Race Coverage

Successful Defenses....

Sunday, 01 March 2020 23:10

By USATRIATHLON.ORG

MINNEAPOLIS — Joel LaFrance (Plymouth, Minn.) and Jan Guenther (Long Lake, Minn.) successfully defended their overall national titles Sunday at the USA Triathlon Winter Triathlon National Championships, as 23 athletes earned victories in their age groups. The run-bike-ski competition served as the official kickoff to USA Triathlon’s 2020 National Championships calendar....

The race was held as part of the Loppet Foundation’s Loppet Winter Triathlon at Theodore Wirth Park for the second consecutive year. Athletes covered a 6-kilometer cross-country ski, followed by an 18-kilometer mountain bike and 5-kilometer trail run through the Theodore Wirth trail system. 


LaFrance became the back-to-back men’s overall national champion with a time of 1 hour, 7 minutes, 16 seconds. The 40-year-old Minnesotan is a regular on the Winter Triathlon Nationals podium, having also won the overall title in 2016 and earning the runner-up spot in 2017. Jacob Keehan (Maple Grove, Minn.), 32, was the men’s runner-up for the third straight year in 1:09:36, while Dmitry Chernov (Seattle, Wash.), 30, rounded out the overall podium in 1:11:18. In addition to their overall podium finishes, LaFrance and Keehan also earned national titles in their respective age groups. 
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