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Watch Out for Wade...

Friday, 19 February 2016 00:10

The MTN Guys are getting excited about the 2016 outdoor season. For us, it's time to start talking about the athletes we believe will break out this year, perhaps even land a spot on Team Minnesota.

One member of 2015 Men's Team Minnesota--Brian Sames--has left the state, and the obvious frontrunners for filling his vacancy are Mike Ward, Larry Hosch and Steve Morris.

But these aren't the only guys who will be vying for a spot on the team. Let's add WADE CRUSER's name to this list. Wade is 29 and resides in Sauk Rapids. He is an accomplished distance runner, which means that he has the ability to come-from-behind and claim a podium spot, perhaps even a win.

Assuming that he is healthy and training diligently, we predict that he'll be faster this year than last year. Let's take a close look at his 2015 resume....

- 1st @ Green Lake Sprint - Wade's 59:11 was the 3rd fastest men's time in the 12-year history of the race. His margin of victory was 6:37. This was a breakout effort which came on the heels of a 3rd place effort the previous day at Big Lake Olympic.

- 2nd @ Lake's Country - Wade (59:04) and winner Larry Hosch (59:00) were the first guys to crack the 1-hour mark at LCT. Hanging with Larry proves that Wade is a force to be reckoned with.

- 3rd @ Graniteman Clearwater - Finished behing Bennett Isabella and Larry Hosch.

- 3rd @ Square Lake Half - Wade's half IM debut produced a 4:37. Not bad. We suspect that he's two races away from a sub-4:20.

- 3rd @ Big Lake Olympic - Finished behind Casey Miller and Ryan Wippler.

- 6th @ Gear West Duathlon - This was a GREAT effort against a very deep field. He finished behind established elites, Patrick Parish, Matt Payne, Brooks Grossinger, Brian Sames and Mike Ward. More impressively, he finished ahead of Chad Millner, Nick Nygaard, Nick Klonne and Scott Myers.

- 7th @ Buffalo Olympic - The field was very deep and Wade held his own. The guy who won--Dylan Gillspie from Boseman, MT via Forest Lake--was considered for a USAT AOY HM, three of the next five guys earned Team Minnesota spots, and the other two guys placed 11th and 12th in the rankings.

Overview - Wade appears to be at his best in sprint races, but he's young and is working very hard to improve his Olympic times. His 2015 efforts at Gear West, Green Lake and Lakes Country were super impressive, the kind of foundation that a great career can be built upon.

ED. MTN had planned to add some personal, non-tri stuff about Wade but were unable to reach him until after this post was in the content queue. A second post which highlights his non-athletic side will appear in a few days. FYI, he's a cool guy.