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GMOYs: Tony & Jan Again...

Saturday, 20 November 2021 00:10

TONY SCHILLER

MALE GRAND MASTER OF THE YEAR - Despite the depth of this year's field of nominees--2x GMOY Tim Brown, perennial nominee Luke Harned and 2x nominee Daniel Kirk--Tony was the unanimous choice. While the others performed at a national level, Tony consistently threw down world class performances. At 62, he consistently beats all of his 50+ peers. His back-to-back National Championship AG victories, both by substantial margins, sealed the deal. Both his Olympic (2:08:15) and Sprint (1:06:48) times are AG records at Milwaukee, which has hosted Nationals four times.

Tony has won at least 25 national championship titles in his career. He is a 10-time MMH recipient....

JAN GUENTHER

FEMALE GRAND MASTER OF THE YEAR -While Tony's GMOY delection was a slam dunk, the women's GMOY was the most competitive of the MMH races. All three of the official nominees received the support of at least one committe member. Ultimately, Julia Weisbecker's lack of racing volume--she only raced three times--was her undoing. Racing volume and race choice proved limiting for Cheryl's Zitur, though her times were consistently national level.

Jan, on the other hand, always races in the most competitive events, and 2021 was not an exception. At 62, she cracked the overall woman's Top 10 at Apple, Lake Minnetonka and Heart of the Lakes, recording divisional records each time. She also set an AG mark at Chisago Half IM. She finished the season with a silver medal effort at Ironman Wisconsin.

Guenther is the recipient of an unprecedented 17 MMHs.