Race Coverage

Paige Prevailed...

Thursday, 13 April 2023 00:10

IRONMAN MADISON 7O.3 - A pair of former Minnesota Rookie of the Year recipients finished 1-2 yesterday at Madison 70.3.

2019 ROY PAIGE SCHULZ relied on her signature strong running to overtake 2013 ROY NICOLE HEININGER, who relocated to Wisconsin a few years back. Nicole posted superior swim and bike splits, but it wasn't quite enough. In the end, Schulz's performance proved to be 16-seconds faster than Heininger's. Additionally, her 4:48:43 was a PR for this race. Her prior best was 4:52:03 in 2019, when she placed 5th.

Just missing a podium spot, but garnering the women's Masters title was KORTNEY HAAG, 42. Her 4th place time was 4:52:32, placing her 3:22 iahead of her nearest masters competition.

Almost cracking the women's Top 10 was 45-49 women's winner CATHERINE LEE, 48. Her time was 5:02:54 on Madison's challenging course, which was 11-minute  faster than her nearest divisional rival.

One other Minnesota woman managed to dominate her AG. We're talking about JAN GUENTHER, 63, a two-time overall women's amateur winner at Ironman Wisconsin (2002, 2010). Jan's 5:19:54 was more than 25-minute quicker than her age's group's  runner-up....

Divisional podium finishes were earned by former MInnesota Junior of the Year ARIANNA WERTS (2nd 18-24W - 5:14:45) and BETH HASSLER (2nd 65-69W - 6:01:50).

As expected Minnesota's two fastest men were PRESTON YOUNGDAHL and DAVID KOPPEL. Youngdahl placed 6th overall (4:12:53), and Koppel took 10th (4:17:59). The race was won by 2021 Ironman Tulsa amateur champion (8:46:54) and 2022 Door County Half champion ALFREDO RAMIREZ PINHO. The operating room technician from Verona, Wisconsin, who transitioned from elite soccer to triathlon, set an amateur course record 4:00:46.