Luma leads memorable day for locals at Ironman

SANDUSKY — Victoria Luma has a torn left calf muscle, but that wasn't going to stop her from racing at home. For the second consecutive year, Luma was the fastest-finishing local individual at the Ironman 70.3 Ohio among more than 50 entrants from the area. And despite the injury, Luma crossed the line 13 minutes faster (4:55.28) to finish as the ninth-place woman in the entire competition. "If it's in my hometown, I'll be here every year and try to be the first finisher," Luma said. Luma, who swam but didn't run at Margaretta, tore her calf in February. "Just running too much," Luma said of getting injured. "I felt it the last two miles of the run, so not too bad… I took a few weeks off from running to try to heal it, and it worked, but it's still torn." She's hooked on these events now, ever since she joined the triathlon club at the University of Akron. Luma ran in the full Ironman (140.6 miles) in Ireland late last year, and she's signed up for the full distance event in Arizona later this year. "(Ireland) was a beautiful course, but tough," Luma said. "Lots of hills over there, but it was a great race, can't complain." On Sunday, it was all about another race at home. The bike course goes within a mile of her house in Castalia. Luma, 26, swam the 1.2 miles in 31:32, biked the 56 miles in 2:34:29 and ran the half marathon in 1:44:34. "The swim was really good this year," Luma said. "The bike course was great as always, lots of support on the ride from my hometown." Benjamin Hastings, a 1988 Edison High School graduate who lives in Berlin Heights, was the quickest individual male, coming across in 5:08.43. That was good for 13th out of 122 competitors in the men's 50-54 age group. Christian Maple, a St. Mary Central Catholic alum, finished in 5:17.42, which was 17th out of 83 in the 18-24 age range. Cori Lively Dike, a 2001 Huron graduate and volleyball state champion, had the best age group finish of the remaining local competitors. Dike was sixth out of 60 in the female 40-44 bracket. "I just wanted to show my kids to set a goal and work hard and do it," Dike said. Essentially all of Dike's running training happens with a stroller in front of her — she's the mother of five kids ranging from 1 to 14. How was it running without the stroller? "Oh, it's way easier," she said with a laugh. Dike hadn't competed in an event like this in nearly a decade, but this gave her a chance to do it in front of her kids. "I just hope they're proud of me," Dike said. "Just to know in life that if you set a goal, work hard and don't stop and just achieve it." It was also a special day for Sandusky graduate Brock Cremean, who came across the line in 5:24:35. Cremean was a state-qualifying swimmer for the Blue Streaks. "Normally we're not allowed to swim out here, so it's kind of neat," Cremean said. The full circle moment for Cremean came at the finish. He grew up further south on Columbus Avenue from where the finish line was, and his training runs growing up normally consisted of running north on his street toward the bay. On Sunday, he got to retrace a few of those steps for the second consecutive year in this event. "It's kind of unique to do that as part of a race," Cremean said. Justin Kaetzel of Sandusky was the next local finisher in 5:36:17. Laura Cobb made it some strong local representation in the 40-44 female age group, coming in 11th there with a time of 5:36:41. Cobb added some tears to her day as she crossed the finish line. Waiting for her was the Perkins volleyball team. Cobb is a first-year assistant under new head coach Sam Wentz. "When I saw them, I started tearing up," Cobb said. "It's always emotional, but to have that, I had no idea. That was awesome." Cobb is an experienced triathlete who trains in the Cleveland Tri Club. "I started triathlons in 2010 when the Rev3 was here," Cobb said. "... I played volleyball in college at OU, and I wanted to stay in shape after that, which led into marathons and ultramarathons." Wentz offered Cobb the day off from volleyball camp on Monday, but Cobb was having none of it. Jonathan Smith of Sandusky raced in 5:46:11. Vermilion's Daniel Smith was next in 5:51:48, good for 26th out of 76 in the men's 55-59 age range. Libby White from Huron was one of the fastest competitors in her bracket, coming in 14th of 45 for women 35-39 in a time of 5:54:59. Next through was Kacie Geretz, also from Huron, in 5:57.29. Huron's Jane Letterhos was soon behind in 5:58:59, good for 17th out of 54 in the female 45-49 range. Brian Hackenburg of Sandusky came next in 6:00:16, making him 49th out of 119 in the male 45-49 group. Jonathan Suter, a Norwalk High School graduate who also competed at Heidelberg, finished in 6:03:25. Bellevue teacher and cross country coach Lee Booze followed soon after in 6:04:02. Booze, who had been a volunteer last year who got the itch to do the event this year, loved it. "I am absolutely glad I did it," Booze said. Booze's son, Christian, was one of the kayak volunteers during the swim portion, so they got to wave at each other early in the race. Hannah Cebull, who ran cross country at Vermilion, made it another local finisher when she crossed the line in 6:17:53. Doug Green of Berlin Heights completed the event in 6:18:54. Tom Dusza of Huron followed behind in 6:20.55. Caden Cooper, the former pitching ace at Edison, finished in 6:22:48. Corey Hasel of Huron was right behind in 6:22:52. Then it was Sandusky's Rachel Lublow in 6:28:43, placing her in the top half of the female 25-29 bracket. Sandusky's Beth Werling came across the line in 6:29:39. Thomas Yourkiewicz of Huron was next in 6:37:58. Another Huronite, Bill Orshoski, finished in 6:52:47. Nathanael Kaczor of Norwalk completed the race, too, in 7:25:01. Huron's Raffaele Ruta followed in 7:29:31. James Attinger from Vickery finished the course in 7:36:06. Huron's Tara Dunlap made it to the line, as well, in 7:38:08. Also finishing the race were Sandusky's Leslie Murray, Huron's John Adams, Milan's Larry Fletcher, Sandusky's Roger Binette and Huron's Bradley Dominy. In addition to all the local finishers, more than 1,400 others crossed the finish line at the Ironman 70.3 Ohio. For this group, it was just a little more special. They knew the streets and the views and the buildings that lined the course. For some, it was their first time, and for others, just one stop on their triathlon journey. But for all the local finishers, it was a day they wouldn't soon forget. "The community support was phenomenal," Booze said. "The people kept you going. When you don't want to run anymore, the people on the street, it's like the whole city was here. That was a lot of fun. I'm so glad I got to be a part of it."