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Athletes of the Decade - Women Finalists...
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Monday, 14 December 2020 23:10
ATHLETES OF THE DECADE - In 2010 the MMA Committee presented "Athlete of the Decade" awards to DAVID THOMPSON and CATHY YNDESTAD, who were perceived to be Minnesota's most successful multisport athletes during the period of 2001 to 2010. CY was a four-time Minnesota Triathlete of the Year, the 2009 US Athlete of the Year and had posted approximately 60 of the 75-80 wins she has amassed in her stellar career. Likewise, at least 60 of DKT's 109 career victories were recorded during the first decade of this millennium.
Here are the four women who are finalists for 2011-2020 AOD honors.
RUTH BRENNAN MORREY (Rochester - photo)
Active Seasons -7 (2011-2017)
MMAs: 5
Also: 3x US Duathlete of the Year
Career Wins: 17 (42 starts) ...
HEATHER LENDWAY (St. Paul- photo R)
Active Seasons: 6 (2012-2017)
MMAs: 6
Also: 2015 US Pro Rookie of the Year, 2013 & 2014 US National Amateur Champion, 2014 World Amateur Champion
Career Wins: 29 (62 starts)
Also: Seven of the nine course records (Minnesota races) she set still stand.
GABY BUNTEN (St. Paul - photo below)
Active Seasons: 8 (2012-2019)
Career Wins: 16
COMMENT: Gaby has been a major presence on the national amateur scene since 2017. Her wins at Nationals (2018), South Beach (2017 and 2018), St. Anthony's (2019), plus her 2nd (!) at Gold Coast Worlds (2018) certainly attest to that.
HA
NNA GRINAKER (St. Paul - photo L)
Active Seasons: 4 (2016-2019)
Career Wins: 12 (22 starts)
MMAS: 7 (3 x Triathlete of the Year, 2016 Rookie of the Year, 3 x Performance of the Year)
COMMENT: The Committee debated over whether to include Hanna because she only has four seasons worth of racing. A look at her scorecard, though, made it impossible to exclude her. She has excelled at all the major distances, i.e. Sprint, Olympic, 70.3 and Ironman.
A
lso receiving scrutiny:
CATHY YNDESTAD (Apple Valley)
Active Seasons: 5 (2011-2014, 2019)
Wins as a Minnesota resident during this period: 16
BECKY YOUNGBERG (Eden Prairie)
Athletes needed to be active for at least 4 seasons during the past decade to be eliigible for consideration. Becky was brilliant in the thee seasons she raced, collecting 21 of the 33+ victories she has amassed in her mulisport career.
SUZIE FOX (Chaska)
Suzie won more than 30 races during the eight seasons she raced between 2011 and 2020. She also captained Team MInnesota once.
Others considered include KORTNEY HAAG (15 wins), CHRISTINA ROBERTS (25 wins), (DIANE HANKEE (35+ wins) and ELAINE NELSON (19 wins).
NEXT SUNDAY: Men's "Athlete of the Decade" finalists.
