FEATURES

Why Patrick?

Thursday, 08 November 2018 12:10

MINNESOTA MULTISPORT HONORS - As with the MOST IMPROVED - WOMEN category, the men's PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR was a very close race, with every nominated effort worthy of the final honor.

Why then, did PATRICK PARISH's victory at Lake Waconia rise to the top?

Let's Break it down, starting with TED TREISE's win at Augusta 70.3.

On paper, Ted's 4:08:29 was the fastest "official" 70.3 clocking by a Minnesota male in 2018. Unofficially, though, he probably had a faster race at Superior Man, where the swim was significantly longer than 1.9K.

At SM, though, he was beaten by a small margin--51 seconds--by Sean Cooley, the man who has reigned as our state's premier half IM racer for the past few years.

Next, we checked on Ted's closest competition at Augusta, a South Carolinian named Nathan Buttrick. The guy is "for real," with a 70.3 PR of 4:02 and a sub-9-hour IM best. The fact that Ted beat him and won the race proved that his nomination was well-earned.

Why then, didn't Ted win?

Well, let's look at WADE CRUSER's nominated course record victory at Maple Grove Olympic in 1:54:18...

This effort was arguably the best Olympic-esque (37K bike) performance by a Minnesota male in 2018. Here are the Team Minnesota guys he beat on that day:

2. Kevin O'Connor (Rank: 4th)

4. Patrick Parish (Rank: 3rd)

5. Samuel Hauck (Rank: 10th)

Plus collegiate elites:

3. Jeff Mettler (ISU) - (1st @ Trinona Olympic), 6. Nikloas Pardoe (UM) - 1st @ High Cliff Olympic, 7. Michael Libin (ISU), 8. Anthony McDill (ISU), 9. Joshua Reece (ISU)

At this point, it appeared that Wade had a slight advantage over Ted.

Then we looked at JESSON BAUMGARTNER's victory at the Apple Duathlon, where his 1:21:17 stands as the third best amateur time in race history.  Like Wade, he outraced a lot of guys with studly credentials:

2. Todd Buckingham (MI) - (National and World Champion triathlete. 1st @ 2018 Sprint Du National (Draft Legal), 3rd @ 2018 Standard Dstance Du Nationals)

3. Wade Cruser (2017 Apple winner. 2018 Rank: 1st)

4. Patrick Parish (Former Apple winner. 2018 Rank: 3rd)

5. Ted Treise (Rank: 5th)

7. Josh Blankenheim (Rank: 7th)

9. Kevin O'Connor (Rank: 4th)

Now it appeared that Jesson and Wade were similarly deserving of the POY honor.

Finally, we studied at PATRICK PARISH's win at Lake Waconia.

Who did he outrace?

2. Josh Mork (Most Improved runner-up. Rank: 11th)

3. Kevin O'Connor (Rank: 4th)

4. Wade Cruser (Rank: 1st)

5. Ted Treise (Rank: 5th)

6. Garrett Welsch (Most Improved nominee)

7. Josh Blankenheim (Rank: 7th)

9. Joe Adrianens (Rank: 9th)

Most of the Committee members favored Patrick, based in part on the contention that racing in three sports gave him a slight edge over duathlete Baumgartner. And that he outraced Cruser, the eventual Triathlete of the Year, probably sealed the deal.