Race Coverage

Kevin Found $5; Patrick Found a Win....

Tuesday, 26 June 2012 02:45

(Cool Nick Morales Photo - A great-to-be-alive day in Waconia, Minnesota. Nick also photogged the Matt Payne pic used on page two. Thanks again, Nick.)

Lake Waconia Coverage - At precisely 8:30 am SST (Snitko Standard Time) last Sunday the elite wave dolphined into the atypically sedate waters of Lake Waconia, the picturesque body of water for which the iconic sprint triathlon, now 23-years-of-age, is named. Moments earlier, race founder / former director Tom K sang the National anthem and Kevin O'Connor, who didn't run at Iowa State University, found a five dollar bill in the shallows.

The day was blessed, it seemed. The vibe that morning was all about good things and being happy.

The race that followed was bursting with highlights; not just on the elite side; on every side....

At 9:51:33 (SST) 2011 Best of the US National Champion Matthew Payne (photo below R) triumphantly crossed the finish line, career victory #18 apparently, as they say, in the bag. Coming off the bike in 2nd place, only Alex Hooke, who was coming off a big win (i.e. 1st amateur) at RochesterFest the week before, and the always fast-closing Patrick Parish, a former winner here (2010) and someone who wasn't too far back at this point, could keep Matt off the Top Step. Payne put the pedal to the metal, throwing down on his adversaries with extreme prejudice.

Parish, as is his MO, out-split everyone on the final leg, but the course lacked sufficient distance for him to reel in the turtle-loving Matt Payne. PP landed in silver medal position. Hooke hung in there, grabbing the final automatic BOUS Invitation.

At 11:36 SST, Matt Payne was shown a photo on Tim Novotny's cell phone. His (Matt's) wetsuit and his other gear were too widely spaced in T2, which Payne learned is a USAT felony. Novotny, a great guy who was also the event's Head Official, issued a 2-minute penalty for something, the pompous technical verbage for which we don't recall. Equipmental Geographical Infraction, or some such.

Payne was now, and would remain in perpetuity, in 3rd place. Bummer. Parish was now the official winner, something he's done 25 times since 2008. Yes, PP is Minnesota's winningest multisportsman in the last half-decade.

Matt shrugged his shoulders, had a couple more hot dogs, a beer or two, then went over to Ross Weinzierl's party. Being a champion for one hour and 45 minutes was better than not having been a champion at all. The day's happy vibe was still in place, though there was a brief, ever-so-slight ripple in The Force.

In MTN's coverage of the women's race, we threw a lot of praisey words at Stephanie Solfelt, who finished 2nd in what was clearly her best performance ever. On the men's side, Marcus Stomberg turned in a "Star is Born" type of effort, too. Placing 4th in a race with more national class dudes than you can shake a stick at is a big deal; a totally cool thing. Stromberg's performances at COLT and Buffalo Olympic were impressive. But this one was extra special.

Marcus and O'Connor, a two-time runner-up her at LWT, grabbed the two BOUS Passdown slots. Kevin probably spent his 5-spot at the nearest McDonalds.

The question of whether there is a better sprint course tri in our region than Lake Waconia came up after the race. We don't know the guy's name, but he looked kinda like Harvey Skees, only different. Great teeth. We pondered his query. Gosh, there's a lot of great sprints in our state. HOLT. Minneman. Graniteman-Big Lake. Manitou, etc. The list, like the hair on the back of