FEATURES

2023 Performance of the Year Nominees !

Saturday, 16 December 2023 00:10

By Mav

Performance of the Year - Men's Nominees - The 2023 Minnesota tri season included some outstanding performances, with a few course records being re-written and some other historically fast times being posted. Below, alphabetically by recipient last name, are the three performances I believe should be nominated for the Men’s Performance of the Year honor.

Sean Cooley's victory at Trinona Olympic (1:58:30) - Cracking two hours on Minnesota's toughest Olympic-distance course is a big deal. Only pros have accomplished that before Sean threw down last June. 

AJ Manning’s course Record at Buzz Ryan Sprint (45:20): Andrew managed to cover Buzz’s 500 yd – 10 mi – 2.5 mile course in a blistering 45:20 on a significantly windy day. The bike course was a tad long, and the run course was a bit short on race day, but AJ also posted the fastest split in all 3 disciplines en-route to victory....

Preston Youngdahl’s amateur course record at Maple Grove Olympic (1:53:55): Going sub-2:00 in an Olympic distance race is a big deal. Going 6 minutes faster than that barrier takes a world-class athlete. Preston’s amateur course record bettered past performances by elite athletes like Kyle Swenson (1:55:07 in 2021) and Kris Spoth (1:54:32 in 2015), and took almost a minute off his previous best on the course (2022). Only pros like Ted Triese have gone faster.