Race Coverage

HOLT XXIX...

Monday, 21 July 2014 10:10

Photo - L - R - Women's podium: Christina Roberts (3rd), Suzie Fox (1st), Nicole Heininger (2nd).

HEART OF THE LAKES XXIX - Dan Hedgecock and Matthew Payne went 1-2 at Duathlon Nationals on Saturday in St. Paul, and despite the requisite fatigue and sore muscles, they finished first/second again on Sunday at the Heart of the Lakes / Minnesota State Triathlon Championships.

Interestingly, both men are considered champions, Dan, a pro, for finishing 1st, and Matt, for winning the amateur title.

Hedge an M-Payne overtook eventual bronze medalist Marcus Stromberg during the bike portion, but Marcus did let them out of his sight. In the end, only thirty-six seconds separated him from Payne. In five starts this season, Stromberg has never missed the podium. More impressively, four of those events--Best of the US, Life Time - Minneapolis, HOLT and Buffalo Olympic--had national-level men's fields. Marcus has truly proven that he can bark with the big dogs, and we're anxious to see how he fares at Nationals next month....

And speaking emerging stars, Nicole Heininger gave 2012 HOLT champ and prohibitive race favorite Suzie Fox all she could handle on Sunday. Leading by 41-seconds off the bike, Nicole looked like she had a chance to win her third consecutive race. When Suzie left T2, however, she radiated focus and intensity. A great race for first was unfolding.

Meanwhile, Christina Roberts entered T2 in 5th place. In a field like this one, she'd need a great run to hold onto a spot in the Top 5.

Suzy did manage to overtake the fiesty Heininger and record her 20th career victory. Heinie arrived 24 seconds later. As always, she was wearing her signature smile. The sophomore triathlete had proven that she is rapidly becoming one of our region's premier triathletes.

The same can also be said for Christina Roberts, who ran her way from 5th to 3rd, and crossed the finish line just eight seconds behind Nicole. Awesome effort.

Other's who rocked great performances at HOLT Long Course included Bridget McCoy (5th overall woman), who won the Outland Challenge on Saturday, Brooks Grossinger (4th overall man), who earned a BOUS Invitation and Top Masters Brian Bich (6th male) and Ann Snuggerud (6th woman).

In the companion sprint, 11-year pro David Thompson unsurprisingly recorded the fastest time in the history of the event. The win was his 2nd of the weekend and 91st of his career. His time was 40:04, which was 2:11 faster than Kevin O'Connor's 1999 (!) course record. KO's clocking will stand as the Amateur CR.

The amateur short course men's champion was Greg Dummer, a big guy who is remarkably fast. His 45:44 was the quickest amateur time here in the last four years. 2013 HOLT short course winner, Andy Zabel, took 3rd.

Prior to July 12, Nicole Cueno (photo R) had not raced in a triathlon for four years. On the 12th, she convincingly won the Life Time - Minneapolis Sprint. On Sunday, she won HOLT SC in 49:47. The event had not seen a sub 50-minute time for women since 2009, or a faster clocking than Nicole's since 2004.

Cueno's podium-mates were 2006 Minnesota Rookie of the Year Marta Lewinski (51:58) and likely 2014 Junior of the Year nominee Lauren Steinke, a 14-year-old triathlon phenon. Her 52:11 crushed the Junior girl's course record.

Despite sharing the weekend with eight other multsport races, HOLT drew more than 800 participants. And as always, the event was lovingly and experty produced and executed. RESULTS