respectable time for 1st sprint tri?

In my book, if you finish a "first" triathlon, that's a respectable time in itself.  There's a lot of unknowns to something you never done before that may come up unexpected.  For my first tri, I paniced in the water and doggied paddled the whole swim 400m in 40 minutes (don't laugh )

I think it all depends on what your goals are.  You should look at the results from previous years and see where you think you will place.  Go for that goal during the race and try to beat it.

Seriously to do your first tri, have fun doing it and finish with a smile is a great goal for a first tri.

What you do each segment can very a lot in training compared to a triathlon. OWS is often what people under estimate how the chaos of mass start will effect them...many first timers and even those doing tris for a 2nd and 3rd time can feel panicky which can effect your bike/run. Read some first timer race reports. Have you been practicing bike/run bricks? If not, do them each week until your first tri. It is amazing how your legs feel running after riding, more you practice the easier it gets. It takes me almost exactly 8 minutes to have my running legs back when I start running after riding.

I'd encourage you to take it easy the last few days before your first tri. Often in panic a new person will make the mistake to push themselves or prove they can do this or that which brings you to the starting line fatigued and not in the best position to do your best.

I would discourage you from putting in a time goal and focus on having fun, doing your best and finishing. All that is most important.

Funny... I guess I'm the guy who will stand there and blink when you say "53/16-17"....

I too try to gauge my expectations off of a combination of my training pace and what people have done on the same course previously. Another way to look at it (in terms of a goal) would be to have a "target effort" for each event. You can have a constant real-time feel for that during the race, and you won't be pushing beyond the plan to make some time you have in your head. You could go by heart rate zone, speed, or watts. 

You should add the race to your list of races (okay it would be your first) save it as a draft and you'll see which other BTers are signed up to do it as well. You can even post a thread which would show up on your State training board, and have some talk with others doing the same tri. All this would get to through your training blog which it looks like you aren't using.

It really is a cool feature about BT! Now when I race, I know who else is doing the race and try to meet up with them...makes racing 10x more fun! It always helps to have someone to hang out before the race to keep pre-jitters away.  The best thing is you'll meet some incredible traithletes who in time will become friends!