Early Sunday morning, the Virgin Islands Triathlon Federation (VITF) held the 18th annual Wall-2-Wall Sprint Triathlon and Try-a-Tri at Cane Bay on St. Croix’s North Shore Road. It was a perfect day to kick off the fall tri season on St. Croix — calm seas, slightly overcast and a light breeze. One of the most exciting parts of the morning was that dolphins joined the racers on the swim portion of the race. When race director Theresa Harper asked newcomer Jonna Johnson after the event if she enjoyed her first triathlon on St. Croix, Johnson excitedly replied, “The race was nice…but I swam with dolphins! Where can you do that?!”
Relay swimmer Evan Dykstra was the first to finish the 800-meter swim. Over a minute behind him was Mat Porporato. Esther Ellis was the first woman to complete the swim.
Porporato continued his lead on the 13-mile bike while posting a time of 38:10. The cyclist of the lead relay team, Jerry Remie, held on to second position, while second-place relay cyclist James Bates and the first female, Ellis, entered the transition about two minutes later. With a bad cold, last year’s winner, Stephen Swanton, appeared to be a little off as he dismounted in the second-place position in the male division. Julie Sommer was the second female to finish the bike course. Just under a minute later, Kat Brownsdon entered the transition area to begin the run.
The run was on a 3-mile, out-and-back course. Porporato posted the fastest run of the morning, with a time of 22:08, and easily crossed the finish line in first place overall with a time of 1:14:51. The relay team of Evan Dykstra/Jerry Remie/Kirra Lambert was the next to reach the line. Their combined time was 1:18:12. Esther Ellis was the second finisher and the first female in an overall time of 1:22:13.
There were only two participants in the Try-a-Tri category. Their race was a 400-meter swim, a 6.5-mile bike and a 1.5-mile run. Veteran triathlete Jan Powell showed the first-time triathlete, Alison Killelea, how it was done.
The next triathlon on the VITF’s schedule is the Beauty and The Beast Triathlon at Cramer’s Park on Nov. 19. The featured race will be an Olympic-distance triathlon. In addition to the individual category, there will be an Olympic Aquathlon, Olympic Relay and Individual Sprint.
For more information, contact Theresa@vitf.org or call 513-2707.
September 24, 2023 Wall-2-Wall Sprint Triathlon and Try-A-Tri
800 mts swim, 13-mile bike, 3-mile run
Cane Bay Beach, North Shore Road., St. Croix
calm sea, clear sky
MEN TOTAL TIME/ swim/ T1+bike/ T2+run
1 Mat Porporato 1:14:51/ 0:14:33/ 0:38:10/ 0:22:08
2 Stephen Swanton 1:28:40 0:18:28 0:40:51 0:29:21
3 Jason Snow 1:32:55 0:16:34 0:48:29 0:27:52
4 Aaron Watson 1:40:23 0:21:50 0:48:46 0:29:47
WOMEN swim T1+bike T2+run
1 Esther Ellis 1:22:13 0:16:45 0:39:40 0:25:48
2 Julie Sommer 1:26:23 0:17:23 0:43:08 0:25:52
3 Kat Brownsdon 1:26:58 0:17:20 0:44:09 0:25:29
4 Dulcie Crowther 1:46:50 0:20:28 0:53:45 0:32:37
5 Heidi Snow 1:51:26 0:28:01 0:55:50 0:27:35
(unofficial) 6 Jonna Johnson 1:57:56 0:23:53 1:08:43 0:25:20
Allison Janusziewicz DNF 0:21:50
RELAYS swim T1+bike T2+run
1 E Dykstra/Remie/Lambert 1:18:12 0:13:18 0:40:52 0:24:02
2 J Dykstra/Bates/J Snow 1:21:41 0:17:34 0:38:39 0:25:28
3 Mault/Butcher/Mault 1:25:02 0:20:24 0:40:53 0:23:45
4 Graham/Mills/Maynard 1:30:52 0:19:28 0:44:22 0:27:02
5 Goldman/Ray/Goldman 1:41:09 0:19:01 0:51:43 0:30:25
TRY-A-TRI 400-meter swim/6.5-mile bike/1.5-m run swim/ T1+bike/ T2+run
1 Jan Powell/ 0:58:36/ 0:12:57/ 0:27:21/ 0:18:18
2 Alison Killelea 1:12:10/ 0:14:55/ 0:36:03/ 0:21:12
