Race Coverage

Another Win For Heininger...

Monday, 30 July 2018 23:10

Photo - Erin Ladendorf, who placed 12th, celebrates with winner / good friend Nicole Heininger.

CHISAGO LAKES SPRINT - Based on the registration list we saw the week before the race, we expected the men's race to come down to a battle between three former winners. Past champs were not enrolled on the women's side, so we predicted that phenomenal 53-year-old CHERYL ZITUR would collect her 13th career win. 

When all was said and done at Paradise Park on Sunday, though, Cheryl had to settle for 3rd place. This did not mean that she didn't live up to our high expectations. She raced brilliantly. Not only did she rewrite her own AG's race record,  she turned in the fastest clocking ever here for a female master.

Her time was 1:27:41.....

Why didn't she win? Because past winners NICOLE HEININGER and SUZIE FOX decided a day-or-so before the event to sign up. And they did, as one would expect, place 1-2, with Heininger claiming the gold in a swift 1:24:13. Leading from lake to chute, the W was her third consecutive here, and  the 14th of her multisport career. 

Fox, winner of 42 multis since her Rookie of the Year season in 2009, one of which was here in 2012, needed 1:26:01 to go the combined 25.35-mile routes.

Back to the guys. Defending champ MATT PAYNE was our pick to repeat, and we were wrong about that. KEVIN O'CONNOR proved to be invincible. Neither Payne, a four-time Chisago champ (thrice in the half IM), nor 2016 winner JOSH BLANKENHEIM could reel him in. In the end, KO's 1:16:33 lowered Payne's masters record by three seconds, not that Kevin, 47, cares about such things. He comes to win. Every time. 

Payne kept it close, finishing 21-seconds in arrears. Blank was another 44 seconds back.

Other records besides O'Connor's and Zitur's MRs were chalked up by ROBIN TEDLUND (60-64W), LISA WHEELER (65-69W) and Wisconsin's RICHARD TRENKMANN (70-74M).

Two hundred and eighty-seven or the 802 Chicago Lakes finishers participated in the Sprint.  RESULTS

Photo R - (L-R) - Josh Blankenheim, Matt Payne, Kevin O'Connor.