Welch, Montgomery Win Triathlon, New Wheels

MISSION VIEJO —  It was hardly the classic victory celebration. No arms raised toward the heavens. No high fives. No thumbs up. But, in its own butt-over-tea-kettle way, it was appropriate.

Moments after he popped through the tape to win Sunday’s Mazda/Orange County Performing Arts Center Triathlon, all that was visible of Greg Welch was a pair of speedos and a pair of flailing legs. His head and torso were buried behind the seat of the Mazda Miata pace car that preceded him across the finish line.

“I was looking for the keys,” Welch said.

The lure of taking home one of those Miatas--the prize for winning the men’s and women’s elite division--attracted one of the strongest fields in triathlon history to Lake Mission Viejo. But some of those big names didn’t fare so well. Two-time winners Scott Tinley of Del Mar and Brad Kearns of Auburn, Calif., finished 18th and 22nd.

Welch, the 1990 world champion, was in showroom mint condition. He ran away from the field, finishing in 1 hour 50 minutes. His time was almost 30 seconds slower than Kearns’ course record, but a comfortable 31 seconds ahead of surprising second-place finisher Andrew MacMartin. MacMartin, 19, from Westmount, Canada, turned professional last year. Irvine’s Andrew Carlson was a distant third in 1:51.12.

Cardiff’s Carol Montgomery is also waiting for her new car keys. She held off former roommate Michellie Jones of San Diego to win the women’s elite division in 2:02.11. Jones crossed the line at 2:02.50. Erin Baker of Boulder, Colo., was third (2:03.30).

Welch, formerly of Bangor, Australia, and now living in Encinitas, caught and passed MacMartin at the three-mile mark of the run. He looked back plenty, but never relinquished the lead in the Olympic-class event, which consists of a 1,500-meter swim, a 40-kilometer cycle ride and a 10K run.

“This is the most prestigious short-course race in the U.S. and I just had to win this bloody race,” Welch said. “I treated it like a world championship. I was on a mission. And I told my manager this morning that I hadn’t been this nervous since the (Hawaii) Ironman.

“It was the biggest race of the year for me and I came in really fit.”

If there was any doubt about that before the horn blast that sent the competitors splashing into the lake, it was long gone by the time Welch loped across the finish line. At least a dozen competitors left the water before him and he was not among the first group to leave the transition area after the cycling portion of the race. But he started making up ground the minute he hit the pavement.

“I had to make them work, so I really pushed going up the hills and eased off a bit going down,” Welch said. “I had to make sure I at least looked like I was feeling good when I passed them.”

Clearly, the intended impression was left on Carlson and MacMartin.

“He was running free and easy,” said Carlson, a former swimmer with the Mission Viejo Nadadores. “He looked strong.”

MacMartin said: “I was running sub-five-minute miles and Greg just went right by me. I heard that between Miles 2 and 3, he went under 4:30. And these guys do this 30 times a year. I’m just beginning to realize what that takes mentally.”

Montgomery, a member of the Canadian national cross-country team, said some of her training in the hills near Vancouver paid off Sunday. After running side-by-side with Jones for the first 3 1/2 miles, she made her move on a long, steady upgrade.

“Michellie has a little better kick than me so I knew I had to drop her before we got to the straightaway before the finish,” Montgomery said. “I knew when I was able to stick with the leaders during the cycling that I’d have a good chance to finish in the top three.”

Montgomery had a 50-second lead by the end of that 1 1/2-mile hill and Jones was able to shave off only 11 seconds of the margin in the home stretch.

“I held on with her as long as possible, the two of us were pulling each other through,” Jones said. “Then everything just sort of caught up with me.”

Montgomery said she and Jones did not say a word to each other until after the race.

“I was too tired to talk,” Montgomery said, smiling.

Maybe she’ll take her buddy for a ride in her new convertible and they can chat.