Race Coverage

When Bronze is as Shiny as Gold...

Monday, 18 July 2016 23:10

HEART OF THE LAKES - Yesterday we posted Nathan Ansbaugh's Life Time - Tri Minneapolis race report. We did this as a prelude to today's coverage of Heart of the Lakes, which has long been been billed as "Minnesota's favorite triathlon," a claim that is hard to dispute.

At Minneapolis, Nathan was headed for a podium finish with less than a mile to go. That's when the wheels came off. Instead of a 3rd behind Payne and Cooley, he placed 17th in the "Premier Division" and 37th overall.

At HOLT, though, Nathan Ansbaugh demonstrated what it means to "get back on the horse." While Matt and Sean went off the front, Nathan once again moved into sole possession of 3rd place. This time he kept the hammer on the floor, and it stayed there. The result was a redemptive podium finish, with a 1:02 margin over 4th-placing Josh Blankenheim.

As at Lake Nokomis, Payne and Cooley went 1-2. The win was the 46th of Pain Train's multisport career, and his 3rd consecutive at HOLT....

Just as Matt and Sean lived up to their billing as favorites, so did Christina Roberts and Hanna Grinaker. Roberts, who won here in 2015, did not have a big enough lead when she dismounted in T2. She ran as hard as she could, but Grinaker, who ran at UW-Madison, overtook her and sped on to a 40-second win. A great race between great athletes. Exciting stuff.

FYI, Christina has never seen "Fargo." Neither has her boyfriend Jordan Roby. A friend lent them a DVD and they plan to watch it later this week.

As in the men's race, it was the 3rd-place finisher that provided an exciting surprise. Proving that the 4th place finish at Minneapolis the previous weekend was not a fluke, tri rookie Maggie Weiss, claimed the final women's podium spot. Launched in the sixth wave, 15 minutes behind the elite woman, Maggie's place was not known until official results were posted. However, the strength and speed she demonstrated in the final 100 meters when she came over the final hill suggested that she would finish high in the women's standings.

Only one divisional record (LIsa Wheeler - 65-69W) was set in the long course, i.e. State Championship, competition, but several athletes set PRs, e.g. Nate Hoffman - 6th in 1:35:20 and Andrea Myers - 4th in 1:49:48 (1st Female Master), and a few made triumphant returns to the sport. It was great to see Matthew Liebsch (8th male), Kristin Weinzierl (8th woman) and Sara Rondorf (9th woman) back in The Game.

HOLT's sprint race was won by David Thompson, who busted his hump in an effort to break 40 minutes. In the end, though, his time was a nevertheless amazing 40:00.82. The victory, the 106th of his multisport career, was one of seven he has claimed at HOLT (4 long course, 3 sprint).

The men's amateur sprint champ was Michael Weissenborn, who finished 3rd the previous weekend at Minneapolis Sprint.

Predicting an overall win for herself was 19-year-ol Kristina Swenson, last year's runner-up. Kristina did indeed win, doing so by a 1:51 margin over 2013 sprint champ Juli Currie.

Placing third was another remarkable junior named Bella Buenting, who is only 13. Determining the four nominees for Minnesota Junior of the Year at season's end is going to be difficult. Among those who have already captured our attention this season, in addition to Swenson and Buenting, are Nick Klonne (2015 JOY), Elliot Slade, Lauren Steinke, Mitchell Clayton, Hannah Bettandorf, Kaytlyn Garrision, Nathan Bich, Sophie Rabino, Erika Lohn, Garrett Welsch and Aly Welch.

As always, HOLT was a terrific event, one that we couldn't wait to get to, and were reluctant to leave. RESULTS

Photo Above R - HOLT Sprint women's podium: (L-R) Juli Currie, Kristina Swenson, Bella Buenting.