Race Coverage

Garrick Got it Done...

Thursday, 27 August 2015 06:10

By Brock LeFlorette

As Garrick Dietze (Facebook photo L) crossed the finish line at Sunday’s Waseca Sprint, a sparse crowd (thanks to semi-yucky weather) cheered admiringly and the announcer called him a rockstar.

The man smiled and thrust both fists over his head.

“I got it done!” he exclaimed.

He did indeed. Garrick had just finished his first tri, which is rockstarry enough, right? Making his accomplishment more salient and savorable, though, was the fact that he is a Clydesdale.

Actually, he is TWO Clydesdales. You see, Garrick is 6’5” and weighs 400 pounds, at least that’s what he weighed before battling the chilly 20-mph winds during his 18.65 mile odyssey.

Most would agree that Garrick’s effort was the performance of the day.

Dietze wasn’t the only one who “got it done.” Kevin O’Connor got it done before everyone else as he had for the last three years here. The win was his 5^th of the 2015 season....

KO got a great push from Most Improved co-frontrunner Bennett Isabella, who finished 26 seconds after the winner and 1:19 in front of obvious Rookie of the Year nominee Toby Henkels, whose three-race resume features two wins, plus his 3^rd on Sunday.

FYI, Isabella was fresh off a vacation in Canada where he caught a zillion fish and claimed to have thrown some of them back.

Marta Lewinski was the first woman to cross Waseca’s finish line but needed the next woman to wait at least three minutes before her win could become official. Unfortunately for her, Julie Busch finished 1:39 later. FYI, Marta ordered the Salmon salad (photo R) at lunch in Northfield. She shared some of it in exchange for our Cajun chicken. The salmon was yummier than the bird.

Busch is enjoying her best season. In addition to her win here, she has a 3^rd (Fairmont Sprint) and a 4^th in her backyard (North Mankato). FYI, her 12-year-old daughter Grace, won the girls junior title, and her husband Matt rocked a 6^th place finish in the companion 1/3 IM.

The semi-yucky weather resulted in a larger-than-usual no-show rate. The sprint race, therefore, had only 89 finishers. Forty-two athletes finished the 1/3 IM. RESULTS