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M & Ms, Girlfriends & Katie's Gun Show...
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Tuesday, 01 April 2025 00:10
GRANITEMAN BIG LAKE OLYMPIC COVERAGE - We don't much about NATHAN LASSELLE, other than that he is young and wears a UM tri kit. He captured our attention in 2023 when he placed 2nd at Big Lake Olympic. So we did some research, starting by Googling the UM Tri Team. We learned at lot:
Nathan Lasselle - "I am this year’s Fundraising Coordinator. I am from Maple Grove, Minnesota, and I am majoring in Chemical Engineering. My hobbies include playing clarinet, being outdoors in nature, weight lifting, eating M&Ms and of course swimming, biking, and running. My favorite part of the team is the friendships that are formed. Many of my best friends were met on the team. My favorite memory of the team is when we went tubing after Pleasant Prairie Tri."
Lasselle, an exuberant clarinet-playing, M & M aficionado (Who isn't?) with fundraising skills is a faster in all three diciplines this year than he was in 2023, when he posted a 2:19:47 second place finish at Big Lake Olympic, which proudly features four bike miles more than standard Olympic routes. Last Saturday at this year's Big Lake Olympic, he won the race, though he needed to overcome a rather slow first transition to eventually track down and pass early leader NOAH BILLINGS, who would keep things close until the run, where he proved to be about 10-seconds per mile faster. Billings, whose girlfriend (phot below) was watching him race for the first time, was justifiably pleased with his effort. ...
2024 July Triathletes of the Month...
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Saturday, 29 March 2025 00:10
Who were the most successful Minnesota Triathletes in July? Needing at least two outstanding performances to qualify, except for "Performance of the Month," here are the July 2024 AOMs.
PERFORMANCE OF THE MONTH - Men
SPENCER SYVERTSON, 28, Alexandria (photo L) - New Race Record at Allexandria Sprint
Josh Blankenheim's win at Buzz Ryan was also considered, as was UM student, Nathan KIm's huge win at Chisago 70.3. Kim claims Middleton, Wisconsin as his home, thus we were unable to determine his eligibility. If Nathan were recognized as a Minnesota athlete, he would have been honored here.
PERFORMANCE OF THE MONTH - Women
CARYN HERRICK WIKMAN, 34, St. Louis Park - Win @ Chisago Olympic - 2:10:45
A 2:10 is an awesome time for an elite amateur, but what makes Caryn's effort more remarkable
Is that she finished less than 9-minutes behind the elite male winner, and not the ususal dozen or more...
Kim & Jasper...
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Wednesday, 26 March 2025 00:10
CHISAGO LAKES 70.3 COVERAGE - In the days leading up to this year's races, ELENA JASPER decided not to race in the Olympic event, and instead tackle the 70.3...
Caryn & Jack, Cheryl and Nick...
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Sunday, 23 March 2025 00:10
CHISAGO LAKES OLYMPIC COVERAGE - There were plenty of awesome performances in Sunday's Chisago Lakes Olympic Triathlon. The race is young, only three years old, and many of the AG records are a bit soft, so it wasn't earth-shattering that eleven of the sixteen non-open class (00-19, 40 & over) age groups saw record times despite the heat and wind. Some of those performances were truly special, like JULIA WESIBECKER's 55-59 effort that landed her in 4th place overall in the women's race, or THOMAS WOODS' 50-54M performance, which landed him in 8th place overall. Woods is a highly decorated elite master from Nebraska....
Locals Impress at Alexandria...
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Thursday, 20 March 2025 00:10
ALEXANDRIA TRIATHLON COVERAGE - Unless the internet was mistaken, conditions facing the triathlons were not ideal. It was a pretty. day to look at, but temps had already reached eighty and wind gusted at twenty-plus miles-per-hour. Conservative pacing with lots of internal and external hydration seemed to be called for. Forget about PRs and course records.
Some athletes ignored that memo. SPENCER SYVERTSON turned in what was probably his finest performance ever in June at the Lake Minnetonka Triathlon, where he placed a close 2nd behind the seemingly unbeatable Preston Youngdahl. He demonstrated a new level of speed and tenacity on that day. His performance at Alex last Saturday was arguably superior to his LMT effort. He not only won the race handily, he nuked the men's race record. (Note: New 5K run course.) Outstanding splits in each discipline kept him in front of 2023 champ, and eventual runner-up COREY NYGAARD, who like Spencer, should recive Most Improved Triathlete nominations at season's end. It would be cool to have two Alexandria residents on the list of MI nominees....
