WATERLOO -- A field of 180 competitors ranging in age from 16 to 65 splashed into George Wyth Lake at 7:30 Sunday morning, kicking off the first annual Peregrine Charities Triathlon.

The Cedar Valley's inaugural USA Triathlon-sanctioned event ran without a hitch and received several rave reviews on a cool, overcast day.

"It went great for a first year," overall winner Daniel Bretscher said. "A lot of times there's lots of flaws and little things, but this went pretty flawless all day. It was enjoyable."

The Greencastle, Ind., native jumped out to an early lead by completing the mile swim in 20:01. He then biked the 22-mile course in 51:06 before finishing with a 33:59 six-mile run for an overall time of 1:45:52 at George Wyth State Park.

The victory is Bretscher's 19th overall and seventh in his first season as a professional. The 25-year-old will continue his race schedule next week in Texas before competing in the Foster Grant Ironman World Championships Nov. 8 in Clearwater, Fla.

Bretscher was followed by Iowa State student and Cedar Falls native Patrick Davis in 1:50:58. Jeremy Davis finished third in 1:57:44.

Sarah Grunner of Wheaton, Ill., was the top female finisher in 2:03:54. The 36-year-old edged runner-up Kortney Haag by nearly one minute.

"I felt really strong," Grunner said. "It's my last race of the season so I was rested up and had fun with it.

"The running patch was beautiful with it being all wooded and tree-lined. Even if it was sunny, it would have been a nice, cool course."

Several Cedar Valley natives returned home to participate in the triathlon, including former Waterloo West and Northern Iowa distance runner Emily (Shoopman) DeWald. Now a teacher and road racer in Bloomington, Ill., triathlons are among DeWald's most recent competitive endeavors.

"I was so excited all week," said DeWald, who finished fifth in 2:07:00 "I've run on these trails hundreds of times, and I couldn't wait for it.

"As far as running, I'm never going to be as fast as I was in college. Triathlons are exciting for me in that I can have other things to improve."

The event was the culmination of more than 10 months of planning. Peregrine Charities' board of directors chose to conduct the triathlon in order to raise funds and awareness for children who are fighting medical adversity.

"It's not our intention to raise a lot of money with this. It's more to raise awareness and the need for more research into juvenile diseases," Peregrine Charities founder Russell Wasendorf said of the event, which raised more than 50,000. "One of the things that has been proven time and time again is once Iowans become aware of the problem, they deal with it."

Wasendorf believed the Waterloo venue, highlighted by 75-acre George Wyth Lake, along with highway access for biking and running paths was a perfect fit.

USAT certified race directors Amber Wasendorf and Maria Benham were each satisfied with the turnout, Along with the 107 competitors, there were an estimated 100 volunteers to make sure everything ran smoothly.

"For our first race, we were told if you get 50 that's a good number," Amber Wasendorf said. "I, of course, had a pie in the sky number of much higher than what we had today, but I think after the feedback we received from athletes and officials we're going to be able to achieve really high numbers in the future."

"We couldn't be more pleased," Benham added. "It was a safe race, an enjoyable race and we're looking forward to next year."

Next year's event is slated to take placed Sunday, Sept. 27 at George Wyth State Park.

HOW THEY FINISHED

NOVICE MALE -- 1. Daniel Bretscher (Greencastle, Ind.) 1:45:52; 2. Patrick Davis (Ames) 1:50:58; 3. Jeremy Davis (Ames) 1:57:44; 4. Patrick Chalmers (Barrington, Ill.) 1:59:58; 5. Michael Luebbers (Shell Rock) 2:13:51.

NOVICE FEMALE -- 1. Sarah Grunner (Wheaton, Ill.) 2:03:54; 2. Kortney Haag (New Hope. Minn.) 2:04:48; 3. Janet McCullough (Waverly) 2:05:44; 4. Morgan Chaffin (Omaha, Neb.) 2:05:50; 5. Emily DeWald (Bloomington, Ill.) 2:07:00.

ELITE MALE -- 1. Zachary Buxton (Cedar Falls) 2:22:12; 2. Dave McAnally (Chicago) 2:23:10; 3. Jaime Zarate (Cedar Falls) 2:26:54; 4. Mark Sickels (Indianola) 2:27:07; 5. Ben Bonanno (Des Moines) 2:33:08.

ELITE FEMALE -- 1. Faythe Stone-Ercko (Denver) 2:35:23; 2. Jill Vicker (Des Moines) 2:36:00; 3. Lori Gabel (Marion) 2:38:03; 4. Amber Karkosh (Toledo) 2:44:53; 5. Jamie Flanscha (Cedar Falls) 2:47:44.

CYLDESDALE MALE RESULTS -- 1. Eric Recker (Pella) 2:18:22; 2. Greg Bodeker (Cedar Rapids) 2:19:38; 3. Mark Warren (Waterloo) 2:24:19; 4. Scott Mohr (Urbandale) 2:26:00; 5. Aaron Marx (Hudson) 2:32:57.

ATHENA FEMALE RESULTS -- 1. Jennifer Bezrutczyk (Madison, Wisc.) 2:31:38.

MALE RELAY -- 1. Mixed Bag (Scott Holland, Dan Osterman, Scott Holland) 2:40:33; 2. One bourdon, one scotch (Matthew Lowe, Chad Purdy, Derrick Henry) 2:49:51; 3. 30 Republicrats (Jeff Flick, Josh Collins, Josh Collins) 2:57:56.

FEMALE RELAY ï½ 1. Bike Tech (Karen Johnson, Lynor Koch, Mary Steffensmeier) 2:29:40; 2. MWX Tri Chicks (Rosanne Lee , Kelly Erickson, Kelly Erickson) 2:42:07.

MIXED RELAY -- 1. 72 HBZ (Kelly Hackett, Mark Beltowski, Enrique Zarate) 2:16:36; 2. Two to Tri (Duane Staskal, Duane Staskal, Alisa Staskal) 2:19:32; 3. Great Plains (Trey Smith, Brittany Vogt, Ben Uphoff) 2:25:35; 4. Veni Vidi Vici (Mike Jenkins , David Pardoe , Carol Martin) 2:26:45; 5. Low Fat (Heather Cook , Dirk Cuypers , Kaye Hill) 2:29:29.