MOLINA, PUNTOUS ARE TRIATHLON FAVORITES

Scott Molina and Sylviane Puntous rate the favorites heading into this morning's second Heritage International Triathlon - a swim-bike-run race for prize money that will take triathletes on a quick tour of Utah Valley.

The race will start at 8 a.m. with a 1.2-mile swim in chilly Utah Lake (in Provo Harbor). From there, the 300-plus triathletes will bike 40 miles through Springville, Spanish Fork, Mapleton and Provo, finishing at Provo's Seven Peaks Resort. The third and final stage of the race will be a 10-mile run through the Provo foothills, beginning and ending at Seven Peaks.Last year Mike Pigg won the men's race with a time of 2:13:46, just 26 seconds ahead of Molina. Sylviane Puntous, a two-time Ironman champion from Canada, won the women's race with a time of 2:26:31, 24 seconds ahead of Erin Baker.

Race officials say Pigg and Baker have not entered this year's race.

Other top entries are Kirsten Hansen, Patricia Puntous (Sylviane's identical twin), Colleen Cannon, Todd Jacobs and Lisa Laiti. Cannon finished third last year and Patricia Puntous was fourth.

They will be racing for some $90,000 in prize money, as well as 20 qualifying spots for the 1989 Ironman Triathlon.