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Why Heather? Why Arianna? Why Jan?

Friday, 19 October 2018 23:20

MINNESOTA MULTISPORT HONORS - While most of the MMH recipients were difficult to determine, one was a slam dunk: ROOKIE OF THE YEAR.  

HEATHER TAYLOR was the clear choice.

Not only did her resume include a win (CyMan), she also managed to break 2:20 at Olympic distance, which is a big deal for newcomers. And she did that twice. 

Additionally, she outraced several regional elites at Maple Grove Olympic.

There could be a spot for her on Team Minnesota as early as next season.

Here are Heather's 2018 highlights:

- 1st @ CyMan Sprint (IA)

- 2nd @ St. Paul Sprint

- 4th @ High Cliff Olympic - 2:13:32

- 5th @ Maple Grove Olympic - 2:16:09

Determining the recipient of JUNIOR OF THE YEAR required much thought and debate. A strong case was made for MACY IYER, 14, who blew away the teen records at Cinco Du Mayo Sprint, which she won!, and YWCA Women's Tri. A similarly strong case coulld be made for 2017 JOY TAYLOR LUNDQUIST, 19, whose record-setting effort at Timberman Sprint was arguably the junior performance of the year....

In the end, though, most Committee members favored ARIANNA WERTS, 17, because she was the only Minnesota junior who was undefeated against regional teen competition. Not only that, she set junior records on each occasion.

On the morning of September 8, PAM STEVENS, 65, appeared to be a slam dunk for the 2018 GRAND MASTER OF THE YEAR. As one Comittee member put it, "She is a record-setting machine."

And it was true. Pam demolished her AG's records in all six of the regional triathlons she did.

On the afternoon of the 8th, though, the Committee began to question Steven's supremacy. You see, JAN GUENTHER, 59, had just won the overall women's title at Square Lake 70.3. Becoming the oldest athlete ever to win a Minnesota multi was super impressive. It also was her third tri effort of the year, which made her eligible for a GMOY nomination. All three of those races produced AG records.

Still, based on racing volume, Pam deserved to be favored.

Then Guenther did it again. The week after Square Lake, she won the overall women's race at One Last Tri Olympic. The distances were light on swimming (800 yards), but long on cycling (27.25 / 44K), thus the times would be in the same ballpark, perhaps a tad faster, than true Olympic (1.5K-40K-10K). And the 59-year-old's time was amazing: 2:19:14. 

So, Jan finished the season with two outright victories and four AG records. This was enough to convince all but one of the Committee members to transfer their support from Stevens to Guenther.