Jack Caress, President and CEO

President & CEO, Pacific Sports LLC
President, Triathlon America, Incorporated
President & CEO, American Triathlon Group
General Managing Director, Star Events North America

For over 30 years, Jack Caress has been producing and marketing participant sports events. He is the founder and President of Pacific Sports LLC. Since the firm’s inception they have produced over 430 multisport events throughout the world. Jack has also been an active member of the academic community serving as a professor at Chapman University in the School of Business & Economics for the 10 years until 1996, as the Director of the Freshman Seminar Program in Political Economics at Chapman for three years, and currently as an adjunct faculty member at the University of San Francisco in the graduate program in Sports Management. 

Pacific Sports owned and produced the Olympic Distance Triathlon World Championships in 1996 in addition to producing 12 United States Championship races. Currently the firm operates the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Triathlon, Catalina Marathon (named the #1 Trail Marathon by Runner’s World), Toyota U.S. Open Triathlon, Rose Bowl Half Marathon, Newport Beach Triathlon (oldest triathlon in the United States), Long Beach Triathlon, Buffalo Run Half Marathon, Santa Catalina Triathlon, Amgen Tour of California Breakaway Ride, and the Cleveland Triathlon.   Pacific Sports served as Executive Producer for the Dow Live Earth Run for Water that took place in over 100 cities worldwide, including events directly produced by the firm in Brooklyn and Los Angeles.

In 2005, he was a founder and co-owner of the Life Time Fitness Triathlon Series bringing together the six major championships of Olympic distance triathlons. His firm has paid out in excess of $3.2 million dollars in prize money and generated more than $65 million for charitable causes.

Jack’s career in sports marketing and production began at International Management Group (IMG) in Cleveland as a consultant in the Athletics & Fitness Division. This led to the founding of Pacific Sports and the launch of several events as well as ongoing consultation with sports clientele on sponsorships, sports marketing and athlete representation. He was selected by the Los Angeles Sports Council to be the venue director for triathlon in the 2012 & 2016 bids for the Olympic Games and named in 1996 as Race Director of the Year by USA Triathlon. Prior to IMG, he was a consultant with Touche Ross, & Company where he earned his CPA. 

Caress has competed in over 400 participant sporting events including the Ironman World Triathlon Championship in Kona on four occasions. He was a member of the 1975 NCAA Championship golf team at UC Irvine where he now serves on the Athletic Director’s Intercollegiate Athletics Advisory Council.

Currently Jack consults for the Forensis Group and Gerson Lehman Group and serves in the Mentor Program at the Merage School of Business at UC Irvine. He has provided expert commentary on CBS, NBC, ESPN, Fox and Cablevision Sports and served as Executive Producer on broadcasts for both the Los Angeles and Cleveland Triathlons. Jack has edited two books in political economics entitled “The Global Citizen” and “War, Peace, and Justice” and been published in both financial and sports journals writing on the business of sports and financial management. 

Jack can be reached by email at Jack@PacificSportsLLC.com

Kylee Belflower, Vice President

Kylee was born and raised in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She graduated from the University of Kansas, receiving a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science with an emphasis in Sports Management.  Kylee joined Pacific Sports in 2006 and has been fundamental in the growth and success in the firms properties.  She has held the position of Director of Marketing and was recently named Vice President.  Kylee lives an active lifestyle in Newport Beach, CA.

Kylee can be reached by email at Kylee@PacificSportsLLC.com

Jameson Shaw, Director of Operations

Jameson joined Pacific Sports in January of 2011. He attended the University of California Santa Barbara where he earned his BA in Political Science with minors in Sport Management and History. After college he received his Masters in Sport Management from the University of San Francisco. Jameson has previously worked with Evolve Sports and Mavericks Surf Ventures assisting in the production of events like the Mavericks Surf Contest, The Giant Race and the Silicon Valley Marathon. He has also spent time in the Stanford Athletics department as an event manager.  When not working, Jameson enjoys playing soccer, skiing and ultimate Frisbee.

 Jameson can be reached at, Jameson@PacificSportsLLC.com

Kate Vakay, Director of Development

Kate brought her diverse experience and indomitable spirit to Pacific Sports LLC in 2010 after relocating to Southern California from New York City, where she lived, worked, and ran for eight years.  Born and raised in Northeastern Pennsylvania, she studied fine arts at Syracuse University and has worked in design, sales, and marketing. She has run the ING New York City Marathon twice (2006, 3:43:18; 2008, 3:42:12) and hopes to transition to triathlon. (Pun intended).

Kate can be reached at, KateV@PacificSportsLLC.com

Todd Brewer, Volunteer Coordinator

Todd joined Pacific Sports in January 2011 as an intern and then transitioned into our Volunteer Coordinator. Todd has been active throughout the Sports Industry for the last few years. He has volunteered at the last two Wooden Classics, the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and the Winter Olympics in Whistler, British Columbia. So clearly his knowledge of volunteering is paying dividends as Volunteer Coordinator for Pacific Sports. Todd recently graduated from the University of San Francisco’s Master’s Program in Sport Management. When Todd is not coordinating large masses of volunteers Todd enjoys traveling, he has been all through Europe and has visited all 50 States so needless to say he’s spent most of his life in airport lines.

Todd can be reached by email at Todd@PacificSportsLLC.com

Jeff Boyer, "All Purpose Intern"

Born and raised in Northern California, Jeff moved to Southern California for college to attend Chapman University.  Jeff earned a BA in Psychology and minored in Coaching.  While at Chapman, Jeff was a member of the Men’s Soccer team, earning scholar athlete awards all four years.  Upon realizing he would not become a professional soccer player, Jeff decided to continue his education, pursuing his masters in Sport Management from the University of San Francisco.  In order to relive the glory of his playing days, Jeff has stayed active in the sport of soccer through coaching at the youth and high school level.  Jeff has also interned in the sport and event management industry with the San Jose Earthquakes, the LA Galaxy, Soccer Hype, and Lake Merritt Uptown Community Benefit District before joining the Pacific Sports team.  As a self described “all purpose intern” Jeff’s responsibilities with Pacific Sports range from inventory duties to volunteer coordination to sponsorship activation.

Jeff can be reached by email at Jeff@PacificSportsLLC.com

Kylie McDonald, Marketing & Event Intern

Kylie McDonald joined the team at Pacific Sports in August 2011. Kylie studied at the University of California at Santa Barbara where she was a member of the Division 1 women's soccer team. After graduating as a scholar athlete in the class of 2011 with a BA in Global Studies, Kylie decided to pursue a career in event production and aspires to further her education in the sports management field. With Pacific Sports she helps with marketing outreach, post race follow up, and event day registration.  A California girl from Westlake Village, Kylie enjoys the beach, running and playing with her dog.

Kylie can be reached by email at, Kylie@PacificSportsLLC.com