WEST DES MOINES, Iowa – The sun shined brightly on the flood threatened
Hy-Vee World Cup Triathlon in America’s heartland Sunday.

Three-time ITU World Champion Emma Snowsill overcame last year’s rare DNF due to a bad back and asthma to take home a $200,000 payday at the Hy-Vee World Cup Triathlon. And Denmark’s streaky good Rasmus Henning liked last year’s winning check so much did it again – passing up the World Championships to bolster his odds.

But the most powerful emotions arose from two sixth place finishers whose $10,000 checks were dwarfed by the priceless thrills of earning the third and final US Olympic Triathlon slots.

Sarah Haskins fulfilled a childhood dream when her nearest rival Sarah Groff faded back from elbow to elbow duel on the swim and bike with a disappointing run.

When Groff failed to finish top American, Haskins clinched the Olympic slot. Haskins actually clinched a place on the U.S. team when defending Hy-Vee champion Laura Bennett crossed the finish line in fourth place. The only way Haskins could have been denied was if Sarah Groff were the top American on Sunday.

Although her 6th place finish surrendered the top American Hy-Vee finisher status to Bennett, Haskins’ clutch finish validated her newfound status as a top international contender after her silver medal at the June 8 ITU World Championship in Vancouver.

“It's amazing," said Haskins. "It's been my dream since I was a little girl. To be able to go there and have the opportunity to win a medal is fantastic."

But the biggest emotional wallop came when Hunter Kemper broke out of a swim and bike elbow to elbow duel with chief rival Andy Potts on the run, and hitting the finish line 28 seconds ahead of his rival.

Chances for Kemper, the 2005 ITU World Cup series number 1 who had struggled for a year with career-threatening sacroiliac injuries and then fought for the past five months with a hernia, looked as damp as the flooded shelters of Blue Heron Lake just two weeks ago. “My training was going poorly,” said Kemper. “And the uncertainty of the Trials with the floods left me in discouraged.”

But with rest and prayers and suddenly sunny skies in West Des Moines, plus a shot of cortisone to dull the pain of his hernia, Kemper was able to find his old dominating run for the first time in 18 months.

Despite his injuries, Kemper finished just 14 second behind first US Men’s Olympic qualifier Jarrod Shoemaker in Beijing last September, and just 30 seconds behind second US men’s Olympic qualifier Matt Reed in Tuscaloosa this April. But the proud leader of American Olympic triathlon seemed destined to fail in his effort to make his third Olympic team until a month of rest and recuperation reinvigorated his game.

“I wish I could describe what the last year and a half has meant to me,” said Kemper, who crossed the finish line fiercely clutching an American flag, his emotions unleashing a flood of years. “With all my injuries and the uncertainty of the race itself, I’m so fortunate and so blessed God has taken watched over me. This makes me feel I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing.”

As Kemper remained bent over and in still in shock, Potts, the consummate sportsman, came over after finishing 8th and out of the Olympics, and patted his rival on the back.

“It was my best effort,” said Potts. “And I wish it was enough to get me on the Olympic team.”

In a lighter moment, Kemper said of Potts, “We had a few words. He is a great competitor and I think he wants to do Ironman. Maybe I’ll lead him in that direction a little more quickly rather than going to the Olympics.”

While some observers have speculated that Potts surrendered some of his short course speed with his long course racing which brought him two California Ironman 70.3 wins the past two years and an Ironman 70.3 World Championship last November in Clearwater, both the 31-year-old Potts and Kemper, 32, have indicated they will be giving it their best shots at making the US men’s Olympic Triathlon team in 2012.

Haskins Groff run into T1 together

Photo: Timothy Carlson

Groff, who fell out of the hunt with an abrupt slowdown on the run, took the loss of her Olympic dream hard. “About one kilometer into the run, I heard the sound of one big crack,” said Groff. “That was the sound of the end of my race, breaking my spirit and shattering my dreams. When I needed it most, that was probably the weakest run I had in a long time.”

Before the race, Groff promised coach Siri Lindley she would “make it hurt” and “leave it all out on the course.”

