Race Coverage
Heather and Curt Are Back! Kyle is the Real Deal...
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Monday, 21 June 2021 00:10
LAKE MINNETONKA TRIATHLON COVERAGE - Heather and Curt are back! Kyle is the Real Deal! Henry is on the Rookie of the Year radar! These are some of the storylines defining last Saturday's Lake Minnetonka Triathlon, which as always was an excellent event.
Let's start with HEATHER LENDWAY's triumphant return to triathlon after a four-year hiatus. She performed like the Heather of yesteryear; like the Athlete of the Decade Heather.
Where was the rust? Your guess is as good as ours.
Her swim was the third fastest of the day, just seconds behind the men's leaders. After crushing the bike, she entered T2 in fourth place overall behind the eventual men's podium. A great run split (18:44 / 3-mile) eventually landed her in 5th place overall. She was only passed by one male athlete, a former college track and cross country star at UMD named HENRY JESSEN, who is also a decorated swimmer, and, according to our research, has done only one prior triathlon. If this is true, we have our current frontrunner for 2021 Rookie of the Year.
Back to Heather. Placing 5th overall, her time was a ridiculous 1:07:57, a clocking that is second only to the course record 1:04:53 she set in 2014, the year she won both Nationals and Worlds and was named US Athlete of the Year. ...
Lycra, Dorky Helmets & Big Wins...
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Sunday, 13 June 2021 00:10
By David Koppel
Buffalo Olympic Race Report - Yesterday (June 6) was my first triathlon finish since Kona 2019. It was so long awaited and I was more excited than ever to line up next to plenty of talented MN triathletes and see where I stood. I wanted my first sub 2 hour Olympic distance race, but the weather gods laughed at that idea! It was 78° at 17-19mph winds at the start of the race. The goal was to be off the bike in striking distance of perennial powerhouse and retired pro triathlete, David Thompson (DKT).
.9 mile swim (11th/226): My swim was slow and I got rocked in the last .3 miles by some pretty big rollers. Apparently over 50 of the 600 racers were pulled out of the swim due to the conditions. I had two friends and my father-in-law to yell out how far back I was from front swimmers. 4:00 back out of the water from DKT (eek!) ...
2021 Swim-Off: Lap Swimmers - 3, Triathletes - 1...
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Friday, 11 June 2021 00:10
By Doobie Kurus
Here is a recap of the 2nd Annual SWIM-Off to Summer that took place Saturday June 5th. We had about 150 people signed up again, which included a 60/40 split field of "triathletes" to "swimmers". With temperatures moving into the upper 90s that afternoon, what better place to be than in the lake swimming? In our first year (2019), TEAM Lap Swimmers swept the podium in all 3 race distances, and we had to go all the way down to 7th place before a member of TEAM Triathletes emerged in Christina Roberts. Would the triathletes fare better this year, or would the lap swimmers prove once again that they rule the open water?
The Sprint (.3 mile) race turned out to be an actual sprint, as swimmers Skylar Percy (13) of Victoria and Nat Roberts (14) of Decorah, IA raced out of the water and onto the beach finishing in 6 minutes and 14 seconds. Bob Oliker and Parker Larson came in 2nd and 3rd, respectively for the men, and Stefanie Larson and (last year's winner) Ingrid Jeske, did the same for the women's side....
Eckhoff Breaks Out....
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Thursday, 10 June 2021 00:10
16th BUFFALO SPRINT COVERAGE - As in the women's Olympic distance race, a darkhorse claimed the bronze medal podium spot in the Sprint, placing behind amazing 56-year-old CHERYL ZITUR, which is pronounced "Zitter," not "Zee-ter," who rocked her fourth win here, and 2013 Buffalo Sprint winner CATHERINE LEE, 47. Zitur was also the only athlete in the sprint field to lower an Age Group record, which is something she does every time she races. ...
It's Koppel's Turn...
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Wednesday, 09 June 2021 00:10
15th BUFFALO OLYMPIC TRIATHLON - Men's Race - It's fun to watch the birth of stars. Triathlon stars, that is. Some rise to the status in just a year-or so. Examples include Heather Lendway, Ruth Brennan Morrey, David Thompson, Dan Hedgecock, Claire Bootsma, Kortney Haag.
Others take a tad longer, like two or three years. Patrick Parish , Cathy Yndestad, Matt Payne fit this profile.
And there are those that take a relatively long time. Several years. In these cases, it's pleasantly surprising when it happens, and very encouraging to ambitious athletes who have yet to make their mark.
JOSH MORK has been a triathlete for a long time, more than a decade. He was a "solid" competitor for much of that time. But in 2019 he emerged as a true star, a national class amateur triathlete...
Darkhorses Shine at Buffalo Olympic...
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Monday, 07 June 2021 00:10
15th BUFFALO OLYMPIC - Forecasted heat and strong winds portended a higher than average no-show rate for yesterday's Buffalo Triathlon. An encouraging 682 athletes were registered, and 541 crossed the finish line....
