Race Coverage

Weekend Stuff...

Sunday, 05 June 2011 15:14

* Pigman XX Notes - St. Paul's Dan Hedgecock won his third race of the year this morning at the 20th edition Pigman Sprint Triathlon. Sure, he was awesome in his victory at Gear West. And even awesomer in his record-setting effort at Apple.

Arguably, however, he turned in his awesomest performance to date at Little Pig, where he lowered the amateur course record by 28 seconds. Iowa's Patrick Davis and Circle Pines Patrick Parish, both of whom earned USAT Athlete of the Year Honorable Mentions in 2010, rounded out the men's podium. Seven-time Pigman Sprint champ Kevin O'Connor took fourth.

Former Rochesterite Joanna Hall finished 4th in the women's competition, her 1:15:39 was almost three minutes faster than her 2010 time, which landed her in 7th place. RESULTS

* Buffalo Tri Notes and other weekend stuff on the next page...

* Claire Bootsma is a great person, a super nurse, an accomplished gardener (photo L), a wonderful friend. She is also a very, very fast triathlete. The toothy tri-sophomore recorded the fourth, and by far the biggest, multi win of her young career this morning at the 8th annual Buffalo Olympic Triathlon. Before the race, Heidi Keller-Miler, who would finish 2nd today, bet one of the MTN Guys that no woman would better 2:15 on the new course which featured an elongated (41K+) bike route. Super solid swim and bike splits followed by an outrageous 37:33 10K run split delivered "Boots" to the timing mat in 2:10:28. Only Cathy Yndestad has a faster amateur clocking at this race (2:08:53 in 2010). Super Masters Keller-Miler, 46 (2:15:36), who won this race in 2007, and reigning Lake Minnetonka champ Sarah Mercer, 43 (2:16:02), claimed the other two podium spots, with Michelle Andres and Suzie Finger, both of whom are enjoying stellar seasons, claiming the 4th and 5th places. RESULTS

* Thunder Bay's Jon Balabuck (photo L) and Columbia Heights' Matthew Payne both torched Sam Hauck's amateur record (1:57:49, set in 2008) at Buffalo Olympic today. Jon, who was racing for the first time in two years following a heart problem that was first detected at Ironman Florida in 2009, combined sterling splits in each discipline for a final time of 1:56:06. Payne was similarly awesome from start to finish. He clocked a 1:56:40.

Interestingly, Sam Janicki appeared to be en route to a win when both legs began to cramp on the second lap the bike segment. Hobbling, he lost four minutes to Jon and Matt during the run. Still, he finished 3rd in 2:00:54.

The fastest individual time of the day was turned in by Aussie pro Chris Legh (1:53:19), who had also won this event in i2008, 2007 and 2006. RESULTS

* MTN congratulates Big Lake's insanely handsome Troy Anderson, 40, who picked up his third consecutive Buffalo Sprint victory this morning. His 57:13 was a masters record and the 2nd fastest clocking in the eight-year history of the event. Green Lake Du winner, Nathan Hoffman (58:03), and Jesse Nelson (58:43), a perennial podium finisher here, filled out the men's Top 3. Nathan and Jesse are very good looking, too.

The women's sprint was won by the ever-lovely Gillian (pronounced "Gill-lee-un") Auslander, 40, who set a masters best 1:05:08. Laura Swartz, 43, who won this race in 2008, placed 2nd for the 3rd consecutive year. Superior, Wisconsin's spirited Leann Bronson, 40, completed the masters sweep of the women's podium. Buffalo Sprint RESULTS

* Race Notes - St. Paul's David Thompson racked a 4th place finish this morning at the challenging Rev3-Quassy (CT) Half.

Who were the Top 3, you ask? You may have heard of these guys: 1. Craig Alexander (3:59:20), 2. Terenzo Bozzone (4:00:20), 3. Matty Reed (4:02:10). DKT's time was 4:04:34. His share of the $150,000 purse was $10,000!