With a state triathlon championship on the line, Jens Beck delivered a startlingly fast time while Larrell Lockard broke a stranglehold.
Beck, a veteran of several Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii, won the Northern Trust Triathlon on Sunday in Knik in a record one hour, 53 minutes and 56 seconds.
That put him a whopping 11 minutes ahead of defending champion Fred West, and cut Beck's best time on the course by more than six minutes.
Meanwhile, Lockard earned her first major triathlon victory by ripping up the swim, hanging on in the bike portion of the race and hammering the run. Her victory in 2:10:15 ended the three-year run of Shannon Donley atop the field.
Lockard and Beck earned a stipend covering airfare to compete in the Best of the U.S. Championship Triathlon on Sept. 27 in Mission Viejo, Calif.
"I knew I'd have to have everything work out perfect," said Lockard, a former Division I swimmer at Brigham Young University. "Usually, I don't go out so hard in the swim. But I didn't end up as tired as I thought I might be.
"This is my first year really working on the bike. I never really trained much on it before. I've been working a lot on my transition too."
The course consists of a 1,500 meter swim in Knik Lake, a 40-K bike, and a 10-K run.
West followed Beck in 2:05:07, with Jason Lamoreaux third in 2:07:08.
Donley finished in 2:11:51, with Amber Stull third in 2:13:54.
"She's been working hard," Donley said of Lockard, a training partner. "She's been putting in a ton of time, and she's a great, great swimmer."
Because of that, Lockard was well ahead after the swim. But Donley, a powerful cyclist, passed her during the bike ride -- only to have Lockard retake the lead during the run.
Lockard posted a 41:43 run in the decisive 10-K, while Donley delivered a 45:13 time.
The last year someone other than Donley won was 2005, when Jenny Kimball, who was fifth on Sunday, prevailed in 2:25:17. Donley did not race that year.
Beck won every segment of his race -- swimming 19:22, biking 56:08 and running 38:26. The last segment was so quick that only 25 men went faster in Saturday's Alaska 10-K Classic -- without a bike ride or swim preceding their run.
Reach reporter Mike Campbell at mcampbell@adn.com or 257-4329.
Northern Trust Duathlon and Triathlon
Sunday at Knik Lake
Men -- 1) Jens Beck 1:53:56; 2) Fred West 2:05:07; 3) Jason Lamoreaux 2:07:08; 4) Jason Potsander 2:09:39; 5) Michael Wheatall 2:15:17; 6) Todd Borke 2:16:00; 7) Rob Conn 2:16:10; 8) Todd Helgeson 2:17:04; 9) Will Ross 2:18:08; 10) Luke Kiskaddon 2:18:11; 11) Andy Kirk 2:18:26; 12) Mick Bakker 2:19:09; 13) William Beveridge 2:20:34; 14) Michael Pluimer 2:20:43; 15) Charles Machado 2:21:05; 16) Audun Mikkelson 2:21:23; 17) Jim Winegarner 2:22:47; 18) Cullen Mcalpine 2:23:24; 19) Bret Rosane 2:24:19; 20) Rick Rogers 2:25:57; 21) Andy Underwood 2:26:12; 22) Robin Smyth 2:26:40; 23) Bob Ulbrich 2:26:55; 24) Aaron Morrison 2:28:10; 25) Taylor Seavey 2:31:17;
