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Kevin Vs Greg...

Wednesday, 13 November 2013 09:10

Master of the Year - Men - As with the women in the MOY category, wherein Jan Guenther edged-out Julia Weisbecker for the prize, the men's winner, Kevin O'Connor (photo L), won by a slim margin over Greg Taylor, who took home the MOY trophy last year. Kevin won it in 2011.

Before we explain the Committee's rationale for selecting O'Connor, we'll mention that the other two nominees--Brian Bich and Tony Schiller--also raced brilliantly, but their resumes lacked relative volume and long distance success. Kevin and Greg raced more often and excelled in both long and short races.

Let's look at their impressive resumes:

KEVIN O'CONNOR, 42, Medina -

1st amateur @ Pigman Sprint

1st overall @ Liberty Olympic - Course Record

1st overall @ Manitou Duathlon...

Jan's 14th Emma...

Tuesday, 12 November 2013 08:10

MASTER OF THE YEAR (Women) - The nominees in this category took turns beating each other. As a result, three of the four nominees received support from committee members. In the end, Jan Guenther (photo L) eeked out a one-vote victory.

Here's why.

While three of the four candidates--Julie Hull, Sarah Mercer and Julia Weisbecker--turned in national level performances during the season, it was perceived that Guenther, based on her age--54--actually raced at a world class level. Thirteen years older than the youngest mominee, and seven older than the second oldest, the fact that Jan was able to have occasionally beaten each of her fellow nominees in head-to-head competition is significant. Next, the margins by which Julie beat her at Liberty and Julia beat her at Gear West Du do not come close to covering the spread of any current age-grading formula....

Unbeatable...

Tuesday, 12 November 2013 06:10

(Photo - Pam Stevens wearing white compression socks and rocking at Ottawa Du Worlds.)

Grand Master of the Year - This was the easiest category, a slam-dunk, if you will. Three of the four nominees proudly upheld existing standards for athletes of a certain age range. One, however, mercilessly blew away the existing standards for women over-age-60....

Why Nicole? Why Greta?

Sunday, 10 November 2013 06:10

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR - On Saturday, Nicole Heininger (photo L) was named 2013 Rookie of the Year. She beat out one of the most talented freshman classes in state history. Arguably the class of 2013 was second only to the Class of 2010 (though the Class of 2008 was darn awesome, too) from a talent and Most Like to Succeed standpoint. In '10, Jenny Shaughnessy took home the prize, beating out Sam Janicki, Claire Bootsma and Dan Hedgecock. We may not see a group like that again for a long time, but this year's nominees--Heininger, Olivia Bagnall, Casey Miller and Larry Hosch--are darn good and all appear to be bound for stardom.

Why did Heininger win? "Versatility" was one of the major reasons. While the other three athletes excelled in short course tris, Nicole enjoyed success in duathlon, sprint tris and longer events (1/3 IM and a half IM). Moreover her resume featured two course record victories and four other podiums. Also, she held her own against some of our region's top women in two of our state's most competitive races, as demostrated by her 2nd at Lake Waconia and 3rd at Heart of the Lakes....