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2024 July Triathletes of the Month...
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Saturday, 10 August 2024 00:10
Who were the most successful Minnesota Triathletes in July? Needing at least two outstanding performances to qualify, except for "Performance of the Month," here are the July 2024 AOMs.
PERFORMANCE OF THE MONTH - Men
SPENCER SYVERTSON, 28, Alexandria (photo L) - New Race Record at Allexandria Sprint
Josh Blankenheim's win at Buzz Ryan was also considered, as was UM student, Nathan KIm's huge win at Chisago 70.3. Kim claims Middleton, Wisconsin as his home, thus we were unable to determine his eligibility. If Nathan were recognized as a Minnesota athlete, he would have been honored here.
PERFORMANCE OF THE MONTH - Women
CARYN HERRICK WIKMAN, 34, St. Louis Park - Win @ Chisago Olympic - 2:10:45
A 2:10 is an awesome time for an elite amateur, but what makes Caryn's effort more remarkable
Is that she finished less than 9-minutes behind the elite male winner, and not the ususal dozen or more...
21st Northwoods Preview...
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Thursday, 08 August 2024 00:10
21st NOORTHWWODS TRI PREVIEW - Here are some of the talented athletes wh will racing at Northwoods on Saturday:
MATA AGRE, 31, Nisswa - Three wins here and a consistent Top 5er.
JOSH BLANKENHEIM - This could be the year that Brooks Grossinger doesn't win the Northwoods Tri. Josh presents him with his greatest challenge so far. Blank is racing lights-out this year, and we suspect that the Blankenheim / Grossinger battle will produce a course record.
MITCHELL CLAYTON - With a win, two 2nds and a 3rd this season, Mitch has a shot at a pordium on Saturday. We predict that the battle for 3rd place will be between him and Nick Jasmer.
CAMI ECKHOFF. 35, Detroit Lakes - Last time here, Cami placed 2nd. She's our pick to win this time around. She has two 2nds in 2024, both behind Minnesota's Triathlete of the Year frontrunner Elena Jasper.
BROOKS GROSSINGER, 47, Mayer - He's won this race seventeen times. To get #18, he'll need to outrace Blankenheim. Brooks has a win and a 2nd on his 2024 scorecard thus far.
MISSY HEILMAN, 46, West Fargo - Based on her consistent podium efforts at Alexandria and Northwoods, we think a Top 6 is doable.
NICK JASMER, 32, Menagha - Nick's been paying his dues for the last few years, now he's moved to the front of the race. He could give David Lewis a run for the 3rd podium. spot behind Grossinger and Lee. Nick placed 2nd last weekend at Hoot Lake....
M & Ms, Girlfriends & Katie's Gun Show...
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Wednesday, 07 August 2024 00:10
GRANITEMAN BIG LAKE OLYMPIC COVERAGE - We don't much about NATHAN LASSELLE, other than that he is young and wears a UM tri kit. He captured our attention in 2023 when he placed 2nd at Big Lake Olympic. So we did some research, starting by Googling the UM Tri Team. We learned at lot:
Nathan Lasselle - "I am this year’s Fundraising Coordinator. I am from Maple Grove, Minnesota, and I am majoring in Chemical Engineering. My hobbies include playing clarinet, being outdoors in nature, weight lifting, eating M&Ms and of course swimming, biking, and running. My favorite part of the team is the friendships that are formed. Many of my best friends were met on the team. My favorite memory of the team is when we went tubing after Pleasant Prairie Tri."
Lasselle, an exuberant clarinet-playing, M & M aficionado (Who isn't?) with fundraising skills is a faster in all three diciplines this year than he was in 2023, when he posted a 2:19:47 second place finish at Big Lake Olympic, which proudly features four bike miles more than standard Olympic routes. Last Saturday at this year's Big Lake Olympic, he won the race, though he needed to overcome a rather slow first transition to eventually track down and pass early leader NOAH BILLINGS, who would keep things close until the run, where he proved to be about 10-seconds per mile faster. Billings, whose girlfriend (phot below) was watching him race for the first time, was justifiably pleased with his effort. ...
Shyanne & Spencer!
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Monday, 05 August 2024 00:10
Top Photo: BH Sprint champ Shyanne McGregor. Page 2 Photo: BH Olympic winner Spencer Syvertson.
BREWHOUSE OLYMPIC COVERAGE - Not since 2018 has a triathlete beaten JOSH BLANKENHEIM in his own backyard, i.e. Duluth and environs, until yesterday, that is. Josh and Wade Cruser duked it in '18, with Wade coming out on top at Brewhouse Olympic. FYI, Cruser was the Triathlete of the Year in back then.
Yesterday, Josh turned in his fastest Brewhouse performance ever, but he came up just 22-seconds short. He made up time on the bike and run, but SPENCER SYVERTSON's swim, along with his improved cycling, delivered him to the finish line in course record time. 1:50:17! This performance along with his RR at Alexandria and his 2nd at Lake Minnetonka make him arguably the frontrunner for 2024 Minnesota's Most Improved male triathlete.
Josh's 1:50:39 nuked BH's Masters record.
The final mem's podium sport went to Superior Wisconsin's RICHARD VANDEN BRANDEN, whose fine 1:56:57 on the 1200m - 24 mile - 10K course was highlighted by his signature strong running. According to his Facebook page, Richard is into hunting, fishing and country music.
Wisconsin's MADDY BLAIN, who had a brief stint as a pro triathlete a few years back, and many fine amatuer performances in her home sate since then, was a late registrant. She bracked solid swim and bike spits with...
Brisk Racing...Updated...
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Sunday, 04 August 2024 00:10
2024 GREEN LAKE INTERMEDIATE PREVIEW - We are anticipating some brisk racing next Sunday at the 18th edition of the Green Lake Intermediate (.75 - 22 - 6) Triathlon. Defending champ COREY NYGAARD is returning. He's racing at a Team Minnesota level this season and, weather permitting, become the 13th man to break 1:50 here. He'll need that kind of time to repeat. He'll be facing JOE ADRIAENS, a legitimate sub-2-hour Olympic-distance racer. Will Joe have put his Covid symptoms behind him by race time? We're guessing he will.
UPDATE: Corey Nygaard collected his third W of the season this morning at Hoot Lake by a four-minute margin.
MERILEA OSTERLUND has two wins and a pair of 3rds in this race. Her PR here is 2:07. We're picking her to finish 2nd on Sunday behind KADIE HOKANSON, who is making her Green Lake debut. Kadie was nominated for Master of the Year last year and her times are even more impressive this season. A sub-2:04 would be one of this race's Top 10 fastest women's times ever. We think that Kadie is ready to throw down that kind of performance.
AG Prediction: We believe the husband/wife team of JEFF GILMER, 65, and MARY DEEG, 62, will rewrite their respective divisional records. Jeff already owns the 60-64M mark. Jeff will need to better 2:19:07, which we believe is very doable. Mary need a sub-2:30:34. A lot to ask? Sure....
