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Adeline, Corbin & Kyler are 2025 JOY Nominees!

Saturday, 04 October 2025 00:10

By Clyde

Minnesota has a deep history of talented junior (19 and under) triathletes who can compete head-to-head against their adult competitors. With exception of a few seasons in the late 2010s and early 2020s, when a plethora of talented young guys AND girls were racing, the Minnesota Multisport Honor (MMH) for Junior of the Year (JOY) has been a coed category with 3-4 nominations per season. Below are the 3 juniors that Bonnie and I agree earned a JOY nomination:
 
Adeline Althaus-Kotila, 16, Minneapolis:

In 2024, no junior girls were nominated for JOY. This year, Adeline stepped up. She claimed the overall title at Lake Rebecca and the uber-popular YWCA Women’s Tri. She also placed 4th overall/1st junior at Maple Grove Sprint, just behind established athlete Andrea Myers, and she was again 4th at Hopkins in junior course record time. The MMH Committee is super excited to see Adeline have the breakout season she did, and we hope her progression continues, particularly since triathlon is an NCAA sport on the girls’ side....

 
Corbin Deichman, 17, Mankato (photo R)

Corbin, the 2024 JOY, raced both draft-legal and non-drafting races this year. In non-draft competitions (draft-legal races are not considered by the MMH Committee), Corbin did not place off the overall podium. He was 3rd, in junior course record time, at Buzz Ryan. He placed 2nd at the Clear Lake Sprint Duathlon. And Corbin won overall at Manitou Sprint and Maple Grove Sprint, repeating from 2024.

 
Kyler Williams, 17, Zimmerman

Kyler kicked off the season with a very solid 7th / 1st Junior at Buffalo Olympic. He followed that with a podium finish (3rd AG) at Nationals. That got our attention. He capped his great season with overall wins at Square Lake Sprint and One Last Tri Sprint.

 
Also considered were Noah Billings, 19, of Rochester and Raychel Tong, 17, of Minneapolis. Noah raced prolifically, as always, tackling sprints all the way up to half-distance events. We believe he may be in Florida currently, training for his first Iron-distance event, and we would love to be fact-checked on this. Raychel also had a strong season, placing 6th overall at Buffalo Sprint and Maple Grove Sprint. She made the overall podium in 3rd at Big Lake Sprint. Like Adeline, we’d love to see Raychel continue to progress in the sport, as we believe both girls have the talent to become regional-level stars as they gain more experience.