10th Annual Osprey Sprint Triathlon Raises $43K

BERLIN - More than 400 athletes from across the region competed in the 10th Annual Osprey Sprint Triathlon at Public Landing Saturday, Oct. 3 to benefit the Maryland Coastal Bays Foundation.

The $75 entrance fee and generous local sponsorships helped raise more than $43,000, which will be used for restoration, monitoring and education in the coastal bays watershed. Despite the cloudy and threatening weather, hundreds of spectators gathered to cheer on racers during the half-mile swim in Chincoteague Bay, the 15.2-mile bike course and the 3.1-mile run on the roads surrounding the rural countryside of southern Worcester County.

This year's winners in the male category were 42-year-old Kent Buckson of Rehoboth Beach, who finished first with a time of 1:10:01.  Patrick Serfass, 31 of Washington, DC finished second 1:10:28 , followed by Steve Meininger, 40, of Clarksville, Md with a time of 1:11:14.           

In the women's category, Krista Schultz, 31, finished first with a time of 1:20:26, followed by second place winner Rebecca Durivage-jac, 25, of Baltimore, with a time of 1:26:16. Melissa Denault of Berlin, 42, took third place, crossing the finish line with a time of 1:28:12.  

The youngest competitors were Vivian Killian, 11, of Kensington, Md., who finished with a time of 2:33:21, Jason Wuertz, 12, of Chesapeake, Va., who finished at 2:12:11, and Joshua Wuertz, 13, also of Chesapeake, Va., who crossed the finish line with a time of 2:22:46.        

The oldest competitors were 70-year-old John Mulflur of Easton, who came in at 1:48:04; 73-year-old Robert Healy of Stevensville, Md. who finished at 1:48:37; Joe Marhoefer, 73, of Reston, Va., who crossed the finish line at 2:00:33; and Huston Bud Schlosser, 77, of Dover, Pa., who finished with a time of 2:54:30.