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Recapping...

Thursday, 06 March 2014 00:10

By Roger That

NATIONAL HONORS RECAP - Five of the six Minnesota duathletes considered for national honors received official recognition. Dan Hedgecock and Ruth Brennan Morrey were named USAT Elite DOYs, Jenn Scudiero was named USAT Amateur DOY, and Pam Stevens and Patrick Parish earned HMs in their respective categories. (Elite DOY HMs--Patrick Parish and Rachel Chalmers--were named in the emails informing the Selection Committee of the final results, but were not listed on the federation's website.)

Only one other Minnesotan was considered for DOY consideration, but she--Suzie Fox--did ..

not receive even an HM. This exclusion baffles the MTN Guys, one of whom was a voting member of the Selection Committee. In our estimation, USAT failed to acknowledge the best female amateur duathlete in the US las year.

In USAT's defense, they do not hide the fact that those who race well in their events, especially Nationals, receive extra love.

Concerning national triathlon recognition,three of the five Minnesotans considered received HMs. They were Heather Lendway, who most considered to be one of the four most successful amateur female triathletes in the US last year. The award was won by Tennessee's Kirsten Sass, who won HyVee Elite, Best of the US Nationals, Memphis in May Olympic and Sprint, New York City Elite and Gulf Coast (by 16 minutes). Heather was arguably the second most successful short course triathlete in the nation last season.

The other girls in the Top four were North Carolina's Samantha Morrision and New York's Darbi Roberts, both of whom rocked at long distance. Morrision was the first US amateur at Kona (9:38:26). Roberts turned in the fastest ironman time by an amateur American woman in '13. She popped an awesome 9:33:05 at Mont-Treblant.

The other Minnesotans earning HMs were Kevin O'Connor (MOY HM) and Greg Taylor (MOY HM), who is an unofficial Loon Stater. He relocated to South Dakota three years ago (from Mankato), but does most of his racing on the east side of the border.

Matthew Payne and Cathy Yndestad were considered for HM status but came up a little short. The reason for this is that USAT chose to name only five HMs per category. In the past, they listed 7-10 HMs. Had they stuck to that format, M-Pain and CY would have been honored.

Photo - Roger's backyard.

PS - We have also learned that St. Paul's Gwen Jorgenson has been named USAT's Female ITU Racer of the Year. Totally deserved!