Race Coverage

Cami & AJ Throw Down at Younglife....

Sunday, 22 August 2021 00:10

YOUNGLIFE TRIATHLON COVERAGE - It's a great year for rookies in Minnesota. KARL NYGREN has huge potential, especially in long races. HENRY JESSEN,too, albeit in the shorter stuff. His performances at both Olympic and Sprint Nationals were that of a veteran Elite, not a newcomer.

And then  there's CAMI ECKHOFF (photo). She came into the season with two tri efforts under her belt, both at her hometown Younglife Sprint, which was not enough to constitute a season of racing, thus her eligibility for 2021 Rookie of the Year consideration.

In 2019, Cami posted a respectable 6th place at YL Sprint. Her time was 1:20:03. In 2020, she finished 5th in 1:13:29. Nice trajectory.

On Saturday, she won the race, posting her 2nd win of the season. Her time was 1:05:47. Not since TARA MAKINEN's performances here in 2009 and 2010, has a woman gone that fast in this race. Moreover, her margin of victory was 8:42, and her overall place was 3rd....

Once again, we're are loving the trajectory of her career.

She was not the only star in the Sprint race. 2020 Most Improved honoree AJ MANNING, who obliterated the men's course record at Green Lake the previous weekend, did the same at Younglife. His race-leading splits delivered him to the finish line in 56:01, 48-seconds better than the old CR, and 7:53 faster than the men's runner-up.

Recording his 3rd straight YL-Olympic victory was  DAVID LEWIS, whose career win total may have nudged into double-figures. Like AJ and Cami, he won comfortably, his eventual margin was 3:15. He was joined on the podium's Top Step by fellow YLO multiple winner MARNIE WALTH, now, 52, of Bismarck, ND.

This year's Sprint and Olympic races, which celebrated their 18th editions, had a combined 199 finishers. RESULTS