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Corbin Repeats as JOY!

Tuesday, 11 November 2025 00:10

By Bonnie and Clyde 

2025 Junior of the Year - Agreeing that Corbin Deichman and Adeline Althaus-Kotila were the strongest candidates, here is a portion of the debate our concerning the selection of Junior of the Year: ....

Bonnie – Initially I considered 2024 JOY Corbin Deichman to be a slam dunk for this year's honor, then I did a deeper dive into Corbin's and Adeline Althaus-Kotila's respective resumes. Though Deichman has held his own against credentialed adult triathletes for the last few years, he was arguably more successful in 2024 than he was this year, whereas Althaus-Kotila's improvement this season has been dramatic. 

Here's my breakdown: In her overall win at Lake Rebecca she lowered her own junior record by 2:35. She also won the YWCA Women's Tri, doing so in a time that was 8:08 faster than her 2024 clocking there. At Maple Grove Sprint she finished six places higher (4th), won her AG and was almost four minutes faster than in 2024, when she finished third among junior girls. And finally, in a 4th place overall finish at Hopkins, she lowered the Junior CR by 3:34, a mark that was set by Arianna Werts and had stood since 2018. FYI, Werts was named JOY in 2018.

Clyde - Bonnie made great points about Adeline’s season, and her improvement from last year was outstanding. However, in my opinion, she is one season away from competing head-to-head against her elite peers. Corbin, on the other hand, raced among MN’s most competitive guys. At Buzz Ryan, he was only 18 seconds adrift from Josh Blankenheim, and he outdueled Tim Bontrager. Corbin won at Maple Grove Sprint, while Adeline posted a great result but came-up 3:50 short of the win. If this category rewarded year-to-year improvement, I’d have to agree with Bonnie about Adeline’s jump from the year prior, but I think that Corbin’s season as a whole was a bit more competitive than Adeline’s, and I also see Corbin closer to a Team Minnesota berth than Adeline.  So, while both raced exceptionally well, I believe the 2025 Junior of the Year honor should go to Corbin Deichman.

In the end we agreed that Corbin Deichman receive the 2025 Junior of the Year honor.

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