Race Previews
Northwoods Turns 15....
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Thursday, 10 August 2017 09:10
NORTHWOODS TRIATHLON - BROOKS GROSSINGER made history here last year. He won the race for the 12th time in the event's fourteen-year history. By doing so, he broke a tie for most wins at a single Minnesota race with TONY SCHILLER, who had won the Lake Waconia Triathlon on eleven occasions.
Grossinger will be going for victory #13 on Saturday, and there is no reason to think he won't get it. Not only does he own nine of the ten fastest times here, all of them under the one-hour mark, he's racing like a banshee this year. His resume features a win (Waseca) and four 2nd place finishes. Now 40, Brooks is the current frontrunner for the Master of the Year award.
Will he keep his string of sub-1 hour clocking alive? Barring injury or mechanical issues, sure he will.
His closest challenger on Saturday should be local star DAVID LEWIS, who is also racing well this season. He has finished 2nd here on four occasions.
As in 2016, we think that a time in the 1:14 range should win the women's race. That was what MATA AGRE posted in 2016, and she hopes to defend....
YWCA's Aluminum Anniversary...
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Wednesday, 09 August 2017 19:10
Photo - The Lendways, Heather & Lisa
YWCA WOMEN'S TRIATHLON - This iconic experience will celebrate its landmark 10th ananiversary (Aluminum) on Sunday. With 1500ish participants, it will probably be our state's largest multisport event of the year.
It will not only be a large race, it will be more competitive than ever. There will be twelve athletes in the Elite Wave, led by pros HEATHER LENDWAY, a two-time champ and course rcord holder, and HALEY CHURA, former USAT National Champion and one of America's premier long distance triathletes (IM PR - 8:56, half IM PR - 4:10ish). We're sure that these two stars will better the 1:03:16 that HL set in 2014.
CHRISTINA ROBERTS amateur CR is also in jeopardy, and yes, we think that Christina will take it down a notch. She'll be challenged by LISA LENDWAY, who was victorious last weekend at Brewhouse Sprint, and like Christina, has broken 1:10 twice here. (No other amateurs had cracked that time.)
Does this mean that we're picking Roberts and LL to go 1-2 in the amateur race? Not necessarily. Sure, it could happen, but DIANE HANKEE may be more fit right now than Lisa. She (Diane) has also turned 40 this year, so we're predicting that ANN SNUGGERUD's masters record (1:13:16 - 2014) will go down...
Big Doings at Big Lake...
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Thursday, 03 August 2017 09:10
GRANITEMAN BIG LAKE PREVIEW - There's four great races--Big Lake, Brewhouse, Waseca, Minnewaska--to choose from this weekend. We certainly hope that you do one (or more) of them.
Today we are previewing the Saturday's 7th annual G-Man Big Lake Triathlon. A great event at an awesome venue. It is also the third and final race of the Graniteman Tri Series.
Let's share some history and make a few predictions.
HISTORY -
Big Lake Sprint Course Records: MARCUS STROMBERG - 1:01:48 (2012) & BECKY YOUNGBERG - 1:06:28 (2011)
Sprint AG Records:
0019 - TYLER HECHT - 1:06:54 (2012) & GRETA DANIELSON - 1:10:45 (2013)
4044 - JESSE SHAW - 1:07:32 (2013) & JAMIE HEYING - 1:09:17 (2013)
4549 - JEFF GREBNER - 1:02:39 (2013) & JEN NEUMAN - 1:14:49 (2016)
5054 - SCOTTY ERICKSON - 1:06:47 (2014) & LISA HINES - 1:14:35 (2013)
5559 - DAVE DOW - 1:11:41 (2012) & JUDY MURRAY - 1:23:00 (2014)
6064 - BRYAN SWENSON - 1:12:47 (2014) & BETHANY COLLINS - 1:28:22 (2015)
6569 - TOM COUILLARD - 1:34:12 (2016) & NANCY BAUER - 1:39:22 (2016)
Big Lake Olympic Course Records - DAVID HOLDEN - 2:00:52 & KELLY TROM - 2:16:48 (2016)
Big Lake Olympic AG Records:
0019 - SILAS NELSON, WI - 2:35:05 (2015) & JESSICA STAPLES - 3:06:09 (2015)
4044 - ALEX SCHAD - 2:21:59 (2015) & ALISON FORNEY-GORMAN - 2:22:08 (2015) ....
