one as he won top honors in the 35-39 division of the country's toughest off-road triathlon race with the time of two hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds.

Colmenares failed to defend his title in the 45-49 age group, but could still hold his head up high after placing third with a 3:37:23 clocking.

Unfortunately, Miller settled only for ninth out of 10 pros with a time of 3:11:48.

Three other Cebu bets in Jundeb Esquivel, Domiku Ugarte and Evangeline Hayco, the lone Cebuana entry, wound up fourth in their categories. Hayco and Ugarte were fourth under the 25-29 class, same as Esquivel in the 30-34 bracket.

Meanwhile, Bradley Weiss of South Africa successfully defended his Xterra Albay title, while New Zealand's Lizzie Orchard made her pro debut a memorable one after snaring the women's crown.

Clever enough to deal with the descending portions of the treacherous route with care to avoid any accident, Weiss went on to cross the finish line with the best time of two hours, 29 minutes and 56 seconds.

"Ben (Allen) fell off in the bike portion after 20 minutes of biking together that gave me the lead. The rain made the bike part very slippery and technical but at the same time, the nice and cool weather also made it easier for me to defend my title as compared to last year when it was hot and humid," said the 26-year-old Weiss.

Allen settled for second, a notch higher than his finish last year, with a time of 2:33:59, while fellow Australian pro Brodie Gardner came out third with a 2:34:08 clocking.

In the women's pro, Orchard trailed Allen's fiancee Jacqui Slack of Great Britain most of the way, but was able to overtake the latter halfway through the finish line on the way to complete the grueling race first in 2:52:14.

Slack ended up second in 2:54:30 followed by Guam's Mieko Carey in 3:07:35.

" I have never seen such a huge crowd cheering at the course. The kids' cheers made the bike part easy. It makes my first race here in Albay and in the Philippines very memorable, plus of course, this is my first time to be a champion as a pro," said Orchard.  (FREEMAN)