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Tiff, Andrea & Becky...
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Saturday, 26 October 2024 00:10
Photo - Kadie & Becky at Green Lake.
By Simon
2024 Female Master of the Year – Leaving JULIA WEISBECKER off the list of official list of F-GMOY nominees was heart-wrenching. Garfunkel and I are still not sure that we made the right choices. Similarly painful was leaving BETTINA KEPPERS (photo below) off our list of nominees for Female Master of the Year.
Then there's KADIE HOKANSON, who excelled at sprint, Olympic and 70.3 in 2024. We had to do a deep dive into race histories to determine her MMH fate.
What all this means is that there were five truly deserving women in this category, and had 2024 AG National Champion HEATHER LENDWAY turned forty before Timberman, she too would have been eligible for a F-MOY nomination.
Here are the official nominees and their 2024 highlights:
TIFFANY KARI CIZMAS, 44, Duluth
1st overall woman @ Buzz Ryan
1st overall woman @ One Last Tri Intermediate
2nd overall woman @ Brewhouse Intermediate
2nd overall woman / 1st Master @ Square Lake Short Course
4th overall woman / 1st Master @ Brewhouse Olympic
20th overall woman / 2nd AG @ Torremolinos (ESP) Age Group Worlds – Fastest MN woman...
Josh, Sam & Brandon are 2024 MOY Nominees...
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Thursday, 24 October 2024 00:10
By Simon
2024 MInnesota Multisport Honors - Determining the three nominees for female Master of the Year was tough, almost a excrutiating as determing the female Grand Master nominees. Selecting the three male MOY nominees, on the other hand, was a piece of cake. These guys were slam dunks. They are, in alpha order:
JOSH BLANKENHEIM,44, Duluth - Three outright wins in four regional starts, two in Masters records, all four in very fast times. Interestingly, his best effort may have been his 2nd place at Brewhouse International. His time there was 1:50:39.
SAM HAUCK, 40, Eden Prairie - Sam only raced three times, but posted major wins in two of them (Pigman Olympic and Timberman International), and a sub-2hour time (1st Master/ more than 5 minutes ahead of the 2nd place 40-plusser) at Maple Grove Olympic...
Noah, Corbin & Sean are 2024 JOY Nominees...
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Tuesday, 22 October 2024 00:10
By Garfunkel
Historically, the Minnesota Multisport Honor (MMH) for Junior of the Year (JOY) has been a coed category with 3-4 nominations per season. Over the last 6 seasons or so, due to a larger number of speedy juniors (aged 19 and under) turning in 3+ excellent results per season, we’ve given out MMHs for guys and girls. This year, too few junior girls turned in the requisite number of elite results, and the 2024 JOY will thus again be a coed category with only young men earning nominations. We hope this changes in 2025, but for now, here are the 3 juniors that Simon and I agree earned a JOY nomination:
Noah Billings, 18, Rochester:
3 overall wins, an Iowa state sprint-distance championship, and the winner at USAT’s Youth and Junior Nationals (non-drafting). Noah also stepped up to race olympic and half distances this year....
Praise for Julia...
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Sunday, 20 October 2024 00:10
By Garfunkel
In 2024, there were 4 women who deserved a Grand Master of the Year nomination. This made deciding on 3 official nominees an excruciatingly difficult task for Simon and me. We literally had days’ worth of back-and-forth emails debating which 3 women would make the cut, and who would just miss it. In the end, after both of us changed our mind because of the other’s arguments, we agreed that Jan, Christel, and Cheryl edged out Julia Weisbecker, 58, from Eagen by the narrowest of margins. I initially favored Julia over one of the women who did receive a nomination, and both Simon and I felt strongly that Julia needed her own shoutout.
This season saw Julia start off her campaign by rocking a 5:12:29 at Des Moines 70.3. She continued with a 4th overall at Chisago olympic in 2:23:22. This time, for a Grand Master woman, on the hot and windy day that transpired at Chisago’s Paradise Park, was insanely impressive. She wrapped up her year with a 3rd overall at Square Lake sprint....
Jan, Christel & Cheryl...
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Thursday, 17 October 2024 00:10
By Simon
As mentioned in Garfunkel's post, determining the three nominees for Female Grand Master of the Year was agonizing. The ultimate decision to leave JULIA WEISBECKER, 58, from Eagan, off the list was a toughie. And no, we are not sure that we made the right decision. In the end it came down to racing volume. Julia raced three times, each with elite results, while the other women turned in four or more great performances apiece. ...
