Just being out on the course for Sunday morning’s Mattapoisett Lions Club Triathlon was a victory for Emily Tato, and the 32-year-old from Somerville via northern New Jersey was openly grateful to 17-year-old Spanish exchange student Aner Larreategi for staying with her and pushing her on route to a first-place finish among women and second overall.
“This guy, I don’t think I would have enjoyed this race at all if he wasn’t running next to me,” said Tato, giving Larreategi a hug.
Larreategi even passed Tato at one point, but the former Bates College swimming star finished exactly where she started, at the front of the line.
Tato was among the first three to sprint into Mattapoisett Harbor waters to kick off the triathlon with a 3:39, quarter-mile swim (second only to Larreategi’s 3:36) before a 25:54, 10-mile bike (first woman, fourth overall) and a 19:43, 5 kilometer run (first woman, sixth overall) gave her the second-best overall finish at 50:57, three seconds ahead of Larreategi (51:00) and 1:04 behind overall winner Tony Delogne (49:43.)
“We feel like we got in a good effort, which was fun,” said Tato, a prolific and now-professional triathlon champion who had planned to compete Sunday in the Boston Triathlon before the USAT-sanctioned event was canceled by extreme heat. Tato had won age-group nationals in 2020 before contacting COVID-19, her lengthy bout with virus-related illnesses effectively canceling her past two competitive seasons.
Delogne, a 48-year-old native of Belgium who has spent most of his adult life in New England but is listed as residing in Fountain Hills, Arizona (outskirts of metro Phoenix), added to his own lengthy resume of victories by finishing first overall mainly on the strength of his 25:03 cycling performance.
Top Female event finishers: Swim – Tato 3:39; Bike – Tato 25:54; Run – Tato 19:43.
Top Male event finishers: Swim – Larreategi 3:36; Bike – Delogne 25:03; Run – Lachlan Bishop 17:22.
Female Age Group winners: 1-19 Eshe Stockton (age 11), Portsmouth, Rhode Island, 1:08:57; 20-24 Cailey Denoncourt (23), Newton, 1:04.42; 25-29 Melissa Nacar (25), New Bedford, 59:26; 30-34 Lindsay Leddy (32), Warwick, Rhode Island, 1:09:49; 35-39 Jillian Cioper (35), New Bedford, 1:03:03; 40-44 Anne Marie Almirol (44), Portsmouth, Rhode Island, 1:04:06; 45-49 Emily Mechem (46), Needham, 1:33:11; 50-54 Felicia Hwang (54), Providence, 1:07:07; 55-59 Heather Cronin (56), Plymouth, 1:11:25; 60-64 Mary Cass (61), Westport, 1:02:42; 65-69 Debra Holden (67), Barrington, Rhode Island, 1:20:12.
Male Age Group winners: 1-19 Lachlan Bishop (age 19), Providence, 56:25; 20-24 Mars Bishop (24), Naples, Florida, 56:41; 25-29 Ryan Fleischer (25), Cambridge, 53:25; 30-34 Michael Dandurand (32), Warwick, Rhode Island, 59:20; 35-39 Kristof Redei (39), Medford, 55:15; 40-44 Kyle Thetonia (40), Lakeville, 55:50; 45-49 Kenneth Rampino (49), Providence, 53:34; 50-54 Ari Schwartz (52), Sharon, 1:00:26; 55-59 Chuck Cormier (58), Dudley, 58:24; 60-64 Doug Shattuck (60), Barrington, Rhode Island, 56:55; 65-69 Bob Lamothe (69), Warwick, Rhode Island, 59:50; 70-over Don Cuddy (70), Mattapoisett, 1:14:24.
Top 20 Female tri-town finishers: 23. Erica Renwick (age 27), Marion, 1:12:33; 25. Mikaela Demanche (25), Rochester, 1:12:48.
Top 25 Male Tri-Town finishers: 19. William Stark (age 20), Mattapoisett, 1:00:54; 23. Thomas Bozzo (52), Mattapoisett, 1:01:35.
Top Three Relay finishers: 1. Team Young, 53:28; 2. Pw3, 56:52; 3. Team Cooper, 1:02:14.