FEATURES

Why Bri?

Thursday, 01 December 2016 23:10

By An Anonymous Guy

Sometimes you get what you want. Sometimes you don't. That is tha nature of democracy.

The process determining the MMAs is a democratic one, which, as one of the Selectors, who shall remain nameless, I appreciate and respect. Naturally, I don't always get what I want....

One such category was Male Master of the Year. Duluth's world class 50-plusser Brian Bich won the award. Good choice.

But he wasn't my choice. I was one of the two selectors (of five) who favored Kevin O'Connor (photo above) for MOY.

The arguments for Brian were strong:

- As Minnesota's only national champion, his AG winning effort at Nationals was perceived as the Master Performance of the Year. Supporting this conclusion was the fact that he outraced Matthew Payne, Wade Cruser and Josh Blankenheim, three of the top four men on 2016 Team Minnesota. The only Minnesota male who beat him was Kris Spoth (#7 on Team Minnesota), but not by much. Eleven seconds, in fact.

- Next, his overall amateur win at Miami Man Half IM (which hosted this year's Half IM Nationals) in totally yucky weather (wind and rain) was very impressive. His margin of victory was 8:12 over a 20-24 guy from south Florida. Also, his margin over the first woman, two-time Brazilian Olympian Carlo Moreno was 25:12.

Thus, Brian's effort at Miami Man was perceived as the premier effort by a male Minnesota master at long distance (half IM or greater) in 2016.

Next, his victorious effort at Timberman Sprint, where he beat six-time champ Adam HImes by 2:53, was a masters course record.

And finally, using MMA's conservative age-grading system (.8% speed decline/yr starting at age 43), it was concluded that IF the system were used, then Kevin, who placed 5th in 1:34:16, should have beaten Brian--9th in 1:37:08--by 6:44, not 2:52. Understanding that most AG systems favor older athletes, the actual math was thrown out, but it was maintained by the majority that, relatively speaking, Bich's performance was at least equal to O'Connor's.

Brian raced four times and all of his efforts were impressive. But was the total of his resume better than Kevin's?

Here are some arguments that favored O'Connor:

- Volume. He raced in eight multisport events, which was twice as many as Brian raced in. He won two of those contests--Falls Du and Liberty Olympic--and podiumed in three others. He never finished out of the top five. And he set masters records at Falls Du and Lake Waconia.

- Yes, Bich's effort at Nationals was stellar, but how much moreso than Kevin's 2nd place / MR - 1:22:06 at Lake Waconia, where he outraced five Team Minnesota guys? Few of our state's triathletes had representative performances at hot and muggy Nationals, whereas O'Connor's effort at Waconia was, in my thinking, the male master POY in 2016.

- Duathlon. Kevin's resume included three outstanding run-bike-run performances: A win at Falls (MR), a 2nd at Gear West (behind two-time US DOY Matthew Payne) and a 5th at Apple.

So there it is. My reasons for favoring O'Connor over Bich. Volume. Versatility (du and tri). Records (two). In my mind, both men are worthy and though this was one of those times that democracy did not yield the result I wanted, I am nevertheless fine with the outcome.