Two new champions emerged at Sunday's St. Anthony's Triathlon, one returning after a decade-long absence and the other earning redemption after a year derailed by injury.
Sam Appleton won the men's professional race in his first St. Anthony's start since 2016, when he finished eighth. Annie Fuller took the women's professional title after an aggravation of a previous foot injury cut short her 2025 season and a slipped disc hampered her training in the months leading up to Sunday.
This was the first St. Anthony’s title for each athlete.
The 43rd edition of the event drew about 3,400 athletes across Sunday's Olympic and Sprint races and Saturday's Meek & Mighty Triathlon for youth and novice adults. The pros shared the same course as weekend warriors who also had compelling stories to share.
"We had great weather throughout the weekend and wonderful athletes testing their limits," said St. Anthony's Triathlon Race Director Patrick McGee. "We're so proud to present this event each year and we couldn't do it without the support of our volunteers and the community."
Pros on the men’s side said what brought them back was something the rest of the sport rarely offers: a pro Olympic-distance race run under non-draft rules, in which cyclists must keep a set distance from each other rather than ride in tactical packs.
"This race is unique. It's one of the few, if any of its kind," said Greg Harper, who finished second in the men's race. "It has to keep going."
For Appleton, an Australian based in Boulder, Colo., the format was the draw. He has more than 15 IRONMAN 70.3 wins and won IRONMAN Australia in 2024 — long-course races where non-draft is the standard. He said he wouldn't have come if drafting had been allowed.
"It was just a seamless transition for me to be here," Appleton said. He said he should have thought about returning sooner and plans to come back next year.
Appleton finished in 1:44:36, seven seconds ahead of Harper at 1:44:43 and 47 seconds in front of two-time defending champion Marc Dubrick at 1:45:23.
Both Dubrick and 2025 women's champion Grace Alexander, who finished third Sunday, acknowledged that pro fields shift year to year and that who shows up plays a major role in the outcome.
Fuller's win carried a heavier weight. She had foot surgery in 2024 and raced here last year, finishing fourth, but the previous injury flared up afterward. She raced once more before shelving the rest of her 2025 season. In recent months, a slipped disc suffered while lifting weights cut deeply into her training. She crossed the line with a 101-degree core temperature.
"Battling so many injuries and not really training much made this win all the more rewarding," Fuller said. "If it had gone on another mile or so, I would have faltered."
She finished in 1:57:16, ahead of two-time Canadian Olympian Amélie Kretz at 1:58:30 and Alexander at 1:59:14.
The pros weren't the only stories on the course.
Trifon Houvardas lost his brother Anthony in November. He started working out to stay healthy, and at Christmas his family gave him an entry to the St. Anthony's Triathlon. He trained, posted videos and the videos pulled in family and friends who wanted to join him. By Sunday, 24 of them had signed up. They called themselves Team Tony.
Antony Mascovich also was back for his second straight St. Anthony's event. The 41 year old from the Tampa Bay area weighed more than 370 pounds before gastric sleeve surgery at BayCare's St. Anthony's Hospital in 2022. He's now 210, less than he weighed wrestling in high school. After completing the Sprint last year, he stepped up to the Olympic distance on Sunday.
"It was super fun to be out there. I'm really glad I did it," Mascovich said. "The surgery 100% helped me get to this point. I don't know if it would have been possible for me. You never say never. But it definitely was instrumental in helping me get to this point."
Mascovich said he is planning to come back next year. And he hopes to race with his father who had heart surgery on Thursday. "If he's healthy, we'll do it together,” he said. “Either way, I'm going to try to come back next year."
Registration for the 44th St. Anthony’s Triathlon will begin soon.