But Groff found tactics on the bike discouraging. “The American girls were trying to get Haskins and (Becky) Lavelle on the Olympic team. They were blocking me and I lost contact with Sarah (Haskins.) I understand it’s a race, but it hurts to be ganged up on by your teammates.”

Still, Groff said, “I am the only one to blame for my race. I didn’t run the run I am capable of running. Maybe I wouldn’t have made the team. But I’d have been closer.”

When Groff finished up with a 40:04 10km run, she had fallen to 9th place and surrendered three minutes to Haskins. She also let Julie Ertel (38:18 run) and Becky Lavelle (38:54 run) past into 7th and 8th places, thus losing a tiebreaker to Lavelle for the first alternate US women’s Olympian.

The races

Perhaps overshadowed by the US men’s Olympic drama was a notably exciting men’s race. After a no-breakaway bike, an all-start group of ITU runners took control, including 2004 ITU Olympic silver medalist and 2004 ITU World Champion Bevan Docherty of New Zealand, 2000 Olympic gold medalist Simon Whitfield of Canada, 2002 ITU World Champion Ivan Rana of Spain, 2007 Life Time Fitness undefeated series champion Greg Bennett of Australia, and Henning, the streaky hot defending Hy-Vee champion.

On the third lap, Henning felt strong and decided to make a move. “It was on a downhill leading back to the transition when I just tried to let it roll and I got a five second gap,” said Henning. “Then I pushed it really hard on the uphill. I left it all out there and nobody could go with me.”

Docherty said “When Rasmus went off, I tried to stay withy him but he was just too strong.”

Whereupon Docherty had his hands full successfully fending off a last lap challenge with Bennett, thus preserving his second straight Hy-Vee second place and a $40,000 consolation check - $15,000 better than Bennett’s take.

Bennett could console himself that he was champion for a day on the home front, finishing one place better than his wife and defending Hy-Vee women’s champ Laura Bennett, who finished fourth behind Snowsill, Aussie runner-up Emma Moffat, and close behind third place Helen Tucker of Great Britain, who said she was coming off the high of her upset win at the ITU World Championship in Vancouver.

2008 Hy-Vee ITU Triathlon World Cup and US Olympic Trials
June 22, 2008
West Des Moines, Iowa
S 1.5k/ B 42.5k/ R 10k

Results

Elite Men

1. Rasmus Henning (DEN) 01:54:21
2. Bevan Docherty (NZL) 01:54:29
3. Greg Bennett (AUS) 01:54:32
4. Ivan Rana (ESP) 01:54:41
5. Simon Whitfield (CAN) 01:54:49
6. Hunter Kemper (USA) 01:54:58
7. Alistair Brownlee (GBR) 01:55:22
8. Andy Potts (USA) 01:55:26
9. Dan Wilson (AUS) 01:55:37
10. Hendrik De Villiers (RSA) 01:55:38
19. Jarrod Shoemaker (USA) 1:57:52
20. Brian Fleischmann (USA) 1:58:08
21. Matt Chrabot (USA) 1:59:00
22. Peter Robertson (Aus) 1:59:07
24. Timothy O’Donnell (USA) 2:00:11
26. Doug Friman (USA) 2:02:05
27. Victor Plata (USA) 2:03:21
DNFs: Matt Reed (USA),

Elite women

1. Emma Snowsill (AUS) 02:03:15
2. Emma Moffatt (AUS) 02:04:35
3. Helen Tucker (GBR) 02:05:21
4. Laura Bennett (USA) 02:05:30
5. Liz Blatchford (GBR) 02:05:41
6. Sarah Haskins (USA) 02:05:45
7. Julie Ertel (USA) 02:07:12
8. Becky Lavelle (USA) 02:07:44
9. Sarah Groff (USA) 02:08:57
10. Erin Densham (AUS) 02:08:59
15. Sara McLarty (USA) 2:10:14
18. Jillian Peterson (USA) 2:13:11
20. Margaret Shapiro (USA) 2:14:23
22; Amanda Stevens (USA) 2:16:31
DNF: Jasmine Oeinck (USA)