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Sibling Rivalry...

Monday, 05 March 2018 23:10

A dad asked us recently if two siblings had ever been nominated for the Junior of the Year award in the same season.

Good question.

Though there have always been families with multiple talented teen triathletes, there has never been a season where a pair of sisters or brothers were nominated for JOY. The closest we've come to that was in 2013, when Paige Danielson was almost nominated alongside her sister, Greta, who had won the award twice. Greta aged-up in 2014 paving the way for Paige to claim the award for herself.

Problems with nominating siblings are many. They tend to do the same races as their brothers or sisters, and one, typically the oldest, tends to win the battle for family bragging rights. If the siblings either chose different races or took turns in the Winners Circle, plus had outperformed other teens in the region, then it s conceivable that a pair of brothers or sisters could be nominated in the same year.

But that hasn't happened yet. Though it may happen soon, perhaps even this year.

Who are we talking about? The Lundquist sisters, Taylor, now 18, and Simone, now 16 (photo)....

Taylor won the JOY in 2017, and though Simone was in the nomination conversation, she was not named. But her potential was obvious. Will Simone be able to catch up to her sister this season, or next? Maybe. And if she does manage to outrace Taylor a time or two, or dominate the teen division in races that her sister doesn't enter, then it is very possible that we will have sibling nominees.

The Lundquists have two years to make this happen. 

Let's mention that their are other siblings to add to this conversation, notably the Deichman boys. Carter, now 17, was a strong JOY candidate last year. Carson, 15, will probably need another year or two to arrive at his brother's level. Still, there is enough time for Carson to catch up. We're anxious to see how the younger brother fares in 2019 and 2020.