Race Coverage

First-Time Champions...

Wednesday, 16 November 2022 00:10

 ED. Between now and January 1, MTN will intersperse new contet with stories posted during the 2022 racing season. Today we return to Chisago.

CHISAGO LAKES SPRINT & OLYMPIC COVERAGE - It certainly appeared that 2021 Chisago Sprint winner DEANA JAGIELO would claim her second consecutive women's title. The pre-race favorite from Chaska was the first woman to cross the finish line. Bolstered by the fact that she already had a Sprint victory (Trinona) on her 2022 resume, it seemed logical that her Chisago win would stand up. It would take a breakout effort by any of her later-wave rivals to upset this apple cart...

But that's exactly what happened. Starting four minutes after Deana was KELLI MORETTER-BUE, a recognized regional talent, albeit one who, unlike Jagielo, had yet to win a race.

Three minutes and fifty-five seconds after Deana finished, Kelli sprinted across the finish line. She knew she just popped one of her best performances ever, and she was stoked. Elated by her effort, she became  even "elateder" moments later when she learned that she  had won by a five-second margin, the closest women's  finish in the 16-year history of the event.

(Kelli has threatened to submit a race report. We hope she makes good on that threat.)

Finishing 3rd for the women in the Sprint was Waverly, Iowa's decorated JANET MCCULLOUGH, now 57. Few if any women in the Hawkeye State have won more tris and dus over the years than Ms. McCullough.

Kelli was not the only first-time champion at Chisago. The women's Olympic race was won by BG TUCKER, who like Moretter-Bue, managed to post a narrow--38-seconds--win over a pre-race favorite, in this case, SHARON HEYER.

Tri Fitness coach VICKI OSTENDORF finished 3rd, demonstrating that Janet McCullough was not the only 50-genarian capable of claiming a podium step.

The men's  Sprint and  Olympic unfolded in somewhat more predictable fashion. Sprint co-favorites BRAD WOODFORD and JOSH MORK finished 1-2, while Olympic co-faves IAN BORMETT and ANDREW KERSHAW finished 2-1.

Huh? 

On paper, Bormett, a UW-Madison triathlete, had superior credentials. Only 21, he had already broken the 2-hour mark on a few occasions, a feat that Kershaw had yet to accomplish. Ian's 2nd place finish at Maple Grove last season also appeared to give him an advantage. 

But Kershaw's fast win at Timberman Sprint three weeks earlier demonstrated the kind of competitive trajectory that demanded that he be taken seriously.

Andrew's bike split closed Bormett's 1:15 gap after the swim and gave him a slight cushion. Bormett would post a slightly faster run, though not enough to overtake Kershaw. The win was Andrew's 2nd consecutive and third of his tri career. His time 1:55:25 was 1:07 faster than Bormett's, though almosy half of that deficit was a result of  Bormett's slowish T2. 

A combined 400+ athletes finished the Sprint and Olympic races, which were contested in warm, and extremely windy, conditions.  RESULTS