It was a perfect morning to get out and do something physical.

And that’s exactly what more than 200 people did at Lakeside Park in Big Lake Saturday.

It was the annual Big Lake Graniteman Triathlon, and athletes from ages 14 to 76, and from as far away as Florida, Arizona and Oregon gathered for the three-leg event that included a swim followed by a bike race and a run.

There were two different categories. the Sprint Division was a 0.33-mile swim, 14.45-mile bike ride and a 3.1-mile run.

The Olympic Division was a 0.9-mile swim, 24.83-mile bike ride and a 6.2-mile run.

Just before 8 a.m., all the contestants in the Olympic Division assembled just south of the swimming beach to get ready for the plunge into the lake - with hundreds of spectators lined up to watch and cheer.

A few moments later, the first wave of swimmers took off. Four minutes later the second wave was off. That continued until everyone in the division was in the water.

Just over 21 minutes later, the first swimmer emerged from the water and made his way to the bike area. He was followed by 79 more contestants in the division.

When the three-leg race was finally over, Nathan Lasselle, 21, of Maple Grove was the top finisher in the men’s Olympic Division. He crossed the finish line in 2:13:57. Lasalle’s time of 26:21 put him ninth after the swim. But he moved up in the standings with a time of 1:07:52 in the bike race. Then he had the fastest time in the run portion of the race at 37:38.

Noah Billings, 18, of Rochester wasn’t far behind in second. He crossed the line in 2:15:02. In third was Bryan Tinajero, 36, from St. Paul who finished in 2:18:06.

The top local finisher was John Kallemeyn, 39, of Big Lake, who took 18th overall in 2:42:18.

Katie Deregnier, 36, from Farmington was the top finisher in the women’s Olympic Division. She won by almost seven minutes in 2:27:55. Deregnier took the lead in the swim at 24:14 and never relinquished it. She had the fastest time in the bike race (1:17:26) and was second-fastest in the run at 7:09.   

Andrea Myers, 48, from Medicine Lake was second in 2:34:45. In third was Kimberly Lemay, 43, from Hudson, WI who finished in 2:35:24.

The top local finisher was Emily  Williams, 35, of Elk River who placed eighth in 3:00:22.

There were 162 finishers in the Sprint Division.

Anthony Hirschman, 44, of Plymouth took first for the men, finishing in 1:07:36. He did the swim portion in 11:02, which put him 11th overall. But he had the fastest bike time of 33:47 to give hime the lead, then held on with the third-fastest run time of  20:47.

David Alexander, 35, of Coraville, IA was second in 1:11:27. Josh Sell, 45, of Waconia took third in 1:11:45.

Nathan Overby, 44, of Big Lake was the top local finisher in 11th in 1:14:26.

Bette Rowley, 39, of Burnsville won the women’s Sprint Division in 1:13:00. Her time of 10:52 placed her fourth among women in the swim. She moved up to second with a time of 37:48 in the bike race, then took the lead with a time of 23:01 in the run.

Raychel Tong, 16, of  Minneapolis was second in 1:15:46.

Adeline Althaus-Kotila, 14, of Minneapolis took third in 1:20:12.

Julie Kallemeyn, 41, of Big Lake was the top local finisher in seventh in 1:25:16.

Prizes were awarded to the top finishers in each age group.

The Big Lake Triathlon is the final segment of a three-part competition. Triathlons at Sturgis Lake in Buffalo and Warner Lake in Clearwater were held in June.

Complete results for all three triathlons can be found at mtecresults.com.