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AJ, Peter & Preston...

Wednesday, 13 December 2023 00:10

By Mav

2023 Male Triathlete of the Year Nominees - Goose has posted his official nominees for the women’s Triathlete of the Year honor, and I agree with his nominations. Now, it’s my turn to nominate the three men who will be vying for the 2023 Minnesota Multisport Honor of Triathlete of the Year. There were 8 guys who received serious consideration. At the end of the day, their success against top-notch competition and their speed relative to historical standards (the likes of Patrick Parish, Matt Payne, Wade Cruser, etc.) helped to separate the top three.

AJ Manning, 35, Fargo: Yes, Andrew is technically a North Dakotan, but he lives on the border and, when racing short course, he mainly competes on Minnesota soil. He did this once this year at Buzz Ryan, blazing the course and setting a course record, and he also raced three 70.3s, two of which (Des Moines and Madison) can be considered “hometown” races since Minnesota does not host any officially branded Ironman 70.3 events...

Preston Youngdahl, 33, Plymouth: Preston won this honor is 2022. He was undefeated in local races this year, and he was faster, too. He is also up for the Performance of the Year award with his amateur course record at Maple Grove Olympic.

Peter Wilkman, 29, St. Louis Park: Peter had a breakout season, placing well and consistently racing fast at the Olympic and Half-Iron distances. This year he placed second at Buffalo Olympic, second at Trinona Olympic in 2:00:15 despite the challenging bike course, first at Graniteman Clearwater Olympic in 2:09:58 despite Clearwater’s almost 29 mile bike course, and he dropped an impressive 4:17:29 at the Door County Half.