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Masters Men Team Minnesota - Part II...

Thursday, 29 December 2016 23:10

Here is our unofficial 2016 Men's Masters Team Minnesota:

1. KEVIN O'CONNOR (45, Medina) - Slam dunk selection. Winner of two races outright and placing 5th on "overall" Team Minnesota, KO is the only Minnesota master who was not beaten by a fellow 40-plusser in 2016.

2. DAVID HOLDEN (47, North Hudson, WI) - Eighth on overall Team MInnesota, David won four of the six races he entered and was beaten by a fellow master--Chap Achen--on only one occasion. Clear choice for #2 on this list.

3. BRIAN BICH (50, Duluth) - Minnesota's only National Champion in 2016, and winner of the MOY award, where age-grading was employed, Bich won two of the four races he did last season. He was beaten only once by a Minnesota master (Kevin O'Connor).

4. BRETT LOVAAS (41, Minnetonka - photo L) - Brett was the overall masters champ at three of the four regional races he did. He grew a beard in 2016 and it looks awesome. He kinda looks like Rutherford B. Hayes....

5. SCOTT MYERS (41, Plymouth) - Scott only raced in our region's most competitive events. His times and placings were uniformly  impressive.

6. MIKE BUENTING (41, Chanhassen) - One outright win, plus masters victories at Oakdale (2nd overall) and Buffalo Olympic were highlights, as was his 6th place overall finish (2nd master) at Du Nationals. Had his results at Sprint and Olympic Nationals, and Toughman, matched the rest of his resume, he would have placed as high as 3rd or 4th on this list.

7. GREG DUMMER (45, Minneapolis) - In regional action, Greg never finished lower than 7th overall. He set a Masters Record at Graniteman Clearwater and was an overall podium finisher (1st Master) at Graniteman Big Lake.

8. THOMAS ANDERSON III (40, Minneapolis - photo R) - Thomas made four overall podiums in 2016, and took the  masters title in each. His efforts at Liberty Olympic (11th overall - 5th master) and Nationals (18th AG) are why he isn't ranked higher on this list.

9. DAVID CARNEY (43, Minneapolis) - David's podiums and masters titles at Blaine and Trinona were the highlights that landed him on our list.

10. TONY SCHILLER (58, Eden Prairie) - The 2015 US MOY remains, at age 58, remains competitive with our state's top masters. He was 2nd master (8th overall) at Lake Minnetonka behind Lovaas, and 3rd master (11th overall) at Heart of the Lakes bedind O'Connor and Bich. Only one Minnesota master (Dummer) was faster than Tony at Sprint Nationals. At Olympic Nationals he was beaten only by Bich, but was able to outperform Lovaas and Buenting.

NOTE: Age Grading was not used.