ST. AUGUSTINE - Middleburg and Keystone Heights high school cross country and track athletes turned in solid performances at the Game On St. Augustine Triathlon and Duathlon on Sunday, July 26.

The event included four students and one coach from Clay County.

"We didn't get much more than some swimming in a lake in Keystone Heights and some pool swimming at the church," said Keystone Heights track and cross country coach Chris Thomas, who showed up despite a four-day illness. He competed in the run-bike duathlon, while Keystone Heights senior athlete Ryder Thomas, who plays cross country, soccer and track, tackled the ocean maelstrom off Vilano Beach as part of the quarter-mile swim, 12-mile bike ride and a sprint. "Running is our thing and Ryder should do well once he gets to the run."

Prophetic as are most dads, Ryder blasted away when he did eventually get back to the transition area after a quarter mile swim and 11 mile back to tackle the 3.1-mile run.

"I think I forgot everything I've ever learned about swimming out there," Ryder said. "I had my head out of the water the whole way but got on the bike and settled down a bit. Once on the run, I was in my element."

For his day, Ryder finished in 47th place with a total time of 1 hour, 12 minutes and 11 seconds, with a swim time of 7:21, a bike split of 37:30 (19.9 mph) and a run split of 22:30 (7:14 a mile).

Ryder finished fourth overall in his Male 15-19 age group, but, more impressively, went from 42nd athlete out from bike transition to seventh best man after the run. In overall standings, including females, Ryders' run had him finish eighth overall after leaving the bike transition in 70th place.

"I biked hard, got my breathing under control, then attacked the run," Ryder said. "I think I passed like 20-30 runners, so it wasn't too bad."

For Chris, the duathlon (mile run, 12-mile bike and 3.5-mile run) turned into a run/walk after his body didn't reacting well to the heat of the day. Chris finished 14th of 20 duathlon athletes with a time of 1:37:09 with a one mile start time of 8:39, a bike split of 43:30 (15.1 mph) and a final 3.1 mile run with a split of 41:57.

One side note was that the bicycles for both Thomases were not of the same caliber of the machines around them on the course.

"I pulled that old TREK out of the garage after about 20 years in there," Chris said. "I didn't know if all the gears were even going to work."

Ryder had a much newer FUJI bike.

Winner in the duathlon was Owen Shott in 52:51. Shott is a local cycling icon with many trophies for bike racing and time trials with a 6:12 first mile run, a 26.0 mph bike split and a final 19:55 5K for a 6:24 a mile pace.

Chris, the third-place finisher was a 50-54 athlete, was declared age group champion as top three finishers were not eligible for age group awards.

For Middleburg, cross country and track standouts Adam Ruoss, Rowen Avery and Lauren Rosset all got Top 3 finishes in their age groups in the sprint triathlon, with Ruoss leading a 2-3-4 finish in the 15-19 sprint triathlon. Avery and Ryder finished behind him. Rosset, in the Women's 15-19 finished second by just two minutes.

Ruoss had the top time in the sprint triathlon at 52:25. He finished 17th overall and second in his age group with a 1:06:15 time. Ruoss swam the quarter mile in 7:46, biked at 33:55 (22.1 mph) and ran the 5K in 21:16.

In the age group, Mason Marello, of Jacksonville, won with a 1:02:45 time.

For Avery, who was third behind Ruoss and 28th overall, finished in 1:09:06 with a 7:08 swim split, a 33:51 bike split (22.1 mph) and a 24:00 run split (7:43).

In between her two men running teammates, Rosset came in at 25th overall and second place in her 15-19 age group with a 1:08:32 time. The winner finished at 1:04:40.

Rosset, who will be a sophomore at Middleburg High, had the best swim of the Clay County quartet with at 6:40. She also had a 36:06 bike split (20.7MPH) and a 23:05 run split (7:26).

Also from the Clay County area, Fleming Island's Enrico Montero finished second in the 20-24 sprint triathlon in 1:08:40; Orange Park's Thomas Crawford, also in 20-24, was eighth in 1:20:33.

In 25-29, Blake Sartain, of Green Cove Springs, finished fourth in 1:21:23.

In female 30-35, Green Cove springs' Mary Elizabeth King finished eighth in 1:40:02.

In the men's 55-59, Orange Park's Michael Williams finished seventh in 1:22:26.

There were 129 finishers in the sprint triathlon.

In the sprint duathlon, Ashley Jasmin, of Green Cove Springs, was 13th in 1:37:09, and Cecilia Larsen, of Green Cove Springs, was 17th in 1:38:13.

There were 20 athletes in the spring duathlon.

In the Olympic distance triathlon (mile swim, 24.8-mile bike and 6.2-mile run), Fleming Island's Brian Thomas finished fifth in 45-49 in 2:58:00, with Orange Park's Rabi Singh finishing sixth in 50-54 in 2:50:12.

In the Olympic Duathlon (mile run, 24.8-mile bike, 6.2-mile run), Middleburg's Mateus Costa finished fourth overall of 13 athletes in 2:24:34 to win the Master's Champion award.