FEATURES

The Men's Team...

Monday, 30 November 2015 06:10

MINNESOTA MULTISPORT AWARDS - This is our final 2015 MMA post. Today we attempt to explain the men's TEAM MINNESOTA rankings. 2014 rankings are in parentheses. Remember, athletes are ranked on their 2015 resumes, not their careers and reputations....

1. MATTHEW PAYNE (1) - TOY winner for the third straight year. Eight wins, four course records, three medals at nationals and another at Worlds, he excelled in short and long course tris and dus, too. In fact, he should win the USAT DOY again this year.

2.KEVIN O'CONNOR (6) - KO also won eight races and won a national title. Like Payne's, his name wll be part of the USAT AOY and DOY discussion, albeit as a master.

3. KRIS SPOTH (5) - Winner at Trinona and Maple Grove, Kris also podumed against first-class fields at Life Time Minneapolis, Pigman Half and Des Moines. He also cracked the overall Top 15 at Nationals.

4. SEAN COOLEY (4) -The 4th through 6th positions on the team were basically interchangeable. Sean beat Josh in their only confrontation and didn't face Bennett this season. He had very solid results at long distance, whereas Bennett and Josh raced only in sprint and Olympic events.

5. BENNETT ISABELLA (15) - Bennett and Josh met three times and Bennett won twice. Bennett also won the MI award and had stellar results in duathlon.

6. JOSH BLANKENHEIM (7) - Josh proved that you don't have to win to turn heads. His 2nds at Buffalo Olympic, Capitol City and Heart of the Lakes were awesome results, more impressive than many of the wins his peers recorded in 2015. The only Minnesotan that beat him in his three runner-up efforts was TOY Matthew Payne.

7. BROOKS GROSSINGER (3) - Except for an uncharacteristicly sub-par race at Buffalo, Brooks placed well in triathlons in 2015, but his times weren't as fast as last year, nor did he consistently beat Team Minnesota caliber competition. His du results, on the other hand, were good enough to land a DOY nomination and a spot on the Team.

8. NICK NYGAARD (12) - Nick was impressive in 2015, but he wasn't prolific. The young man is very talented, as his convincing win at Timberman, his CR-crushing 59:41 at Brewhouse Sprint and his 2nd at Superior Man (4:17) clearly demonstrated. Another race or two would have bumped him up a notch or two on this list.

9. BRIAN SAMES (9) - A prolific racer with very solid results, there was no keeping Brian off the Team. He won two races, but in our minds, his 4th at Racine 70.3 (4:12:54) and his 2nd at Maple Grove Olympic were his premier performances.

10. DEVON PALMER (Pro in 2014) - On TV shows like "The Voice" and "American Idol," song choice makes a huge difference. From a talent standpoint, DP is a Top 3 guy, but in the minds of several Committee members, his choice of races this year didn't help his resume. Though he won five of the six regional races he entered, he only faced a Top 5 Team Minnesota caliber guy once. All but one of his wins did not seem to require a supreme effort or produce a time that was commensurate with his best performances of prior seasons. He also had two DNFs at Iron distance.

Places 11-15: 11. MIKE WARD (16), 12. LARRY HOSCH (17), 13. STEVE MORRIS (Unranked), 14. NATE HOFFMAN (13), 15. DAN ARLANDSON (15).