Potts slips to 11th at triathlon worlds

Andy Potts led a group of Colorado Springs residents with an 11th-place finish today at the Triathlon World Championships in Hamburg, Germany.

Potts, 30, completed the 0.9-mile swim, 24-mile bike ride and 6-mile run in 1 hour, 44 minutes, 31 seconds, less than 90 seconds off the pace of winner Daniel Unger of Germany.

He posted the top swim time at 17:02 and was among the front of the pack during the run portion. But he slowly fell behind and couldn’t recover.

“It was a hard day,” said Potts, who made his fourth appearance at the world championships. “My No. 1 priority on the run was to stay in contact with the lead group and run tough and hold on for as long as possible. I was hoping my legs would have more juice in them on the second and third laps.”

Matt Reed (1:44:55) was the only other U.S. triathlete in the top 20, finishing in 14th place. Tim O’Donnell (1:46:35) finished in 43rd place and Joe Umphenour (1:48:12) took 52nd place.

Potts qualified for the 2008 Beijing Games by winning a gold medal at the Pan American Games in July. The last Olympic qualifier is the 2008 world championships, which will be held in June in Vancouver.

OTC resident wins another judo title

Olympic Training Center resident Anna Palmer won her weight class in a ladder tournament of the Fall Classic National Championships in Coral Springs, Fla.

Palmer defeated five-time national champion Carrie Chandler twice to capture the title in the women’s 125-pound division. The championship match against Chandler was a draw, and Palmer won on a unanimous referees’ decision.

“I couldn’t be happier,” Palmer said. “I keep working harder, and it keeps paying off, so it encourages me more for the future. It was a really big win, and I think this is really good progress for my career.”

On Saturday, Palmer won the women’s 114-pound division of the Fall Classic. She’s a virtual lock to make the U.S. Olympic team trials, scheduled for June 13-14, 2008, in Las Vegas.