Drake has a happy homecoming

St. Petersburg native Laura Drake is the top women's amateur.

By PETE YOUNG

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 1, 2000

ST. PETERSBURG -- The distractions were the hard part.

Everywhere she looked during the St. Anthony's Triathlon, Laura Drake saw memories. These were the roads she had trained on for years. This was the race she had competed in since 1990.

But the St. Petersburg native, who now lives in Atlanta, never had won the amateur race -- until Sunday. Surging ahead on the run, Drake, three times an age-group winner, captured her first overall title in 2 hours, 8 minutes, 25 seconds.

In the men's race, Brian Fleischmann, 21, a member of the cross-country team at Florida State, blitzed the field on the run to win by three minutes in 1:54:24.

But the day belonged to Drake. The 31-year-old, who specializes in the Ironman distance (2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, 26.2-mile run), had enough speed for the Olympic/international distance (.9-mile swim, 24.8-mile bike and 6.2-mile run) to earn the win.

"This is incredible. I've always wanted to be top amateur, and I've never done it," said Drake, who was second in 1996 and missed the race last year with a hip injury. "This is my hometown. I know every street, every pothole, every corner, everything.

"It's hard to stay focused during the race because as I'm going down the course I'm thinking, "Oh, this is where I broke my derailleur for the first time in my whole life. ... I was like, "Focus, focus, every second counts.' "

Complicating matters for everyone was the multiple-wave start. With the 1,571 individuals and 106 teams (record totals) spread out over 10 five-minute intervals at the start, it was difficult to determine who was winning.

Drake, who was in the sixth wave (women ages 15-34), saw one woman who appeared to be about her age ahead at the start of the run.

"I could see this one girl (Kasey Carroll-Basso), and from what I could guess, she had about a minute on me," said Drake, who moved to Atlanta last fall to train. "I caught her with about a half-mile, maybe three-quarters of a mile to go."

Carroll-Basso, 30, of Lutz, finished 35 seconds behind in 2:09:00. A swim specialist, Carroll-Basso placed 12th in her age group at the Hawaii Ironman last year. Amity Hall, 28, a former swimmer at California who lives in New York City, was third in 2:09:53.

At the start of the run, Drake drew inspiration from the P.A. announcer.

"I knew I had some time to make up, and I heard him say, "If anyone can make up time on the run it's Laura Drake,' " Drake said. "I was like, "Okay, I don't want to let anybody down.' "

Fleischmann, who placed third last year, didn't find out he was the winner for several hours.

"I didn't know until I got (to the awards ceremony) and saw the results," Fleischmann said. "(On the run) I passed (third-place finisher) Marty Gaal and (second-place) Dan Domingo. I was real happy at the finish because I knew I had a good race and that I won my age group. That was my goal."

Originally from Jacksonville and a graduate of Stanton Prep, Fleischmann trains with Domingo, who lives near Jacksonville in Atlantic Beach.

"I thought (Domingo) would win the race. He's a real good athlete," said Fleischmann, who was on the FSU swim team his freshman year and will be a senior this fall. "But I have a lot of confidence in my running. ... I've been training real hard. I felt pretty strong on the bike lately.

"This is probably one of the best, if not the best, race that I've had."

Fleischmann's time was the third-best in the event's 17 years. Another person he regularly trains with, Greg Carr of Jacksonville Beach, placed eighth in 2:01:49. The top local finisher was John Woodruff of St. Petersburg in 2:02:26.

Jeff Cuddeback, 41, of Longwood was the Masters (40-and-over) winner in 1:59:13, which placed him fourth overall. Linda Musante, 46, of Tampa was the women's Masters winner in 2:20:49.

Charlotte Paganini, 17, of Clearwater, a swimmer and runner for Palm Harbor University, won the women's 15-19 age group in 2:38:30.

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