Perez, Morrison top XTERRA Sport

While the pros took top honors in the 2006 XTERRA Saipan Championships, Kevin Perez of Guam and Saipan’s Heather Morrison were able to grab a share of the spotlight as the two were the first male and female finishers of the XTERRA Sport competition on Saturday.

Perez and Morrison conquered the 750-meter swim, 20-kilometer bike, and 5-km run ahead of everyone in their division to claim glory.

Perez was the 13th male out of the water with a time of 20:02, but made up ground with a strong bike leg as his time of 1:28:38 was second best. He then had the fourth best run with a time of 21:46 to finish strong.

With his consistency, Perez, who also competed in the Sport last year, placed first overall with a time of 2:10:26.

Saipan’s Philip Pedernal took second place as he crossed the finish line in 2:22:00, while Leevin Camacho won third place with a time of 2:22:44.

Pedernal was strong in the water as he finished the swim in 15:15. He posted a respectable time on the bike (1:44:26) before capping his day with a time of 22:19 on the run.

For his part, Camacho was like a torpedo in the water with a swim time of 12:58. He then recorded times of 1:47:41 on the bike and 22:05 on the run.

Meanwhile, Morrison finished two minutes ahead of the next female finisher and was 10th overall with a time of 2:42:17. She had a respectable swim time (17:59), and tackled the bike course in 2:05:08 before smoking the run course with the second fastest time overall (19:10).

Emelie Papenburg was the second female finisher in 2:44:45 as she swam for 12:10, biked for 2:07:46, and ran for 24:49. She was followed by Carrie Fry, who finished in 2:56:13 for third place.

Other top male performers were John Douglas (2:26:35), Junji Kondo (2:27:26), J.F. Bader (2:38:02), Chris Linder (2:40:24) Edgardo Calumaya (2:40:31), and Greg Moretti (2:41:31).

Other top female finishers include Natasha Good (3:08:05), Nicole Chetwynd (3:46:39), Azuna Okamoto (3:47:35), and Yuko Nagamine (4:39:24).

A total of 23 individuals were able to finish the race.