Race Coverage
Dylan Dominates & Nelson Repeats...
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Tuesday, 09 June 2015 06:00
BUFFALO OLYMPIC – We predicted that Elaine Nelson would repeat as champion at Buffalo Olympic and the lean Duluthian complied.
What we didn’t predict was how hard it would be for her to win. She had to overtake Kortney Haag, who had a huge lead coming out of T2. Unfortunately, Haag’s run split was far from what she had hoped it would be. She was overtaken by the former collegiate runner after mile five of the 10K.
In the end, only 17 seconds separated the two national level triathletes. FYI, the win was the 12th of Nelson’s career and second in three starts thus far in 2015. If her racing volume is sufficient this season—she typically races less frequently than the other top women—we would be surprised if she didn’t receive a TOY nomination....
Christina Roberts took 3rd, finishing just 25 seconds after Kort.
In her first Olympic race, Kelly Trom finished 4th against a seasoned group of talented women. Her 2:15:13 was a terrific first effort at the distance.
FYI, last Tuesday we predicted the women’s Top 10, and while we got most of the names right, we only got two of the places—Nelson’s 1st and Sarah Bergers’s 8th—correct. That’s a dismal 20%. Oh, well.
We picked Dylan Gillespie (photo above L) of Bozeman, Montana by-way-of Forest Lake, Minnesota, to win the men’s Olympic race. We had no idea that he’d go as fast as he did, however. He covered the new course, whose bike route was approximately 37K but had a hill 10K that was much more challenging than the one used in the first eleven years of the race, in 1:54:26. The former collegiate swimmer—19:12 split on Sunday—manage to outrace the men’s runner-up, Duluth’s Josh Blankenheim, by 5:50.
Fellow Duluthians Mike Ward and 2014 Rookie of the Year Nick Nygaard grabbed the 3rd and 4th spots, and Larry Hosch and Brooks Grossinger finished 5th and 6th, respectively.
Outstanding AG performances were turned in by JOY frontrunner Nick Klonne, 18 (2:08:07) and 2014 US Grand Master of the Year Greg Taylor, 61 (2:11:34). RESULTS
BUFFALO SPRINT – Jeff Grebner, 48, followed up his 2nd place effort at New Bri on Saturday with a sweet win in Buffalo on Sunday. Laura Swartz, also, 48, took the women’s title, which she also did in 2007. Laura has finished 2nd here on four occasions.
Sprint runners-up were Brian Storhaug, an insanely handsome young man with huge bodybuilder arms and the waistline of a ten-year-boy.
The flamboyant Nancy Buselmeier, who is also very muscular and rocks some awesome umbilical bling, took 2nd in the women’s competition.
The day was sunny, warm and very windy. The water temperature flirted with 70-degrees. One woman called it “bearable.” One smiling guy, a true Minnesotan, said, “Hey, you could do a lot worse.”
More than 800 entrants participated. The race crew and volunteers did a fantastic job. They produced a truly stellar event. SPRINT RESULTS
Photo courtesy of Terrence Lee. Photo R - Stephen Bullard.
