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Tuesday, 17 November 2015 00:10

Photo - Minnesota Rookie of the Year and Long Course Athlete of the Year, Dani Vseteska.

MINNESOTA MULTISPORT AWARDS - Yesterday we discussed the slam-dunkiest of the slam dunk selections: male and female TOY. There were three other categories that were nearly as easy to determine:

DUATHLETE OF THE YEAR - Though there were many viable candidates in this category, several more than were actually nominated, and a number of Minnesotans should receive national recognition, one guy--MATTHEW PAYNE--stood out above the rest. Winning Standard Distance Nationals and setting a CR at Apple were, in our opinion, the two premier male Du performances of the year in the US. His amateur victory at Gear West rounded out the resume that should earn him the US DOY award for the second straight year....

FEMALE MASTER OF THE YEAR - The 2014 Minnesota MOY CHERYL ZITUR (photo below with husband Dave) had an even better year in 2015. It was highlighted by three outright wins and podium spots, once again, at Nationals and Worlds. She was the highest ranking master (13th) on Team Minnesota, two places better than in '14. Zitur is being discussed for a USAT MOY HM.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR - Toby Henkels had the kind of season that would have won this award in other years. In his win at Fairmont Olympic, his time (sub-2-hours) was surprisingly fast and he beat perennial winner / three-time Minnesota Master of the Year nominee David Holden. At Waseca Sprint, he placed 3rd behind 2015 Master of the Year Kevin O'Connor (2nd on Team Minesota) and Most improved winner Bennett Isabella (5th on Team Minnesota). That's excellent company to be in. And in his victory against a thin field at North Mankato, he posted the 2nd fastest men's time ever on the current course. Only Matt Payne had gone faster. Great season.

Still, DANI VSETECKA's (pronounced "Sheh-tes-ka") first year was even more impressive: three wins and a 2nd. Two of her victories were in half IMs. At Door County, her 70.3 debut, she popped a 4:46, which was 5:27 faster than runner-up Stacy Henkels. Henkels is the amateur CR holder at Ironman Wisconsin (10:01!). Additionally, she was only 26 minutes behind the men's winner. A more typical male/female elite amateur differential is in the 30-35 minute range.

Dani's amateur win at Pigman was even more impressive. Her time was 4:41:34, which put her several minutes in front of Iowa's Danna Herrick, who had a breakout year in 2015, and three-time Pig Half champ Kortney Haag. Dani was only 28 minutes behind the first elite amateur male.

Vsetecka's 70.3 efforts against first-class competition earned her the LONG DISTANCE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR award and was more than enough to justify her ROY.