Race Coverage

Taylor's Happy Birthday...

Saturday, 09 September 2017 23:10

Photo L-R - Someone we don't recognize, Morgan Bell, 15, Taylor Lundquist, 18, Simone Lundquist, 15.

BLAINE TRIATHLON - With her decisive victory at Lakeside Commons Park yesterday, TAYLOR LUNDQUIST nailed down a Junior of the Year nomination. The victory was her third of the season, and her time - 1:23:57 - nuked the prior Junior standard. The performance came the day after she competed for her high school at a cross country meet AND celebrated her 18th brithday.

Taylor wasn't the only Lundquist to turn an impressive effort at Blaine yesterday. Her sister SIMONE, who will turn 15 next week, was the 3rd female finisher, which marks the 2nd time this season that the up-and-comer cracked the women's overall podium, and fifth time she threw down an overall Top 10 finish.

Finishing between the Lundquists was QUIN SEILER, who we think is a lawyer. She's married to KOLE SEILER, who finished 9th in the men's race. The Seiler's have a big, fluffy, brown dog that they sometimes take to the Minnehaha Falls Dog Park.

The race for podium spots in the men's race was hotly contested, even hotlier than ever before, featuring BRIAN SAMES, JOSH MORK, two-time Blaine champ / course record holder CHRIS TATTON and 2016 Rookie of the Year nominee JOEL LAFRANCE. ...

Mork and Tatton led the way out of the water. Joel made up time on the bike, arriving in T2 just as Tatton was leaving. Sames followed and out-transitioned Joel. What was clear was that Tatton, now 40, would reset the masters record. What wasn't so clear was whether Sames could pick off the three men in front of him.

He did, finally catching up to Mork, who was coming off a win at Big Lake Sprint, at the midway point of the 3.5 mile run.

Brian pushed on to the win, the 19th of his multispost career and 4th in six starts in 2017. Mork, Tatton and LaFrance claimed the next three spots.

Five age group records were rewritten. One-hundred and fifty-two athletes finished this year's race.  RESULTS

SQUARE LAKE TRIATHLON - MTN congratulates SUZIE FOX on her milestone 40th career multisport victory at Square Lake yesterday. Making the effort even sweeter is that she placed 2nd overall behind men's champ ROSS WEINZERL.

Fox wasn't the only woman who rocked socks at SL. JUIA WEISBECKER, 51, was the 2nd woman to finish the 140-participant/17-year-old event. Her 1:35:22 was good for a 5th place overall finish and placed her smack-dab in the middle of the Master of the Year conversation.  RESULTS