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Determining 2025 Men's Team Minnesota...

Friday, 02 January 2026 00:10

Photo - Joe Adriaens, who was ranked #4 on the 2025 Men's Team Minnesota.

By Bonnie & Clyde

How were the ten members--five male and five female--of 2025 Team MInnesota determined? Let's start with the men.

The Top 3 required no debate. The Triathlete of the Year finalists in each gender claimed the Top three spots. Easy-peasy. The 4th and 5th spots, though, demanded a lot more discussion. Are we confident that we got it right? Absolutely not.

Here are the Men:

1. Nathan Kim - Triathlete of the Year & Performance of the Year. Spencer Syvertson was in the running for the Top Spot until Nathan outraced him at Madison 70.3.  2. Spencer Syvertson - Winner of six of the eight races he entered, Spencer was the clear choice for #2 on the Team. 3. Josh Blankenheim - Master of the Year and winner of two of the three tris he did in 2025. 4. Joe Adriaens - Joe had to duke it out with MItchell Clayton for the #4 spot. His win at Chicago 70.3 was significant and his 2nd at Timberman...

Olympic was very solid, as was his 4:17 at Michigan 70.3. In the end, the fact that he raced well in races that were more competitive than those Clayton competed in made the difference. 5. Mitchell Clayton - Two wins and a 2nd (to Syvertson). Though he didn't race in the most competitive events, his times were excellent. Beating perennial Timberman Sprint Champ Brooks Grossinger was a big deal, as was cracking the one hour mark at Northwoods. His W at Tinman rewrote the course record.

The Challengers - Tevin Neegaard - A brilliant race at Gulf Coast, a sub 4:10 effort if the swim hadn't been canceled, was his highlight. His efforts at 70.3 Rockford and Wisconsin were not as competitive as they needed to be earn him a spot. Corey Nygaard - Two wins and a 2nd. Bonnie had him ranked 6th, whereas Clyde had him ranked 7th. Tim Bontrager - A first, 2nd and a fourth. His results looked better on paper than, in our opinion, they actualy were. Corbin Deichman - Two wins, one 2nd and a 3rd. (Bonnie - A deeper dive into Corbin's resume has me wondering if he actually deserved to be ranked as high as 6th, and no lower than 8th.)

Stay tuned for the women's Team Minnesota discussion.