Three Decades of Awesomeness....
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Wednesday, 02 August 2017 19:10
BREWHOUSE XXXI PREVIEW - The 31st Brewhouse Triathlons, the fifth at its spectacular Island Lake venue, will happen next Sunday, and the question is: Which race will be Epic-er, the Olympic or the Sprint?
Interestingly, the women's field in the Sprint is deeper this year than the group that is currently signed up for the longer race. Still, the Olympic women's race features a pair of true stars who have yet to face each other.
As for the men in both races, according to the registration list we perused, the favorites are clear: JOSH BLANKENHEIM and MIKE WARD. Both are defending champs, and while Blank will be gunning for his 2nd straight Olympic win, Ward has his sights set on his 6th Sprint title.
Back to the Olympic women.
The clear favorites are BH veteran ELAINE NELSON, winner here in 2014, and DANI VSETECKA, who will be making her Olympic debut on Sunday.
Can Dani give Elaine a great race? Absolutely. Despite her inexperience at this distance, she is arguably one of the Top 3 amateur female duathletes in the US, and perhaps our country's fastest amateur female 70.3 racer. She's simply a great triathlete, one with a pro future, if she decides to go in that direction. Certainly a fast 32-mile race is something that Vsetecka (pronounced "Sheh-teska") can master on her first attempt.
The Elaine/Vsetecka match-up could produce a course record. (Oops! We've started to wet ourselves. Can't wait to watch this battle unfold.) We also think that TIFFFANY KARI will match her 3rd place effort of 2016, doing so in a PR in the 2:17-2:18 range.
Back to the women's sprint field. Check out this alphabetical list of podium contenders:
- LORI DESCHAMPS, 46, Anchorage, AK - A frequent medalist at Nationals, Lori could crack the Top 3, but it won't be easy.
- BETTINA KEPPERS, 34, Duluth - She's done this race twice, setting a course record last year after placing 3rd in 2015. Bettina has been on fire for the last two years. We predict that she will duke-it-out with Lendway for the W....
Make Short Course Triathlon Great Again...
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Friday, 28 July 2017 23:10
By Erin Beresini (triathlete.com)
The eight-race series just kicked off a huge makeover at last weekend’s Minneapolis Triathlon.
In January, IMG announced its Escape From Alcatraz series, five races that gave top athletes slots to the iconic, always-sold-out (and expensive) Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon. Now Life Time Tri aims to give IMG a run for its money by taking pages from obstacle course racing and Ironman to create its own short course series, culminating in the inaugural Life Time Tri New York City Championship next July. The goal: to make tri friendly and accessible to new triathletes, while getting vets stoked on going short. Here’s how they plan to do it....
Payne Train Bound For Chisago...
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Thursday, 27 July 2017 23:10
CHISAGO SPRINT PREVIEW - PATRICK PARISH set the men's race record--1:15:17--back in 2010. Will that mark stand for another year?
Not if MATTHEW PAYNE (photo) has his way.
Payne is a two-time winner of the Chisago Half, and will be making his sprint debut on Sunday. The four-time Minnesota Triathlete of the Year is anxious to return to his winning ways. Misfortune has been getting in the way lately. Leading at Lake Waconia last month, Matt made a wrong turn. That was followed by a bike crash at HOLT.
He needs a great performance to get his mojo back. Besides, a win would be a major milestone: the 50th of his tri/du career.
If Matt is on top of his game on Sunday, he might do more than just re-setting the amateur record. If he is able to go faster than 1:13:50, he will have managed to beat the event's pro mark, which was set in 2014 by DAN HEDGECOCK.
It always helps to get a good push when you're aiming at setting records. Based on the last reg. list we saw, a pair of Andys--WIBERG and ZABEL--will be vying for podium spots, as will CHRIS TATTON. 2016 Junior of the Year MITCHELL CLAYTON, who is fresh off his win at Buzz Ryan, could find a place in the Top 5 when all is said and done next weekend....
