Callala Triseries Festival results: Shane Barrie and Matilda Raynolds victorious in the Classic; James Davy, Tarni Cunningham take out the ‘Club’ race

Shane Barrie from Towradgi and Sydney-based Matilda Raynolds both lead wire-to-wire to claim victory at the Elite Energy NSW Triseries ‘Classic’ distance triathlon in Callala, NSW.

In the men’s race, Barrie, one of the best open-water swimmers in the country, tore off the front in the rough conditions and established a dominant lead over his competitors, exiting the water in 32:32. Ollie Whistler was next out of the drink in 35:04, ahead of Nathan Miller who hit the beach in 39:15. Local age-group competitor Joshua Henry posted a quick 37:29 split to lead the age-groupers into T2 hot on the heels of the Open competitors.

Onto the bike course, Barrie extended his lead handily with a slick 1:31:07 bike split over the flat and rolling 60km bike course. Whistler was next into transition, after posting a 1:33:58 bike ride, the second-best of the field. Miller found himself several minutes off the pace after the bike after a 1:36:13 ride in third. Lead age-grouper Josh Henry was not far behind after a 1:37:23 ride.

Barrie maintained a comfortable margin on the 15km run course, his 1:01:57 giving him plenty of time to soak up the finish chute and cross the line in 3:07:16. After struggling through the first lap, Whistler pulled the pin on the run leg, leaving Miller’s closing 59:12 run to cement second place in a total time of 3:16:17. Josh Henry took the third step on the podium, winning the age-group race in 3:23:17.

In the women’s race, Matilda Raynolds exited the water in first place, posting a 41:23 swim over the alleged 2.8-3km swim – somewhat longer than the advertised 2km swim. Fellow Open competitor Jennifer Davis found herself several minutes back, exiting in 45:22.

Raynolds maintained a strong advantage with a 1:44:48 bike ride giving the Braidwood native a big lead into T2. Davis found herself in the company of a few age-group competitors with F20-24 athlete Jessica Mitchell ‘s 1:44:56 bike split enough to put her at the pointy end of the field.

Onto the run course, Raynolds’ 1:08:20 run gave her the win 3:36:32. Jess Mitchell’s 1:02:05 run was the fastest of the day and enough to run into second, crossing the line in 3:37:40. F30-34 competitor Emma Just used a rapid 1:03 run to take third overall.

Men’s Top 5:

Women’s Top 5:

‘CLUB’ DISTANCE RACE:

In the Club distance race -half the distance of the Classic- James Davy and Tarni Cunningham took the wins on a sunny late-morning in Callala.

For the men, Davy, Matthew Pellow and Adam Rudgely broke away from Mitch Cunningham -who was backing up from second place in Saturday’s Sprint event- to exit the water in just under 14 minutes.

Davy and Pellow rode hard off the front to enter T2 together, posting 45:51 and 45:57 splits respectively. Davy made his intentions clear from the start of the run, tearing out of transition. Posting the quickest run of the day, Davy crossed the line in 1:27:10. Pellow held onto second, finishing in 1:29:06 ahead of Rudgely in 1:30:50.

In the women’s race, sole Open competitor Tarni Cunningham of Berry lead wire-to-wire to take the win in 1:48:28. Like brother Mitchell, Cunningham race Saturday’s Sprint triathlon, where she took second place.

With a tough 17:03 swim behind her, Cunningham rode a strong 56:44 to firmly hold her lead before closing her win with a strong run. On the back of a strong swim-bike performance, age-grouper Nikki Mugara took second, ahead of Petra Mallalia in third.