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History Made at Maple Grove...
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Friday, 01 May 2026 00:10
2025 MAPLE GROVE OLYMPIC COVERAGE - Since his amateur win at Ironman Michigan 70.3 in 4:03:10, Sherwood, Wiconsin's TYLER TANKO has proven that he is capable of becoming one of a handful of amateur American men to ever crack the the four-hour mark at the half Ironman distance. He's proven that his Olympic credentials are elite as well. He came into Saturday's Maple Grove Olympic triathlon having finished 4th under extreme conditions two weeks ago at Milwaukee Nationals. What remained to be seen was how he would fare against three-time MGO champion / amateur course record holder PRESTON YOUNGDAHL and locally undefeated SPENCER SYVERTSON.
He fared well. Starting with the fastest swim of the day, and finishing with an uncontestable run (32:59!), Tyler sliced 2:24 off the ACR. His 1:50:24 was only 1:22 off TED TREISE's pro record set in 2022.
Syvertson (1:56:09) and Youngdahl (1:57:18) also dipped under the two-hour mark.
Also winning by a sizable margin was ELENA JASPER (2:09:48), who now owns a 1st, 2nd and 3rd at MGO. KATIE DEREGNIER (2:15:18) and TIFFANY KARI (2:16:25) rounded out the women's podium.
Perhaps the most impressive women's performance of the morning was turned in by 59-year-old JULIA WEISBECKER, who finished 4th overall in a remarkable 2:16:35 thereby solidfying her nonimation for 2025 Female Grand Master of the Year....
2026 Name-Dropping...
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Tuesday, 28 April 2026 00:10
Some things we'd like to see in 2026, along with a few predictions:
PRESTON YOUNGDAHL (photo) - Our state's runaway Triathlete of the Year in '22, '23 and '24, wherein he won 15 of the 19 races he entered, only raced twice in 2025. Willl he return to 2024 form this season?
NATHAN KIM - Minnesota's Triathlete of the Year 2025, we've watched Nathan's 70.3 personal best go from 4:41 in 2023 to 4:05 last year. Will he be our state's first amateur triathlete to legitimately post a sub-4?
PAIGE SCHULZ - Our female Triathlete of the Year in '25, she comes into this season with a 70.3 personal best of 4:34:48. Will she break 4:30 this year? He PR improved by eight minutes in 2024, and another six minutes last season. Impressive trajectory....
Tinman Turns 40!
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Sunday, 26 April 2026 00:10
2026 MORRIS TINMAN PREVIEW - Minnesota's tri season opener, the Morris Tinman Sprint and Olympic Triathlons, will celebrate its 40th anniversary on Saturday, May 2. We encourage athletes from our region--MN, ND, SD, IA--to use this fun event to knock off some winter rust. It's been a while since Tinman has drawn more than 100 participants but the early sign-up numbers are encouraging. We hope you help make that happen.
This year's Olympic race should be among Tinman's more competitive editions in recent memory. Here are some of the players who should lead the way:
SPENCER SYVERTSON - Spencer, who won this race in 2024 and set a Sprint record here in '23, has been in the running for Minnesota Triathlete of the Year the last two seasons. He won six of the eight tris he entered last year and we are predicting a course record time for Spencer on Saturday.
MICAH WARNING - Micah only raced twice in 2025, but he won both of those triathlons, one of which was his breakout effort at Timberman Olympic.
SAM HAUCK - Sam only raced once last year, and three times the year before, but he won two of those three events....
"I Couldn't Think Of Anything More Awful",,,,
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Thursday, 23 April 2026 00:10
By Marcia Steffen
I'm 60 years old. I hate to run, even though I ran track in High School. I was a sprinter, not a long-distance runner. I haven't swum since I was a kid. I am confident on the bike; however, I ride for recreational purposes only. What was I thinking when I agreed to do a triathlon?
When McKinzie Wiedrich, owner of Coal Country Community Fitness in Hazen, ND, asked me to accompany her to the BisMan Triathlon, I couldn't think of anything more awful. But I agreed that if I could do the swim, I would sign up. When Brandon Lee, my nephew and the ring bearer at my wedding, heard that I was going to participate in a Triathlon, he told his mom and me, "Marcia will be $20K in before she knows it."
I told Brandon, "Nope, this is a one-and-done". We didn't get to swim in that race due to concerns of blue-green algae in the water, and we ended up doing a duathlon, run-bike-run.
Remember, I hate to run, and when the race was finished, I told everyone that I didn't love it. And I meant it. ..
Carter & Katie, Seam & Cami....
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Monday, 20 April 2026 00:10
2025 YOUNG LIFE TRIATHLON Coverage - Three out of four of the swim-bike-run tri winners at yesterday's Young Life Triathlon were predicted.
One, a collegiate runner who appeared to doing his first triathlon, was a major surprise. His name is CARTER FERBER. He's 21, a collegiate runner from Fargo, and he used his speed afoot to overtake NICK JASMER, who appeared to be en route to the biggest win of his young career in YL's Olympic race.
2024 YLO winner BRANDON LEE came into thecontest as the favorite, but something wasn't right when he got off the bike. The six-minute-plus-small change mile pace he ran last year was not happening, not even close. More than a minute and ten seconds per-mile slower this time around, he admitted afterward that he had "worrisome" breathing issues. This allowed Nick to take over, at least for a while. A newbie, Carter had lost time to both Brandon and Nick in the swim portion and T1 and T2, but the 5:40-miles he threw down in the 10K ultimately delivered him to the finish line 22-seconds ahead. of Jasmer.
Exciting race!...
