Thompson Rebounds for Easy Victory in Irvine : Biathlon: Encinitas runner makes up for last-place finish in his last race. Downing wins women’s title again.

Joel Thompson, after finishing last in his division in his last race, finished two minutes ahead of the pack Sunday when the Coors Light Biathlon Series came to Orange County.

The 31-year-old professional biathlete from Encinitas, finished the approximately five-kilometer run, 30-kilometer bicycle course and another five-kilometer run in 1:09.39. Race officials thought he had broken the Series record until the run and bicycle courses were found to be slightly shorter than the standard distances.

Thompson said he was able to improve during the last week since his disappointing finish in Houston by “relaxing.”

“I’d done the work,” Thompson said. “I just thought I was over the edge. . . . I was trying to do a little bit too much. I finally just rested. I knew I was set, based on some workouts I’d done, but after last week I was sure beginning to wonder.”

Thompson’s time in Houston was 1:18.46.

Liz Downing, the 1989 Coors Light Series champion from Portland, Ore., won the women’s elite division for the second year in a row.

Downing, who finished in 1:18.56, attributed her victory Sunday and her two-year dominance of the biathlon series to her ability as a cyclist.

“I think it’s just that I’m a little stronger on the bike than the other women,” she said. “Because a lot of them are pretty decent runners and I’m not a great runner. . . . I think it’s just that I’ve been able to put a little time on them on the bike.”

Downing also said the course around the El Toro Marine Corp Air Station complemented her racing style. “The course, I guess, is a little bit easier because you can’t see who’s in front of you very far because you have so many corners,” she said. “Sometimes, if you’re out of sight, it helps a little bit. So I always run scared, try to get around the next corner.”

Thompson and Downing will each receive $10,000 for their victories.

Thompson was followed by Brent Steiner (Tempe, Ariz.), 1:11.53; Greg Welch (San Diego), 1:11.54, and Matt Gary (Roseville, Calif.), 1:11.59, in the men’s elite division.

Steiner, Welch and Gary also finished the first run and the bicycle race fairly close together. “They were there all the way,” Steiner said. “On the bikes, Matt (Gary) and I were together. Greg (Welch) kind of slipped a bit in the bikes, I think. But he came back in the second run great.”

Other county finishers in the men’s top 40 were No. 5 Greg Brown (Balboa Island), 1:11.54; No. 8 Darren Wood (Newport Beach), 1:13.03; No. 9 Eric Squires (Laguna Niguel), 1:13.22; No. 19 Ray Webb (Anaheim Hills), 1:16.36; No. 22 Jeff Montgomery (Huntington Beach), 1:17.29; No. 31 John Brazelton (Newport Beach), 1:18.37, and No. 39 Jim Van Sickle (Laguna Beach) 1:19.36.

George Pierce, the 1989 Coors Light men’s champion from Thousand Oaks, was disqualified for drafting.

Donna Landerville, a Seattle runner in her second-ever biathlon, took second place in the women’s elite division in 1:20:27.

Landerville gave Downing a scare on the bicycle course. “That one girl who was in second--I didn’t know who she was,” Downing said. “She wasn’t very far behind me. I said, ‘Jeez! Either she’s really good or I’m really hurting.’ ”

Landerville was followed by Melissa Mantak (Denver), 1:21:06; Kimberly Cohen (Greenwich, Conn.), 1:23:21, and Catherine Donovan (Santa Monica), 1:24:09.

Other county finishers in the women’s top 40 were No. 13 Suzanne Ferguson (Dana Point), 1:29.12; No. 15 Marilyn Sanahl (Orange), 1:31.14; No. 18 Jeannette Gueffroy (Santa Ana), 1:32.42; No. 20 Sue E. Davis (Costa Mesa), 1:33.13; No. 23 Julie Pizzarello (Santa Ana), 1:34.10; No. 26 Christina Rudd (Newport Beach), 1:35.44; No. 30 Dawn Braund (Laguna Beach), 1:36.20; No. 33 Margie Dana (Mission Viejo), 1:37.24; No. 34 Valerie McCutchan (Costa Mesa), 1:37.33, and No. 35 Ursula Hill (Santa Ana), 1:38.08.

The race was completed by 674 professional and amateur biathletes.