Race Previews

Dave's Gift...

Tuesday, 02 June 2015 06:10

TRINONA PREVIEW - Seven years ago, Dave Schutz gave the regional tri scene a tremendous gift: Trinona. Spectacular scenery, challenging courses (the awesomest bike course in MN?), a festive atmosphere and abundant amenities are hallmarks of this annual classic.

Because it shares the weekend with Du Nationals, Buffalo, Pigman Sprint and New Bri, Trinona field will not be as deep as in years past, which is very cool. This means that the wealth will be shared among athletes who are not regular award winners. The sprint race, for instance, may well feature winners who have never been to the Winners Circle before. Perhaps Matthew Radniecki and Emy Everyhart will be those people?  ...

In the Olympic race, we assume that David Thompson will take the Top Prize for the sixth straight year. We did not see his name on the start list, and we know he's recovering from an injury, but Trinona is his favorite race and we cannot imagine him missing it.*

As usual, the race will have two male winners, one pro (DKT), one amateur. In 2014, Kris Spoth was the amateur champ. In fact, he won two of the three Life Time Minnesota Series races and claimed the Series Crown. A no-brainer for us. Kris Spoth is our pick to win Trinona's amateur title.

We see the women's race coming down to a battle between Lisa Lendway and Kris Spoth's girlfriend, Gaby Bunten for 2nd and 3rd place. Lisa has raced often and well in 2015, whereas we don't believe that Gaby has raced in other multis this season. Advantage: Lendway for 2nd. For Lisa (or Gaby) to win, they'd have to outrace favorite Suzy Fox, who should collect career win #25.

Our picks to claim the masters titles are Lance Leo and Ann Snuggerud.  RACE WEBSITE

* UPDATE: We received an email from David Thompson. He will not be at Trinona. Instead, he will be representing Gear West Bike at Triathlon at PIgman Sprint. Despite his injury, he plans to race there.