Race Coverage

Katie's Day...

Monday, 17 April 2023 00:10

SQUARE LAKE 70.3 - Fast times, much less personal bests, are hard to come by at Square Lake. The bike and run courses are arguably the most challenging in our region. (We are not including "Extreme" off road long distance tris.) The current routes have been in place since 2018 and only five men had broken 4:25, and  five women have bettered 5-hours.

Last Sunday, though, two of the top three women set career PRs, and two of the Top 3 men did likewise.

In our preview, we picked KRIS SPOTH and KATIE DEREGNIER as favorites, Kris because of past credentials; Katie because she was ready to, as they say, bust out.

Well, Spoth used a strong bike split followed by the fastest run of the morning to post a winning 4:17:25, the second fastest time here ever, and one that had to be as, or more, satisfying as his 4:13 personal best set in Racine back in 2015.

Since 2013, Kris has recorded at least twelve multisport victories....

Also, popping a PR effort was men's runner-up PETER WIKMAN, whose 4:24:21 was exactly four minutes quicker than his prior best, set at Chisago in 2021. The performance had to be gratifying. His last result here was horrific. Everything that could go wrong did. He learned the hard way that turns are not to be missed, tires are meant to remain hard and bodies perform best without injuries.

ISU's NOAH BRENNY also rocked a personal best performance, a 4:26:15, which put him on the men's podium. This performance, like his 3rd place finish at the inaugural Chisago Olympic Tri, was clearly a breakout effort.

Deregnier came into the race with a 5:01:55 PR. She left with a 4:51:54 victory. