Cole Patuzzi (left) narrowly slips by Cole Richards at the finish line of the 8th annual Wawasee Kiwanis Triathlon/Duathlon. (Photo by Nick Goralczyk)

SYRACUSE – It was a beautiful day at Lakeside Park as many gathered for the Wawasee Kiwanis 8th Annual Triathlon/Duathlon. 111 athletes competed in total for the event as Nigel Bosch and Traci Ostendorf finished as overall winners for their gender groups.

Bosch, 25, came down from South Bend to swim, bike and run his way to a final time of 1:07:11.1. Ostendorf, 47, Indianapolis, finished with a time of 1:19:33.4.

Remaining first place finishers in the triathlon were Gene Crusie (male master winner), Stephanie Wilson (female master winner), William Fritsch (male 15-19), Cameron Fawley (male 20-24), Millicent Cripe (female 20-24), James Bartlett (male 25-29), Carly Watson (female 25-29), Drew Conley (male 30-34), Ashley Anglin (female 30-34), Ben Christoffel (male 35-39), Susan Potter (female 35-39), Charles Hurley (male 40-44), Beth Russo (female 40-44), Thaddeus Borchers (male 45-49), Joann Kennedy (female 45-49), John White (male 50-54), Resia Rinker (female 50-54), Ken St. John male (55-59), Eileen Richards (female 55-59), Justin Frericks (male 60-64) and Joe Dervin (male 70-74).

In the duathlon Ronald Wilkinson and Regina Wu took overall honors for their gender groups. The 61-year old Wilkinson hales from Rochester and finished with a time of 1:36:20.1. Wu, a 26-year old Syracuse resident, finished with a time of 2:10:49.5. Age group winners were Ryan Bauer (male 25-29) and Alexander Houze (male 35-39).

Renee Hood finished as the top Athena with a time of 1:45:54.1 and Tim Stumpf used his time of 1:14:16.2 to place as the top Clydesdale.

The relay team “Giving it a Tri” finished with a time of 1:16:34.1. The team was made up of Sean Frick (swim), Gregory Frick (bike) and Todd Rothi (run). Melissa Rush and Susan Rush took top duathlon relay honors with a time of 1:46:10.9.

There were five waves of athletes in total, the fifth wave was made up of members of myTEAM TRIUMPH. My Team Triumph “is an athletic ride-along program created for children, teens, adults and veterans with disabilities who would normally not be able to experience endurance events such as triathlons or road races.”

Three teams total competed for My Team Triumph for ride-along teammates Mason Metzger, Jacob Brock and Anjali Bass.

The members of the relay teams of three that compete with the athletes with disabilities are called “angels.” The angels for Metzger’s team were Ross Armey, Steven Kuhn and Roland Ousley. Brock’s angels were Justin Smith, Barb Martz and Krista Nicholson. Bass’ angels were Andy Bass, Steve Knoff and Stacey Anderson. The angels wore shirts that read “My hero always beats me by a second.”

Metzger’s team came in first for the division with a time of 1:42:23.1.