Race Coverage
Cell Phone Throwing is a Real Thing...
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Wednesday, 31 January 2018 23:10
LIFE TIME ST. LOUIS PARK INDOOR TRI - Though St. Louis Park's enrollment increase wasn't huge--7 addtional athletes in 2018--the general registration trend for Life Time's indoor events is encouraging. And we certainly hope that translates to larger fields this summer when the outdoor multi season gets underway.
A pair of guys with cool Scandinavian names battled for the top spot at SLP. Winning by a mere two points, thanks to his speed in the pool, was SOREN HUGGINS, whose first name should have a slash through the "o", shouldn't it? That would make it more Danishy or Norwegiany.
In 2nd was avid summer triathlete, JUKKA KUKKONEN.
What do we know about these guys? Huggins attended Bemidji State, where he studied business stuff. He's a mortgage underwriter now. A big Minnesota Wild fan, he loves Buffalo Wild Wings (Who doesn't?) more than life itself. He once drank a lot of Jager and dropped trow at a golf course.
As for Jukka, he's originally from the "Old Country," i.e. Savolinna, which is the 31st largest city in Finland. We're not making this up: Savoliina hosts the World Cell Phone Throwing Championships. In 2000, the event was won by Erno Riihela.
Jukka is a very cool guy with a very cool accent. He's a fan of John Mellencamp and is into fancy cars. He can jump pretty high, too, as he did at Square Lake in 2015 (photo)...
Time to talk about the women. The SLP winner this year was COLLEEN ANDERSON. We think she is originally from Waverly, Iowa, has a couple of handsome sons and listens to Dave Ryan in the morning. Dave is a HOOT!
Colleen's point total at SLP was 201, which landed her in 7th place overall. Her closest challenger with 184 points was HELEN ROSE-SHARIF, who did Ironman Wisconsn last fall. Hellen's IMOO bib number was "705." There are a zillion great race photos on her Facebook page.
Seventy-seven athletes finished the event. Here are the Top 5s:
Men: 1. Soren Huggins (225), 2. Jukka Kukkonen (223), 3. Alan Leusink (217), 4. James Lucas (213), 5. Jacob Liston (211).
Women: 1. Colleen Anderson (201), 2. Helen Rose-Sharif (184), 3. Krista Fedor (170), 4. Melissa Noel (169), 5. Melissa MacNamara (168)
