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Jan's 14th Emma...

Tuesday, 12 November 2013 08:10

MASTER OF THE YEAR (Women) - The nominees in this category took turns beating each other. As a result, three of the four nominees received support from committee members. In the end, Jan Guenther (photo L) eeked out a one-vote victory.

Here's why.

While three of the four candidates--Julie Hull, Sarah Mercer and Julia Weisbecker--turned in national level performances during the season, it was perceived that Guenther, based on her age--54--actually raced at a world class level. Thirteen years older than the youngest mominee, and seven older than the second oldest, the fact that Jan was able to have occasionally beaten each of her fellow nominees in head-to-head competition is significant. Next, the margins by which Julie beat her at Liberty and Julia beat her at Gear West Du do not come close to covering the spread of any current age-grading formula....

Next, Jan was the most consistent of the nominees. She only raced four times, but she podiumed twice, including a 2nd at the Heart of the Lakes / Minnesota State Championships, and placed 4th and 10th in the other two races. Hull, on the other hand, was brilliant in her short course performances, but off-her-game in her three long course efforts. Mercer's resume looked great on paper, but a closer look revealed that she was beaten by fellow nominees in three of the five triathlons she raced in.

In the end, the battle for the award was between Jan and Julia (photo R), with Jan coming out on top by a single vote.

Weisbecker was brilliant this season, arguably even moreso than in 2010, but she split her head-to-head confrontations with Guenther. Had she been able to beat her in both of those races, she probably would have robbed a vote from a Jan supporter and won the MOY trophy.

FYI, the 2013 MOY was Jan's 14th EMMA, which is seven more than the second most-decorated athletes. FYI, Cathy Yndestad, Tony Schiller and Brian Bich have seven awards apiece.