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June 2 Race Capsules & Trinona Preview...
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Wednesday, 05 June 2019 23:10
14th NEW BRI TRI - Living up to their favored status last Sunday at Long Lake Park were THAD INGERSOLL and reigning women's champ SARA RONDORF. It wasn't a runaway for Ingersoll, 49, as eventual runner-up TIM QUESNELL, 52, was able to almost match his splits throughout.
Thad's eventual margin of victory was 53 seconds.
On the other hand, Rondorf's win, the 5th of her career, was a runaway. Sara had 7:03 to recover before 2nd place was determined.
One hundred and 17 athletes finished this year's race. RESULTS
EAU CLAIRE SPRINT - The 10th edition of this event was well-attended (206 finishers) and, as usual, featured several high placing Minnesotans. For the sixth time, a Minnesota man came out on top. This time it was MICHAEL LEE, 27, of Minneapolis. Lee may be new to the sport of triathlon, as our research was unable to uncover past results.
In total, four Minnesota guys cracked the Top Seven, including two-time Eau Claire winner / Brewhouse Triathlon founder, ROD RAYMOND, 54 (photo), who placed 4th....
The Waiting Game...
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Tuesday, 04 June 2019 23:10
15th BUFFALO SPRINT TRIATHLON - The BUENTINGS (photo) totally rocked last Sunday at the Buffalo Sprint Triathlon. Papa MIKE ultimately won the men's race, though BRIAN STORHAUG (pronounced "Store - Howg") was first to cross the finish line. A Wave 1 guy, burly Brian hoped that his 1:00:52 would hold up. During the next three minutes, only one sprinter, fellow first waver KYLE SWENSON, 17, crossed the line. The talented teen's 1:02:13 torched the junior course record by 3:24.
With the Wave Two 30-39 challengers out of the way, Brian hoped that a Wave Three master (40-49) would not finish in the next three minutes. Two-thirds of that time passed uneventfully, then Buenting, 44, came crashing down the final spirally hill. Still, a 2nd here is pretty cool, and it matched Brian's best placing from 2015.
Swenson's time also endured the onslaught of later wavers, thus he took the final podium spot.
First across for the women was 2017 Buffalo Sprint winner KRISTINA SWENSON. Lke Storhaug, she then played the waiting game. Two minutes and five seconds later, Wave One's BELLA BUENTING, Mikey's 16-year-old daughter, finished, thus claiming the "clubhouse" silver for the time being....
"She's an Outlier".......
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Monday, 03 June 2019 23:10
BUFFALO OLYMPIC - The 14th edition of this classic race was staged in ideal weather, with, surprisingly, an accommodating lake (flat, 70-degrees on top), and produced a plethora of outstanding performances, some of which were record-setting.
The most jaw-dropping of the record efforts belonged to HANNA GRINAKER (photo), who despite some short-lived mechanical drama on the bike course, dominated the strong women's field. After making up the 1:16 she trailed heading into T1, she hammered the bike, her eventual split almost 3-mph faster than her nearest rival. That's insane. She outrode all but seven men. We're talking seven ELITE men.
Grinaker arrived at the finish line several minutes ahead of the previous course record, and 1-2 minutes before her generally expected time. Her final clocking was 2:06:57, an Oympic PR (1:09 better than her winning time at Minneapolis in 2018) and a 3:11 lowering of KORTNEY HAAG's 2016 course record. (FYI - the current course, which features a significantly more challenging run segment than the previous route, has been in place since 2015.)
The victory was the 10th in 18 triathlon starts for the two-time Minnesota Triathlete of the Year....
Good Reviews & Future Plans...
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Sunday, 02 June 2019 23:10
ED. Coverage of the Buffalo Triathlon and New Bri Tri is coming sooon.
By Doobie Kurus
The first ever SWIM-off to Summer open water challenge was held on Saturday, June 1st, and was hosted by the Hopkins Royal Triathlon and Hopkins Masters Swim group. This event featured some of the top triathletes and swimmers from all over the state (plus Iowa and Massachusetts). There were also many casual competitors that (believe it or not) just like to swim. The favorable weather forecast leading up to SWIM-off not only warmed up the lake to a comfortable 66 degrees, but also warmed up people to the idea of signing up, as the field sold out with a cap of 150 registrants. The Triathletes outnumbered the Swimmers 2 to 1, but that didn't seem to deter the Swimmers....
Gaby, Becky, Rachel, Paige, Jordan, Dan....
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Friday, 31 May 2019 23:10
MADISON 70.3 - We were hoping to post a TRINONA preview today, but we haven't seen an entrant list yet. Hopefully, we'll preview that annual classic in the near future. And because, with the unfortunate cancellation of the Walker Tri, Trinona is the only multi staged on Minnesota soil next weekend, we strongly encourage everyone who hasn't enrolled yet, to do so at their earliest opportunity.
We were perusing the AG registration list for Madison 70.3 on June 9. Unsurprisingly, lots of Minnesotans are enrolled, and we are anxious to see how all of them fare. We expect many of them to rock their AGs.
Let's drop some names.
DANI FISCHER - Formerly from Rochester, Dani has resided in Indianapolis for the last few years but we still follow her career closely. We love her to pieces, and she will always be an honorary Minnesotan. Well, her racing creds speak for themselves. She a former 70.3 National champion with a PR of 4:23. Dani was a close 2nd (to Dani Vsetecka) in 2017, and 3rd here last year. She is our pick to win the women's overall title.
BECKY YOUNGBERG - In 2018 and 2017, weather at Mad 70.3 had truly sucked, thus the various records are soft. Former pro Jessica Jacobs owns the women's masters mark, a 4:56:50.Weather permitting, Becky should take that record down hard. In her last 70.3 (Chisago '18), she placed 2nd in an MR - 4:37:04. Matching that on Madison's challenging course is unrealistic, but breaking 4:50 is possible if she's hitting on all cylinders. ...
