Stissing Sprint has second successful year

PINE PLAINS — The second annual Stissing Sprint Triathlon was held Saturday, July 2.More than 100 athletes ranging from age 16 to 69 competed in the three-part race. Participants came from as far away as Virginia and Washington, D.C., to participate.Michael Sikorski of New York City won this year with a time of 1:21:5.59. He placed fifth last year.Sikorski ran track and cross-country in high school and college, but switched to competing in triathlons after an injury. He trains for triathlons from spring to fall, but prefers playing ice hockey during the winter.He found the race last year by searching the Internet for triathlons occurring during the July 4 holiday weekend. He said that he enjoys the area and the escape from the city and plans to enter again next year.Bruce Cadenhead of Dobbs Ferry, who also has a house in Pine Plains, was the first to cross the finish line, but because the participants were started in multiple waves, he took second place. He also placed second last year after crossing the finish line first.Third place went to Craig Hills of Millerton.Shawn Jackson of Newburgh won the Stissing Sprint Triathlon last year, but placed fourth this year. He said he was focusing on training for other larger races this year, so he didn’t take this race as seriously and focused instead on enjoying a local race.Several local residents competed in the race. Among them were Eddie Fishman of Wassaic, who placed 25th, Karena Frenzel of Pine Plains, who placed 63rd, Jesse Capellaro of Millerton, who placed 68th, Kyle Sundberg of Pine Plains, who placed 70th, Miles Braffett of Hillsdale, who placed 74th, Steven Patterson of Pine Plains, who placed 79th, and Tracy Kaufman of Salisbury, Conn., who placed 85th.Sixteen-year-old Capellaro was the youngest competitor in this year’s race. He was the only local high school student to compete.Capellaro ran his first independent triathlon last year in Danbury, Conn. He has competed in two other triathlons as part of a team.Capellaro, who runs on the Webutuck track team, considers running to be his strongest of the three triathlon sports and considers swimming to be his weakest.He said that finishing the race gave him a sense of personal accomplishment. He said that he focused more on competing against himself to try to beat his personal records instead of trying to beat other competitors.His personal record for a 5-kilometer (3.1-mile) run is 17 minutes, 59 seconds. The triathlon’s run, which was the last segment of the race, was 3.7 miles, which he finished in roughly 20 minutes.The Stissing Sprint Triathlon 2011 had a half--mile swim followed by a 16-mile bike ride and a 3.7-mile run. The participants were overwhelmingly in agreement about the enjoyment of the race due to the beautiful scenic views, but many noted that the race was difficult due to the long swimming segment and the hilly biking course.More information about the race can be found at www.stissingsprint.com.