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August 2018 - Athletes of the Month...

Monday, 03 September 2018 23:10

It makes us  sad that there is only one more month of multisport racing on the schedule. Four of the five months of Minnesota's tri/ du season are behind us, and we hope you agree that it has, once again, been exciting and enriching. We certainly hope that everyone races in September, as there are several great races ahead that deserve your support.

So, the purpose of today's post is to pay tribute to MTN's ATHLETES OF THE MONTH for August. Some categories were easy to deterimine; others, not so much.

Let's get to it.

- MALE TRIATHLETE OF THE MONTH - (Duh!) - WADE CRUSER, 31, Sauk Rapids (photo L)

Wade won FIVE triathlons in August, making him, we believe, the first Minnesota male to do so. So you know, SUZIE FOX racked up five Ws in June back in 2015.Three of Wade's victories established new course records, and his win at Maple Grove Olympic should receive serious consideration for a Performance of the Year nomination.

We'd like to say that other Minnesota men were part of the AOM  discussion, but we can't. Cruser rocked out at a level that his regional peers simply couln't match....

- FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE MONTH and MASTER OF THE MONTH - BECKY YOUNGNBER, 43, Eden Prairie. (top photo R)

Becky raced three times in August, winning on each occasion, setting two course records, and three masters records. Her win at Maple Grove, where she turned in a Heather Lendway-ian time of 2:05:01, will surely receive a Performance of the Year nomination. How could it not?

There was one other athlete in the conversation for female AOM: GABY BUNTEN. Gaby WON the USAT Age Group National Championship in August, and placed 13th in the National Sprint competition. DANI VSETECKA and HANNA GRINAKER also rocked POY-nomination worthy efforts last month, but they only raced once apiece. AOM consideration requires a minimum of two outstanding efforts in the month in question.

- MALE MASTER OF THE MONTH - KEVIN O'CONNOR, 47, Medina 

KO raced twice in August, placing 2nd overall both times. The performances produced masters records, despite some health issues at  Green Lake. He was seriously challenged for the MOM by MATTHEW PAYNE, who won at North Mankato, and placed 2nd at St. Paul Olympic behind Cruser. In the end, his win at North Mankato was discounted slightly due to lack of field depth, and the fact that his time was almost three minutes slower than the course record time he posted there in 2012. On the other hand, O'Connor's 1:56:06 crushed the prior MR at Maple Grove by almost four minutes and stands as the fourth fastest clocking in the history of the event.

- FEMALE GRAND MASTER OF THE YEAR - PAM STEVENS, 65, Sartell

Pam has raced seven times this season, and blown away her AG's course record six times, two of those performances coming in August: Evergreen (CO) Sprint and Maple Grove Olympic.

- MALE GRAND MASTER OF THE MONTH - TONY SCHILLER, 60, Eden Prairie

Like Gaby, Tony rocked hard on the national stage. He won his AG at Olympic Nationals, and earned the silver the next day at Sprint Nationals.

- JUNIOR OF THE MONTH - TAYLOR LUNDQUIST, 18, Osseo

This was a difficult category to determine, for two reasons. First, it came down to a batte between sisters. Second, the junior performances of the month were turned in by KYLE SWENSON, 15, at Maple Grove Sprint, and MACY IYER, 14, who blew YWCA's junior CR away. But those athletes did not meet the minimum volume criteria, i.e. they each had only one truly outstanding effort last month, not two or more.

Now let's compare Taylor's August scorecard with that of her sister, SIMONE, 16. Taylor placed 2nd overall / 1st junior at Big Lake Sprint, and 4th overall / 1st junior at Brewhouse Sprint. Simone won Young Life Sprint (her sister was not in the field), and placed 3rd at Lakes Country. Without further analysis, it would appear that Simone should have the edge here for JOM. Looking deeper, though, she had also raced at Big Lake and Brewhouse, but finished behind her sister. Next, her times at the other races were solid, though not quite in her sister's league, and speed relative to an event's highest standards are central to our selections.