ORANGE COUNTY PERFORMING ARTS CENTER TRIATHLON : Spill Doesn’t Spoil Kearns’ Bicycle Ride to Victory

Brad Kearns had a big lead after the bicycle leg of the Orange County Performing Arts Center Triathlon Sunday.

His lead was big enough that even after taking a spill during the transition to the running leg, Kearns was still able to win the race by 52 seconds, finishing in 1 hour 49 minutes 33 seconds.

Greg Welch was second in 1:50:25.

“I think I got a little too excited,” Kearns said about his accident. “I haven’t been (that far) in the lead (after the cycling leg) like that before.”

Kearns, 25, said he accidentally locked his front brake while coasting toward his rack and fell over the front end of his bicycle.

After racing poorly on the bicycle leg of the biathlon in Irvine May 27, Kearns said he was trying hard to improve.

“I didn’t ride too well (in the biathlon), but it was a good experience,” Kearns said. “It motivated me for this one.”

Kearns, who lives in Malibu, placed sixth in the biathlon.

In Sunday’s triathlon, Kearns emerged from the 1.5-kilometer swim in Lake Mission Viejo somewhere in the pack behind Andrew Carlson of Laguna Niguel.

But Kearns said he “never rode so well, ever,” as he did on the 40K bicycle ride that followed.

Kearns came into the transition area to rack his bicycle before the 10K run two minutes ahead of the pack.

Colleen Cannon, winner of the women’s professional division in 1988, won again Sunday after battling second-place finisher Karen Smyer throughout the race.

Kearns and Cannon each received $2,000 for winning the professional divisions.

Cannon, 29, said she broke away from Smyer and the rest of the pack about a mile into the run but was pushed hard by Smyer for the whole 10 kilometers.

“Karen’s such a fabulous runner, you just never know,” said Cannon, who lives in Nederland, Colo.

But Smyer, of Medford, Me., said she knew Cannon was running too hard for her to pass when she broke away. So Smyer held back, waiting for a chance to take the lead. That chance never came.

“She came up on me so quickly,” Smyer said. “She was just there. And she passed me with such confidence. . . . She goes as quickly as she needs to, to be in first.”

Cannon finished in 2:02:46 and Smyer finished in 2:03:02.

Scott Tinley, winner of four Performing Arts Center Triathlons, including last year’s race, finished third among the men Sunday, in 1:51:33.

“This is a way, way more competitive field than we’ve had here in the past,” Tinley said.

Tinley, from Del Mar, lost second place to Welch.

“He’s probably one of the strongest runners on the course,” Tinley said of Welch.

Welch, 25, estimated that he picked up about 50 seconds during the run after coming off the bicycle course in third place in a tight pack.

“(The run is) my favorite leg,” said Welch, a native of Australia now residing in Del Mar. “I work hard on it. I’m going to have to work harder on my swimming and biking so, hopefully, I can crack a few of those wins.”

Kearns, Welch and Tinley were followed by Stephan Foster of Leucadia, Bryan Fahrenbach of Clovis, and Nick Taylor of Austin, Tex.

Carlson, who led after the swimming leg, finished 19th in 1:58:43.

Notes

In the women’s professional division, Colleen Cannon and Karen Smyer were followed in the top five by Laurie Samuelson of Cupertino, Melissa Mantak of Denver and Kimberly Cohen of Greenwich, Conn.

Local triathletes finishing among the top 40 men were Bob Belzer of Irvine (16th), Kerry Classon of Mission Viejo (31st), Rick Mountain of Anaheim (33rd), Michael Herman of Laguna Niguel (35th), Walter Morris of Laguna Beach (36th) and Craig Calvin of Mission Viejo (37th).

Local triathletes who finished among the top 40 women were Gina Aubrey of San Clemente (23rd), Claudia Beristain of Mission Viejo (26th), Marilyn Ganahl of Orange (28th), Laura Anthony of Capistrano Beach (33rd), Annette Batley of Laguna Niguel (36th), Schery Braunhardt of Fullerton (39th), and Joan Jeter of Newport Beach (40th).

The top relay team, called “Your Name Here,” from Irvine finished in 1:51:17.