Simpson, Haskins Take Major Steps Forward

A pair of rising young stars on the professional triathlon circuit broke through with their first significant victories Sunday in the Los Angeles Triathlon.

Michael Simpson, 22, of West Vancouver, Canada, crossed the finish line near Staples Center in 1 hour 51 minutes 33.9 seconds to take the men’s title, and Sarah Haskins, 24, of Colorado Springs, Colo., won the women’s race in 2:03:56.8.

Simpson, whose background is in cycling, has been racing triathlons for four years. He turned pro three years ago and had tempered expectations Sunday because he had raced seven times in the last eight weeks.

His surprise victory was dominating, however, as he finished 51.1 seconds ahead of runner-up Richie Cunningham, who finished in 1:52:25. It was even more impressive considering he was 11th after the 0.9-mile swim leg and had to make up ground during the 24.8-mile bike race before he pulled way ahead during the 6.2-mile run.

“I was very shocked,” he said. “I kept looking back to see somebody, and I didn’t see anyone. My goal was to come in the top five.”

Fabio Cavalho of Brazil was third in 1:52:37.9, and prerace favorite Tim DeBoom, a two-time Ironman Hawaii champion, was fourth in 1:52:58.8. Things didn’t go as well for DeBoom’s wife, Nicole DeBoom, one of the women’s prerace favorites. An airline lost her bike when she flew from Colorado to Los Angeles on Friday, and she withdrew because she hadn’t recovered it by race time Sunday morning.

Her absence left the door open for a battle among Haskins, Julie Swail of Irvine and Karen Smyers of Lincoln, Mass., a 44-year-old who made a late charge and finished second in 2:04:32.8. Swail, a 31-year-old former Olympic water polo player, was third in 2:05:16.1.

Haskins, an all-conference track and cross-country runner at Tulsa three years ago, gave up a teaching career to focus on triathlons. She is training for the 2008 Olympics.

She had finished second to Swail in her last two races, including a 13-second loss Sept. 4 in Boston.

She and Swail were all but even at the transition from bike to run and then for the first two miles of the run before Haskins pulled away for the victory.

“I’m kind of like in one of those little dazes,” she said. “I’m really, really happy with my race. Pretty much every race this year I’ve finished right behind [Swail]. This race, it kind of flip-flopped.”

The winners of each segment of the race received $5,000.