Race Previews

Minneapolis Tri XIV Preview...

Tuesday, 07 July 2015 06:10

LIFE TIME FITNESS - MINNEAPOLIS TRIATHLON - The 14th edition of this annual classic will take place at Lake Nokomis on Saturday. The event will feature a regional collegiate championship with at least 38 athletes racing, and an Elite Amateur competiton with a similar number (40ish) of attendees....

We're especially excited about women's elite race, which includes six members of 2014 Team Minnesota and three more that came dang close to doing so. They are, in alpha order:

- GABY BUNTEN - Ranked 12th in the state last year, she has upped her game significantly in 2015. Thus far she has raced three times, winning once, and placing 2nd in the other two. She placed 7th at Mpls Tri last year.

- KORTNEY HAAG - Kort is the highest placing returnee from last year. She finished 5th behind three women who are now pros--Heather Lendway, Robin Pomeroy and Dani Fischer--and seven-time Mpls Tri champ Cathy Yndestad, who has since relocated, albeit temporarily, to Switzerland. That's great company to be in. Is Haag, who was ranked 6th on Team MN last year, ready to win at a major event that is shorter than half IM? Good question.

- DIANE HANKEE - Diane will want to avenge her sub-par effort (13th--her only "bad" race of the season) here in 2014. She is coming off an injury layoff and should be fresh and hungry. She'll be dangerous on Saturday and could wind up on the podium. She was ranked 7th on Team MN last year.

- NICOLE HEININGER - Nicole's win at Capitol City, where she beat many of the same women she'll face in her Mpls debut on Saturday, tells us that she's podium-worthy. Her 2014 rank was 8th.

- LISA LENDWAY  (photo below R) - 11th ranked in 2014, Lisa has exploded this year and is arguably the Most Improved frontrunner at this point in time. An injury has sidelined her for the last few weeks, but she's running again and anxious to race on Saturday. Last year she placed 8th here. FYI, she won the first race--Trinona--of Life Time's Minnesota Series.

- BRIDGET MCCOY-  Bridge snuck on to Team Minnesota (10th) last year, and appears destined to rank significantly higher this time around. We are very impressed with her racing this year (three 2nds). It's her new speed that we like most. We certainly predict a Top 5 for her on Saturday, and we think a podium placement is very possible.

- ELAINE NELSON - Elaine finished 1:12 behind Kort here in 2014. This year she ran down Haag and Heiney at Buffalo. We're sure that the former UM runner will outsplit her competitors on the run, but she will need to be less than two minutes back when she arrives in T2 in order to have a chance to win. Still, she's our pick to come out on top. She was ranked 5th on Team Minnesota in '14.

- CHRISTINA ROBERTS - If Christina can match the 2:11 she popped in a winning effort at Maple Grove last year, she will be in the hunt for the win. We like her swim and run, but several of the other women mentioned here turn in more consistently fast bike splits. If Roberts could find another .5 mph, she'd win a lot of races. She was ranked 9th on Team Minnesota last year, a placement we disagreed with, thinking that a 7th or 8th was more appropriate.

- KELLY TROM - Runner-up for Rookie of the Year in 2014, Kelly has potential coming out the "yin-yang" and the "wahzoo." We already know that she's capable of a sub-2:15 and we hope she does that on Saturday.

We're so anxious to see what happens in the women's race next weekend that we have stocked up on Depends.

What about the men's race, you ask?  Unlike the women, this one, for us, is easy to call. Matt Payne will win, and weather permitting, take a 30-60 second bite out of Dan Hedgecock's Elite Amateur CR-1:56:10 set in 2012. We think Matt will share the podium with Trinona champ Kris Spoth (photo top of page) and Georgia pro Nick Sterghos.

Also, we recently learned that more 350 newbies will lose their triathletic virginity at Lake Nokomis on Saturday. How cool is that!

Check out the event's WEBSITE to learn more about the race, and especially all the exciting new changes that are on tap for 2015.

Awesome Photos - Courtesy of YndeCam.