Race Coverage

Newbie-liciousness....

Thursday, 10 September 2015 00:10

15th ST. CROIX VALLEY SPRINT - Late registrants KEVIN O'CONNOR and DIANE HANKEE posted  convincing wins at the 15th edition of this popular sprint race in Hudson, Wisconsin last Saturday. With the fastest splits in each discipline, Kevin won by a 5:08 margin over 2014 champ / new daddy JIM FELLING. BRIAN GLAESER, who has 600 Facebook friends and is into "Family Guy" (Who isn't?) and the Minnesota Wild, placed 3rd.

It was the 6th victory of the season for O'Connor, 44, and his time (56:50) was one of the four fastest (fastest master by a ton) times in event history.

Hankee placed 4th overall. Actually, a Hankee placed both 4th and 5th. Diane's husband MIKE, who is a SWAT guy, placed 5th, only 14-seconds behind his decorated spousal unit. For Diane, it was her 2nd win of the year and 24th of her impressive career.

Placing 2nd in the women's race, 2:47 after Hankee, was lapsed triathlete / but active tri coach / and total HOOT / JODY QUESNELL (photo L with Rick Dehn, who placed 7th overall), who celebrated her great effort by consuming many, many adult beverages. At the awards ceremony, she confessed that she was somewhat floothered....

Third went to JENNY THACKER, who is very nice and likes animals a lot. She has German Shepherd, but didn't bring him to the race.

Two-hundred and sixtyish athletes, more than 90 of whom were newbies, finished the event. Between the Sprint, Olympic and Kids races, the St. Croix Valley Tris drew more than 500 participants. RESULTS

DES MOINES TRIATHLON - Minnesotans turned in impressive performances last Sunday at the Des Moines Triathlon, formerly the Hy-Vee Tri, starting with DAVID THOMPSON's 6th place finish in the pro competition, for which he earned $500.

In the Elite Amateur men's race, White Bear Lake's KRIS SPOTH placed 2nd behind 2014 US Junior of the Year Timothy Winslow. Minneapolis' THAD INGERSOLL finished 3rd in that race. With that effort, his chances of receiving a Master of the Year nomination have improved dramatically. It comes on the heels of an overall victory at St. Paul Olympic.

Life Time Tri - Minneapolis and Brewhouse champ, BRIDGET MCCOY of St. Paul, placed 5th in the women's EA competition.