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Nygaard Nips Trom For ROY...

Monday, 27 October 2014 01:10

2014 MInnesota Multisport Awards - As promised, we are posting some of the reasons behind this year's MMA Selections. Let's start with the Rookie of the Year category.

Duluth's NICK NYGAARD (photo) won this year's ROY award. He is the first male to do so since 2006, when Rookie of the Year became a coed category. He raced four times in 2014, winning once (Green Lake Olympic), placing 2nd twice (Timberman and Brewhouse Sprints) and cracking the Top 5 in his long course debut at Superior Man (4:19). The committee was impressed with his times, comparing them to those of 2012 ROY runner-up/2013 Most Improved winner Brian Sames and 2008 ROY runner-up Patrick Parish.

Nick was not a runaway winner as KELLY TROM also enjoyed a brilliant first season. Trom, 27, of Minneapolis, impressed the Committee with her 2nd place finish at HITS-Waconia Half IM in a time of 4:48:09, arguably the best performance by a rookie in '14. Additionally, they liked the fact that she faced strong, i.e. "credentialed," competition in all three of her races. At HITS, she finished behind 2009 US AOY Cathy...

Yndestad; at Life Time - Minneapolis, against arguably the most competitve Elite Amateur "non-championship" field of the year in the US, she cracked the Top 10. And at One Last Tri, she placed 4th behind World Champion Heather Lendway (#1 - Team MN), Diane Hankee (#7 - Team MN) and Gaby Bunten (#12- Team MN ranking).

In the end, the majority of the committee felt that Nygaard had the advantage in the areas of "Racing Volume" and "short course" speed relative to speed demonstrated by Minnesota's established amateur elite males. The Committee believe that both Nick and Kelly are destined to earn spots on Team MInnesota, perhaps as early as next year.

It needs to be mentioned that the other two ROY nominees, EMY EVERHART and LAURA GREER, had great seasons. And while their resumes were perceived as not quite as strong at Nygaard's and Trom's, they were every bit as good as Cathy Yndestad''s rookie scorecard in 2002. CY went on to win the MI award in 2003 and has since achieved sustained national acclaim. Other non-frontrunners for the ROY trophy who went on to national prominence include the recenty married Dan Hedgecock and Claire Bootsma.

Will Everhart and Greer have breakout seasons in 2015? We are hoping that they will.