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More Slam Dunks...

Wednesday, 16 November 2016 05:10

On Tuesday, we talked about two of the five MMA categories that we considered to be  "Slam Dunks." Here are the other three:

FEMALE MASTER OF THE YEAR - CHERYL ZITUR (photo above with family) - Team Minnesota is comprised of ten men and ten women. The selectors actually ranked 28 women and 24 men. Zitur, who was named Minnesota MOY for the last three years and is recognized as one of the Top five 50+ female triathletes in the US, was the only female master who was ranked, as she was in 2015, in the Top 15. The fact that she's 51 and ranked higher than athletes a decade younger than she, is significant. She WON three of the five races she entered and set one course record, two masters records and another divisional mark.

GRAND MASTER OF THE YEAR - JAN GUENTHER, 57  (photo R) - Jan is a world class amateur multisportswoman who is and always has been a record-breaking machine. In 2016 she blew away divisional records in four of the five races she entered. Check out her scorecard:

- 4th overall @ Liberty Half - 5:07:57 - Beat Edie Fischer's AG record by two minutes. FYI, Edie is one of Canada's multipsort pioneers.

- 4th overall @ Lake Minnetonka

- 7th overall @ Gear West Duathlon - Lowered 55-59W mark by 15:08!

- 8th overall @ Toughman Minnesota - 5:06:31 - Beat Lori Beck's AG record by 5:22. Lori is from New Jersey and has been one of the East's most decorated masters triathletes for more than 15 years. NOTE: Adding to the salience of Jan's performance is the fact that wetsuits were not allowed in this year's race.

- 55-59W Course Record at Ironman Wisconsin. Her 11:18:28 lowered Robyn Williams' prior AG best by 21:01.

Jan owns 18 MMAs. Also a record.

FEMALE TRIATHLETE OF THE YEAR - HANNA GRINAKER - Hanna consistently beat her fellow elite peers. Her dominating performance at Lake Waconia, which arguably had the deepest women's tri field in the state this year, earned the POY award. She was crowned overall state champ at Heart of the Lakes and was top Minnesotan--2nd overall to 2016 USAT National Champion Alyssa Doehla (NC), who will be a USAT AOY nominee--at Life Time Tri - Minneapolis. Her rookie effort at Olympic distance produced a 2nd place finish in 2:10:58, and her two half IM efforts were insanely fast for a tri freshman (4:47:07 & 4:41:31).

Tomorrow, we'll discuss one of the most controversial categories:Male Performance of the  Year.