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Mav's Picks - Noah, Corbin & Sean...

Tuesday, 03 October 2023 00:10

2023 Junior of the Year – Boys Nominees - 

By Mav

The Minnesota Multisport Honors Committee did not officially convene in 2022, but “Matt” and “Damon” did highlight several nomination-worthy athletes at the end of the season. This year, the MMHs are back with two new committee members – “Mav” and “Goose” – who are excited to give well-deserved shoutouts and nominations to our state’s top multisport athletes. And yes, at the end of this season, the committee will officially vote for who they believe to be athletes of the year.

Last week, Goose name-dropped six junior boys who had awesome seasons. 2022 was the year of Noah Billings, then 16 and now 17, from Rochester. He faced little competition, but this year was different. In Mav’s opinion, there are two other guys challenging Noah to be named the boys’ Junior of the Year. In alphabetical order, here are the three young men that I am nominating.

Noah Billings: Noah would have won this honor last year if official nominees and winners were named. This is his third nomination. He won two races outright, had two seconds, and placed 5th at Apple Duathlon. Additionally, Noah got much faster in 2023....

Corbin Deichman: Corbin, at only 15 years old, is posting run splits faster than a lot of the state’s top elite athletes. In 2023 he placed on the overall podium twice and had another 5th overall result. Although only non-drafting results are considered by the MMH Committee, it’s noted that Corbin’s draft-legal racing is excellent, too.

Sean Pickle: Sean, 18, had a breakout season winning the junior title at every race he entered except for Green Lake Sprint, where he was outdueled by Deichman and fellow draft-legal racer Tommy Runkle. Sean’s improvement from the past is extremely impressive, and the fact that he races prolifically helped him to earn this nomination.