Race Coverage
Casey Again...
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Monday, 01 August 2016 23:10
WALKER TRI - It's turning out to be a very good year for rookie triathletes in Minnesota. Novices Hanna Grinaker and Maggie Weiss have been stellar, and Zoe Reker and Allie Nowak have also had head-turning moments.
But where are the guys? Haven't any first-year men distinguished themselves?
Yes, one man has. His name is Joel LaFrance, an accomplished Nordic skier, who prior to this season, had done only one tri -- Buffalo Olympic in 2011. Until last Saturday, his 2016 multisport scorecard featured a victory at the USAT Winter Triathlon National Championships and a 3rd at Bertram Blast.
On Saturday, he placed 3rd again, this time at the 7th annual Walker Tri. He was beaten by a pair of established talents, Casey Miller, who's win was his 3rd of the season, second at Walker, and 11th of his career, and Thomas Anderson III, who in 14 career starts has posted two victories and eight other podiums.
LaFrance finished just 23 seconds behind Anderson.
The guy we picked to win, Larry Hosch, placed 4th, his achilles injury adversely affecting both his swim kick and his running stride. He crossed the line eight seconds after Joel did....
As we predicted in our preview, the women's race for first place came down to a battle betweem Tara Makinen and Jacquelyn Bacigalupi. We favored Makinen because Jackie had done a half IM the previous weekend. Our prediction was bass-ackward. Bacigalupi's W was the 2nd of her multi career. She had also won the Heart of the Lakes Sprint in 2015.
Makinen has raced three times this season, claiming one win and two seconds.
Placing 3rd for the women, and taking the masters title, was Dena Storm (top photo), whose performance reminded us of her successful 2012 season. Since then it appears that she has focused on running. Hopefully her effort at Walker awakened her love for multispot racing.
One divisional record was set last Saturday, courtesy of Jan Handlos, 62. In her first multisport race since winning her AG' at Ironman Wisconsin last fall, she nuked the prior 60-64W mark.
She also holds Walker's 55-59W record.
