May 18, 2008 – On an incredibly hot day with temperatures in the upper '90s, Conrad “Caveman” Stoltz of South Africa powered through the grueling XTERRA West championship course in Temecula Valley in Southern California in two hours, 23 minutes to win the first of four regional championships on the XTERRA America Tour.

The 6-foot-3-inch, 180-pound Stoltz was in the first pack of racers to finish the one-mile swim in the warm waters (roughly 72 degrees) of Vail Lake, absolutely crushed the 20-mile bike with the fastest split of the day in one-hour, 25 minutes, and stayed strong on the six-mile up-and-down trail run to finish more than two minutes ahead of his protégé - runner-up Dan Hugo, also of South Africa.

Craig Evans was first out of the water but got chased down in a hurry by the South African duo that then pulled away from the chase pack during the initial series of climbs on the bike.

“Dan was right on my wheel and stuck with me to the very top of the course,” said Stoltz, the current and three-time XTERRA world champion. “We dropped everyone pretty quickly but I couldn’t shake Dan and had to fall back on my technical skills. I don’t like to take big risks, but when it comes down to it, I will.”

Hugo, who first met Stoltz in their hometown of Stellenbosch when he was 11 years old, has learned the tricks of the trade from Stoltz and is now using them against him.

“Over the years he’s taught me a lot, from guidance to equipment; he’s always helping me out. Half the reason I’m doing what I’m doing is because of him,” said Hugo.

Today, Hugo, 23, was just seconds behind Stoltz in the swim, had the second-best bike split and finished in second place by more than three minutes.

“I taught him all my secrets when he was a kid, but he’s not a kid anymore,” said Stoltz. “He’s not an up-and-comer either; he’s up here already, and I’m really happy to see him doing so well.”
Hugo showed great promise last year with a sixth-place finish here in his very first U.S. XTERRA and even more potential after winning the XTERRA South Africa championship last month (In that race, however, Stoltz had some mechanical issues on the bike).

“Conrad’s technical skills are so good; he’s just too fast and his cornering is amazing. You really have to see it to believe it,” said Hugo. “Someday there has to be a changing of the guard, but right now he’s still the man, still the King.”

America’s finest XTERRA athletes – Brian Smith, Josiah Middaugh, and Seth Wealing – rolled in third, fourth, and fifth respectivly. Smith, the top U.S. finisher at XTERRA Worlds last year (third) and recent winner of the XTERRA Winter world championship, posted a very impressive 34:07 run split -best of the day by nearly two minutes - to jump past several racers onto the podium. Middaugh came out of the water nearly three minutes behind the leaders and picked off more than 20 guys ahead of him, including at least five on the run, to move into fourth.

Costa Rican Rom Akerson – a former XTERRA amateur world champ – posted his best-ever XTERRA result by finishing in sixth place. U.S. Olympian Victor Plata was the seventh man out of the water and had the second-best run time, but neither of those could make up for his 47th-place bike split. Plata placed 17th overall.

McQuaid perseveres
She nearly got her arm taken off during the swim and was stung in the mouth by a bee on the bike, but Melanie McQuaid still managed to take the win.

“I was hanging on for dear life today. Someone scooped underneath my arm during the swim and pulled really hard, and it felt like my arm was going to come out of the socket. I got a little freaked out and scared and swam by myself for the rest of the way,” said McQuaid.

The three-time XTERRA world champ normally comes out of the water with or near the leaders, but today she was more than a minute behind her main competitors and a full three minutes off the swim pace set by Christine Jeffrey. But McQuaid’s deficit was short lived thanks to a punishing pace on the first half of the bike.

“I had a fantastic first lap,” said McQuaid, “I was ripping, then a bee stung me on my mouth and the second lap felt kind of weird.” Not weird enough to slow McQuaid down too much as she was able to take a comfortable lead onto the run and cruise in to the winner’s circle a minute-and-a-half ahead of the surprising performance by Marion Summerer. “You're only as good as your last race, and last year doesn’t count, so I needed to come out with something and I’m looking forward to building on this performance,” said McQuaid.

Summerer, a two-time overall amateur XTERRA world champion, had an amazing first race as a pro by posting the eighth-best swim, second-best bike (just three minutes off McQuaid’s time) and fastest run of the day.

“I didn’t know I was in second until I came into transition and heard the announcer say I was the second woman. I was like, ‘Really! I can’t believe it,’” exclaimed Summerer, who’s from Germany but living in Honolulu. “I actually had a hard time on the swim, was swallowing a lot of water, got kicked in the face and one guy swam over me but I just kept going. Then I was borderline cramping on the run, and really glad that didn’t kick in.”

Mommy-power was in full effect for the third- and fourth-place finishers. Long-time pro Jenny Tobin, at 39, posted her best XTERRA finish since 2003 with a third-place showing today. Danelle Kabush, with 8-month-old daughter Zoe on hand, turned in her best race in the heat of Southern California by placing fourth.

Amber Monforte tied her career-best XTERRA finish by placing fifth. Newcomer to XTERRA Christine Jeffrey placed sixth; Emma Garrard - the amateur XTERRA national champion last year – finished seventh in her first race as a pro; Lesley Paterson (former Scotland national triathlon champion) had a brilliant bike up with the leaders and ultimately finished ninth; and 2006 Ironman world champ/Olympic silver medalist Michellie Jones from Australia finished 10th.

The women’s field was missing the sport’s all-time winningest athlete, Jamie Whitmore, who suffered through a battle with a tumor that had to be surgically removed in the off-season. Whitmore was on hand for the race and taught the Paul Mitchell XTERRA University mountain-bike clinic yesterday.

In all, despite the heat, some 600 athletes from 10 countries and more than 20 states competed in the off-road multisport events, which included a half-distance XTERRA and a duathlon.

Up Next: XTERRA Southeast championship at Oak Mountain State Park in Pelham, Alabama, on June 8.

2008 XTERRA West Championship
Temecula, California
1-mile swim, 20-mile bike, 6-mile run
May 18, 2008

Pro women
1. Melanie McQuaid (CAN) 2:51:31
2. Marion Summerer (GER) 2:52:58
3. Jenny Tobin (USA) 2:59:48
4. Danelle Kabush (CAN) 3:00:42
5. Amber Monforte (USA) 3:01:19

Pro men
1. Conrad Stoltz (RSA) 2:23:02
2. Dan Hugo (RSA) 2:25:20
3. Brian Smith (USA) 2:28:21
4. Josiah Middaugh (USA) 2:30:05
5. Seth Wealing (USA) 2:31:47