Sendin leads Saipan finishers in XTERRA

Charlie Sendin stands up from his bike to negotiate an uphill course in Capital Hill during last Saturday’s 2014 XTERRA Saipan Championship. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Charlie Sendin emerged as the island’s top finisher in last Saturday’s XTERRA Saipan Championships.

Sporting a hair cut patterned after the XTERRA logo, Sendin completed the 1.5-kilomer swim, 30K bike, and 12K run race in 3:21:18. The 31-year-old surpassed the 3:49:22 he recorded during his debut in the XTERRA Tour’s Crown Jewel last year. He had split times of 30:06 (swim), 1:46:36 (bike), and 1:04:34 (run) to finish fourth in the non-pro category and win the 30-34 age group. Sendin also prevailed in the 30 to 34 group last year and was the third finisher in the non-pro division.

The diminutive triathlete finished ahead of fellow Saipan bets’ Erick Cooke (5:48:19), Nap Dizon (3:49:46), Brad Ruszala (5:10:06), Peter Prestley (3:49:03), Tyce Mister (3:51:23), Ricky Melchor (4:25:44), Noel Altamirano (4:46:20), and Manny Sitchon (5:25:24).

Meanwhile, Canada’s Charles Fortier was the first non-pro finisher in the weekend race. He timed in at 27:31 in the swim leg in the waters off Micro Beach, submitted 1:45:44 in the bike, and 1:06:15 in the run part to make it to the finish line at the 3:19:30 mark. He also took the top honors in the 40 to 44 age group, defeating six other participants.

Pierre Arnaud Le Magnan of Hong Kong posted the second-best time in the amateur division, followed by Japan’s Toshiyuki. Le Magnan clocked in at 3:19 58 (28:32, 1:43:19, and 1:10:00) to claim the first place medal in the 45 to 49 age group against Furuya, who logged 3:20:17 (28:32, 1:47:39, and 1:04:06).

Other top finishers in their respective age groups were 25 to 29’s Cooke, 35 to 39’s Dizon, 50 to 54’s Yuji Ono (3:34:16), 55 to 59’s Makoto Kayatama (4:52:39), 65 to 59’s Allan Moore (4:31:33), and over 70’s GL Brown (5:48:19).

Thirteen more triathletes in the men’s amateur division completed the tough championship course. The list includes Guam’s Logan Blackwelder (4:39:52), Mark Jolin (3:47:55), Oliver Cerbo (4:08:09), Mark Cruz (4:30:09), Richard Leone (3:49:32), Mark Walters (3:57:24), and Rickie Sorenson (4:35:38); the U.S.’ Jay Sampsel (3:46:29); Germany’s Roman Huber (4:14:33); and Japan’s Saburo Arakawa (5:27:31) and Tetsuya Sugimori (4:12:57).

In the women’s amateur division, four braved the challenging course with Guam’s Erin Johnson posting the best time at 4:00:12 (27:55, 2:11:33, and 1:20:44). Saipan’s Athena Andrews was second with her 4:13:43 (36:05, 2:15:08, and 1:22:30), followed by fellow Saipan finisher Kaitlin Mattos (4:49:27), and the U.S.’ Allison Moore (5:33:10).