Field of 1,700 Expected for Triathlon Sunday

A field of 1,700 triathletes is expected to compete in Sunday’s Orange County Performing Arts Center Triathlon at 7 a.m., starting with a 1.5-kilometer swim at North Beach at Lake Mission Viejo.

The swim will be followed by a 35-kilometer bike ride and a 10-kilometer run.

The field includes 26 professionals (16 men, 10 women) competing for $11,000 in prize money--$2,000 each to the men’s and women’s winners.

The men’s field will be without Scott Molina, last year’s champion. Molina, who won that race barely 24 hours after competing in in a triathlon at Dallas, decided to compete in Avignon, France, this Sunday.

Brad Kearns, last year’s second-place finisher, will compete, as will Scott Tinley, who won two years ago.

The women’s race shapes up as a duel between two-time champion Colleen Cannon and Kirsten Hanssen, currently rated the No. 1 female triathlete in the world by the Assn. of Professional Triathletes.

On the amateur side, Bart Hackley of Woodland Hills will continue his quest to make the “Guinness Book of World Records” by competing in a triathlon every week for a year.