Race Coverage

Top "Billings"...

Tuesday, 14 June 2022 00:10

12th TRINONA - It may not have been the worse day for racing, but it certainly wasn't optimal either. Excessive humidity was an issue.The air was heavy and saturated, So, it wasn't a day for record-setting. For many, survival was the goal.

Still, one athlete of the 400-or-so who raced managed to trash a long-standing mark. He didn't just redefine the standards in his Age Group, he won the Sprint race, doing so by a huge margin. Wer'e talking about teen phenom NOAH BILLINGS (photo L). The 16-year-old Rochesterian covered the .25 - 11 - 5K route in 55:49, breaking the Junior CR by 1:18. The runner-up, MIKE KARAU, who like Billings has taken his racing to another level in 2022, by 5:14.

Billings was coming off a win and Junior CR at Tri Clear Lake (IA) two weeks earlier, an effort that complimented his overall Top 5 performances at Apple and Tri By Knight (IA - Jr.CR). He is the clear 2022 Junior of the Year frontrunner...

Noah Shared the gold medal podium step with 2021 Chisago Sprint winner DEANA JAGIELO. Deana's win was more hard-fought than Billings' in that  only 14-seconds separated her from her neareast challenger, 2018 Junior of the Year ARIANA WERTS. Jagielo won this battle on the strenght of her superior run split.

Former UW triathlete ANDREW ERNST of Onalaska dominated the first two legs of the men's race, then cruised to a 9:23 win over runner-up MICHAEL TATE. Ernst's time was 2:06:50 over Trinona's extremely challenging course, which was almost four minutes better than his 3rd-place finish here in 2019.

Tate was coming off an 8th-place finish the previous weekend at Buffalo Olympic.

On paper the women's race appeard to be a battle of elite masters ELAINE NELSON and DIANE HANKEE. Prior to last month's Apple Duathlon, which she won in 2021, Diane admitted that she wasn't traing seriously. She skipped Apple, using Trinona as her rustoleum race. Eschewing registering for the Elite wave, she was not expecting to challenge for the win, so it looked like Nelson would win easily.

Looks can be decieving, though. UM grad ERICA HINCHCLIFFE, now liiving in Grayslake, Illinois, gave Nelson some competition. Elaine needed a superior bike splite, one that overruled Hinchcliffe's superior times in both the swim and run to post her 41-second win.

Also finishing ahead of Hankee was CHELSEA DUNKLE.

Twenty-four of the 397 total finishers participated in Trinona's duathlon, which was won by BRANDON KRANZ and EMILY BRANDT.  - RESULTS