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Mid-Season Report Card...

Tuesday, 19 July 2011 03:00

(Photos L - R - Junior stars Brandon Onopa, Caleb Vukovich, Greta Danielson and Hannah Strom.)

We thought it would be cool to do some "Mid-Season Report Card" posts, even though the season is actually two-thirds over, which makes us sad.

As for the Report Card stuff, what we plan to do is acquaint you with the athletes that, at this point in time, appear destined to receive MMA nominations next autumn. But anything can happen tomorrow. New names on the scenes. Sub-par efforts. Injuries. Stuff like that....

Today we will look at the present trendsetters in the Junior category.

Currently, we have our radar set on four boys, understanding that new names are sure to pop up in the coming weeks. Those guys are Somerset, Wisconsin's Tyler Hecht (photo below), 18, Long Lake's Brandon Onopa, 19, who, to our serious chagrin, cut off his Mulhawk, i.e. a mullet with a mohawky top, Brock Eastlund, 19, of Woodbury, and South Dakota's Caleb Vukovich.

All are super great kids. Questions persist about Hecht's speed and Eastlund's resume, i.e. he seems to excel in duathlons and probably needs to pepper his schedule with more of those while he is working on his swimming. His tri results will not earn him a nomination among these guys.

What we like about Vukovich is that he is just plain fast, and has raced on this side of the border often enough to earn a nomination. What we like about Onopa is that he seeks races with the best competition, thus, for instance, his 13th at Life Time-Minneapolis is more impressive to us than, say, Vukovich's 5th at Manitou Elite Development. However, Caleb's 5th at Buffalo Sprint is a different story. He nuked the Junior CR and the four guys that beat him were well-established adult athletes with "Regional Elite" creds.

For the girls, Woodbury's Hannah Strom, 18, the Danielson sisters--Greta, 18, and Paige, 15--from St. Cloud, and 2010 Junior of the Year, Kate Lowrey are leading the way right now. We are also looking at Gabby Keller (Maple Grove),