26) Bob Baker 2:34:21; 27) David Knopp 2:35:49; 28) Bob Smith 2:39:32; 29) Robert Bloomfield 2:40:14; 30) Stephen Ferris 2:40:50; 31) Andy Hutten 2:41:58; 32) Craig Mollerstuen 2:44:06; 33) Ed Banas 2:47:10; 34) Gary Steffens 2:49:13; 35) John Maryott 2:49:56; 36) Chris Dabbs 2:51:23; 37) Jonathan Scorer 2:53:26; 38) Bryan Meshke 2:54:56; 39) Matt Singer 2:59:13; 40) Edward Gross 3:02:27; 41) Jeff Campbell 3:08:46; 42) Kneeland Taylor 3:11:13; 43) Tony Oliver 3:13:12; 44) Jon Nauman 3:40:49
Women -- 1) Larrell Lockard 2:10:15; 2) Shannon Donley 2:11:51; 3) Amber Stull 2:13:54; 4) Lori Deschamps 2:14:02; 5) Jenny Kimball 2:17:24; 6) Jeni Winegarner 2:18:32; 7) Kristi Waythomas 2:20:37; 8) Katie Povolo 2:21:58; 9) Suzanne Wheatall 2:22:28; 10) Jenifer Kohout 2:22:37; 11) Laurel Brady 2:27:21; 12) Lauren Spinelli 2:29:41; 13) Laura Johnston 2:30:51; 14) Katy Rosane 2:31:56; 15) Shannon Titzel 2:31:56; 16) Angie Brennan 2:33:01; 17) Deana Watson 2:34:28; 18) Heidi Martinson 2:35:09; 19) Corrie Smith 2:36:09; 20) Shawn Tausz Meyers 2:36:34; 21) Alesia Thon 2:38:39; 22) Karen Schaad 2:40:18; 23) Kelly Van Hoek 2:40:40; 24) Jamie Evans 2:43:02; 25) Christa Besing 2:43:28;
26) Jennifer Henderson 2:43:44; 27) Georgina Scorer 2:44:31; 28) Danelle Vanholstyn 2:44:37; 29) Julie Vogler 2:45:44; 30) Mireya De La Pena 2:47:21; 31) Debbie Boots 2:49:19; 32) Stacy Dayley 2:50:43; 33) Carleen Ulbrich 2:50:53; 34) Liz Friedman 2:52:50; 35) Lanie Hughes 2:53:55; 36) Lindsay Noah-Vermillion 2:54:17; 37) Melissa Toffolon-Weiss 2:54:49; 38) Buffie Cubit 2:58:29; 39) Tracy Morrison 3:00:43; 40) Paula Schmidt 3:08:10; 41) Jill Mcleod 3:08:46; 42) Linda Wilson 3:10:01; 43) Alexandra Hill 3:10:27; 44) Eileen Floyd 3:16:02; 45) Andrea Kettler 3:18:38; 46) Carla Goldberg 3:30:27; 47) Heather Neal 4:22:28; 48) Kari Wiederkehr 3:49:49; 49) Heather Neal 4:17:45.
Duathlon --1) Jacob Kirk 2:22:02; 2) Graham Knapp 2:22:52; 3) Deenie Robertson 2:26:20; 4) Jamie Norris 2:51:58; 5) Tammy Garber 3:03:26.
Teams -- 1) Colleen Libbey, Dan Libbey, Becca Kleinschmidt (Coed) 2:30:22; 2) Dana Seagars, Greg Miller, Tom Cubit (Male) 2:35:10; 3) Laurie Orell, Jessica Leston, Jason Sandidge (Coed) 2:39:33; 4) Phil Hedges, Sheryl Mohwinkel-Fleming (Coed) 2:40:51; 5) Margaret Paton Walsh, Lauren Bradley, Holly Spoth-Torres (Female) 2:42:03; 6) Veronica Vania, Kristin Wilkinson, Amy Erickson (Female) 2:42:06; 7) Heidi Beer, Toby Widdicombe, Amy Sharrer (Coed) 2:43:41; 8) Callie Mitchell, Carrie Demay, Kristy Despars (Female) 2:47:22; 9) Kyla Hagan, Mark Kemberling, Desiree Simeon (Coed) 3:02:16; 10) Robyn Sullens, Carmen Stephyl, Helen Carroll (Female) 3:13:13; 11) Jodi Kay, Elizabeth Calabro (Female) 3:16:18.
Duathlon Teams -- 1) Darian Seavey, Halle Audette (Coed) 2:28:00; 2) Tanya Kirk, Valerie Kirk, Stephanie Kirk (Female) 2:30:03.
By MIKE CAMPBELL
mcampbell@adn.com