Molina Holds Off New Wave

Despite the ever-increasing presence of younger and better-trained athletes, 29-year-old Scott Molina, one of the grand-daddies of triathlon, made it known Sunday that he is not yet ready to yield.

Molina--who, as one of the sport’s “Big Four,” has been a dominant factor since 1982--won his fourth San Diego Bud Light Triathlon in 1 hour 49 minutes 2 seconds.

But while Molina proved that at least one of triathlon’s pioneers can still be a force, the other story was the emergence of two newcomers.

One, Andrew Carlson, made the San Diego Triathlon his first as a pro. And he didn’t waste any time making his mark, surprising even the public address announcer by finishing second. As Carlson finished in 1:49:16, just 14 seconds behind Molina, the announcer roared, “I don’t even know who this guy is, and I know all the top runners.”

For the record, Carlson is a 22-year-old valet at the Ritz-Carlton in Laguna Beach, who is planning a move to Del Mar this week.

In third (1:49:46) was Miles Stewart of Surfers Paradise, Australia. At 18, he figures to be a factor for years to come.

Pre-race favorite and defending champion Mike Pigg decided at the last minute to pull out in an effort to prepare for the Ironman in October.

Another non-factor was Scott Tinley, a Del Mar resident and two-time champion. Tinley entered, but dropped back soon after the start of the bike phase.

The favorite in the women’s race also failed to show; the absence of Paula Newby-Fraser went unexplained. Sylviane Puntous ran away for a victory in 2:02:10. Colleen Cannon was 30 seconds behind in second and Patricia Puntous, Sylviane’s identical twin, was third in 2:04:00.

It was the fourth time this year that Sylviane and Cannon have finished one-two in a United States Triathlon Series race.

While the top three women finishers were laughing and talking about old times afterward, the top three men were just trying to get to know one another.

That process actually started earlier, at least for Molina and Carlson, toward the end of the finishing 10-kilometer run.

At the foot of the last hill, Molina decided to test his surprise opponent.

“I didn’t know how well Andrew could run,” said Molina, of Boulder, Colo. “So I decided to go all out and see what happens.”

What Molina found was simply that he had more left as he opened a small lead.

The victory was anything but old hat to Molina, a four-time winner of the USTS National Championship.

“It’s just so hard to win because there are so many good guys now,” Molina said. “Winning means a lot more now, I think.”

The leader after the 1.5-kilometer ocean swim was Garrett McCarthy, and the leader after the 40-kilometer bike ride was Encinitas’ Mark Montgomery. Neither finished in the top 10.

Carlson came out of the water in second at 18:35 to McCarthy’s 18:32. Stewart and Molina were right behind Carlson at 18:37 and 18:38.

Stewart was considered the best cycler and was expected to pull away in that phase. But he instead found himself among a pack of eight jousting for the lead throughout.

When the riders reached the transition area, Stewart was fourth, seven seconds ahead of Molina and 11 ahead of Carlson.

So it came down to the run.

“(Midway through), Andrew looked pretty confident and I knew Miles was right behind, so it was going to go down to the end,” Molina said.

It went down, in fact, to that last hill, where Molina’s test proved too much for the rookie.