Race Coverage

"Competition Junkie"....

Tuesday, 26 June 2012 03:00

(Photo - HKM in her new Avengery wetsuit.)

Race Coverage - Heidi Keller-Miler returned to the tri lifestyle in 2005 after a 15-year absence, a period during which she delivered and raised a Madison and a Casey and an Austin and co-habitated with hubby Tom and did lots of regular life stuff. On Sunday she won the 23rd annual Lake Waconia Triathlon, the 11th tri-victory of her resurrected career.

It was a BIG win. HUMONGOUS may be a better word. Heidi likened the experience to her triumph at Turtleman in 2006 against one of the deepest women's fields ever assembled for a Minnesota multi.

The Gigantor win made Heidi very, very happy. She wanted to drink many, many of Nordica Stocker's craft beers at Ross Weinzierl's party after the race, but limited herself to just three or four 'cuz she had to drive to St. Cloud to do some family-related stuff....

(Okay, she only had one beer. Also, have you ever met Ross' dad. The dude has movie star good looks and he's not conceited at all. After he finished a wedge of watermelon, he flung the rind into the bushes. It was cool.You had to be there.)

A peek-a-boo at Heidi's tri resume reveals that she is a total Competition Junkie. All but one of her wins have been in races with powerhouse fields. Turtleman '06. Trinona '11. Buffalo Olympic '07. Brewhouse '09, et al. Very impressive. steph

When Heidi sped out out T2 on Sunday she trailed the leader, Kortney Haag, who used a monster bike split to overcome a sizable aquatic deficit, by only four seconds. She--Heidi--was smiling. We suspect that Kortney was not. In the end, Kort, who's been grappling with a sore hammie of late, would settle for 3rd.

Steph Solfelt's run split was just as monsterly as was Haag's bike split. In fact, it was more monsterly than any of the other girls' pedestrian clockings by a significant margin, and it allowed her to finish in 2nd place and claim the second "automatic invitation" to represent Team Minnesota at the Best of the US National Championship on June 2, 2013 in exurban Chicago (Hammond, Indiana).

We've come to expect Heidi to rise to "the occasion," as they say, and excel in big races. She's a competition junkie, remember? Steph (cool photo R), on the other hand, is relatively new to this sport. She's young and needs to coax an extra mph out of her bike. But finishing 2nd against Waconia's great field demonstrates that her stardom has indeed been launched. Actually, her 3rd at Manitou a few weeks back signaled this as well. As finishing behind Heidi at this point in her young career is certainly no disgrace, the same can be said about finishing behind Cathy (Yndestad) and Suz (Fox) at Manitou. Only 22, we believe that Solfelt's first tri victory will happen very soon.

This season? Oh yeah.

It's so cool to watch a "Hey-she's-gonna-be-good" athlete transition into a "Damn-she's-good" athlete.

Finishing in the "BOUS passdown positions," i.e. 4th and 5th, although the Series occasionally exercises its right to extend passdowns to athletes finishing outside the Top 5, were Andrea Myers, herself a five-time BOUS Championship participant, and Liv Williamson, who podiumed the previous weekend at Lake Minnetonka.

Twas a wonderful day for racing at Lake Waconia XXII. Sunny with scattered clouds, big fluffy white ones, with temps near 80 and a lake as flat as Nate Tollefson's belly. Yes, the air was a bit soggy and that would prevent a proliferation of records, yet times were consistent with those turned in during some of the event's faster years.

Here's how it went down for the girls on Sunday:

LAKE WACONIA TRIATHLON XXIII

,5-mile swim, 20-mile bike, 4-mile run

1. Heidi Keller-Miler - 1:35:56 (HKM now owns the 6th and 7th fastest times in race history)

2. Steph Solfelt - 1:37:19

3. Kortney Haag - 1:38:19

4. Andi Myers - 1:38:51

5. Liv Williamson - 1:39:22

6. Ann Snuggerud - 1:39:51

7. Nordica Stocker - 1:40:26 jody