CLEVELAND — Despite dealing with injuries over the last 14 months, Adam Kuncel’s reputation in the Cleveland Triathlon remains sterling.
The 2001 Amherst graduate finished in the top 10 percent for Sunday’s Olympic Distance event, which included a 1.5K swim, 24-mile bike ride and a 10K run in downtown Cleveland.
Kuncel set the tone for the day with a solid performance in the swim in the 26th annual Cleveland-based event, one of the oldest triathlons in Northeast Ohio. The finish in the top 10 percent earned Kuncel a ticket to his fourth age group nationals in 2013. He clocked two hours, 24 minutes and 41 seconds on Sunday and finished 11th overall.
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“I had a very strong swim,” said Kuncel, 30, who made his seventh straight appearance in the event. “I’ve been working on a high-elbow technique for the swim for the past year. I felt good.
“The waves inside North Coast Harbor (off the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame) weren’t bad, but once we got out there (west and northwest of Voinovich Park) it was a washing machine out there. It was tough to get a good stroke and a good breath out there. I tried to stay with a decent pack.”
Kuncel dedicated his race in memory of his late grandmother, Elaine Dover, who passed away late Saturday night in Amherst.
“She was a fighter,” Kuncel said. “She’s been in and out the hospital. Just watching her labor to breathe last night I just tried to put myself in her position and the pain that she was in. It was rough to refocus and come here. I didn’t want to skip it because she would have been disappointed if I would have. She raised a great, loving family.”
Although he wasn’t as dominant in the bicycling phase, Kuncel was happy with his effort.
“I had a very smart cycling leg,” said Kuncel, who averaged 22 miles-per-hour on the bike. “I used a road bike on this course for the first time. I rode … conservative would be my description. It was slow, but I was trying to ride a high cadence to keep my legs fresh. I tried to keep the high cadence in the run.”
Kuncel was upbeat about finally overcoming injury problems that have bothered him since April of 2011.
“I’m recovering from a hamstring tear,” he said. “I also had two terribly timed Grade 2 ankle sprains during that time frame, too. It really ruined my (2011 season) for running as far as my base mileage.”
But through hard work and rehab, Kuncel was healthy enough to finish in the top 30 for his age group in 2:14 at the USA Triathlon Age Group National Olympic Distance Championships in Burlington, Vt., on Aug. 20, 2011.
A storm front with moderate rain and heavy winds slammed into the Olympic Distance athletes midway through Kuncel’s run phase. According to race director Jack Caress of Pacific Sports LLC, it was the first time in race history that it rained on the event except for some early brief rain showers a couple of times.
Avon’s Katie Schlather, 19, sparkled in her triathlon debut, taking second (53:34) to Isabel Ballard, 22, of Shaker Heights (52:21) in the Super sprint event (300-yard swim, 8-mile bike, 1.5 mile run). It’s an event generally geared to first-time and novice triathletes.
“I’m completely surprised,” said Schlather, who will be a Dayton freshman in the fall. “I didn’t think I’d place so well. Last year I had planned to race one, but then never did. This year I made sure I signed up in time.”
Schlather has already pledged to join the Flyers triathlon club team this fall. A district qualifier in the 500 free for the Avon swim team, Schlather also ran track and cross country in high school.
St. Joseph Academy senior Julianna Spinazze of Avon moved up from the Super sprint to the Sprint Distance
(0.5-mile swim, 16-mile bike, 5K run) and placed fourth in her age group, 15 seconds behind third-place finisher Danielle Buzzacco of Canfield (1:50:44).
The Jaguar varsity swimmer finished fourth overall in last year’s Super Sprint.
“She just wanted to up the challenge a little bit,” said Jean Spinazze, Julianne’s mom. “She did very well last year and wanted to see how challenging the next distance was. When she finished last year she felt that she had a lot left. She kind of decided back then to bump it up.”
Olympic distance
1.5K swim, 24-mile bike, 10K run
Male
Overall: 1. Jim LaMastra, age 37 (Rocky River), 1:55:38; 2. Ryan Bates, 32 (Copley), 2:00:09; 3. Joe McDaniel, 30 (Brooklyn, OH), 2:02:30
Local age group results
30-34: 3. Adam Kuncel (Amherst), 2:24:41; 2. 35-39: 11. Skip Stenger (Avon Lake), 2:58:47; 40-44: 16. Albert Mikes (Avon), 3:02:49
Female
Overall: 1. Robin Zehnder Muskopf, age 37 (Powell), 2:37:10; 2. Sandra Vanderkaay, 41 (St. David’s, Ontario), 2:45:55; 3. Victoria Steen, 31 (Columbus), 2:46:17
Local age group results
35-39: 5. Jennifer Ciaccia (Avon), 3:18:09
Sprint
(0.5-mile swim, 16-mile bike, 5K run)
Male
OVERALL: 1. Philip Friedman, 59 (Erie, PA), 1:15:58; 2. Joshua Barry (Aurora), 39, 1:17:35; 3. John Willse, 43, 1:18:27
Local age group results
25-29: 9. Allan Huffman (Elyria), 1:34:22
Female
Overall: 1. Anna Comella, 26 (Chicago), 1:22:22; 2. Briana Ulanowski, 21 (Florence, OH), 1:28:06; 3. Michelle Barwacz, 27 (Seven Hills), 1:28:44
Local age group results
15-19: 4. Julianna Spinazze (Avon), 1:50:49; 30-34: 2. Sarah Fultz (Avon Lake), 1:46:21. 40-44: 8. Cynthia Stives (North Ridgeville), 2:20:24; 11. Linda Zettergren (Avon), 2:43:38.
Super sprint
(300-yard swim, 8-mile bike, 1.5 mile run)
Male
OVERALL: 1. Sean Allds, 32 (Lyndhurst), 42:04; 2. Kevin Baker, 42 (Glen Ellyn, IL), 43:57; 3. Oliver Palmer, 29 (Cleveland), 47:20
Female
Overall: 1. Isabel Ballard, 22 (Shaker Heights), 52:21; 2. Katie Schlather, 19 (Avon), 53:34; 3. Patty Voisinet, 35 (Olmsted Falls), 54:51
Local age group results
15-19: 1. Schlather; 2. Kristen Foye (Avon), 1:00:20. 35-39: 12. Angela Mackey (Avon), 1:09:49. 45-49: 1. Debbi Albert (LaGrange), 55:20; 4. Melissa Thomas (Avon), 1:28:50
Contact Paul Heyse at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.
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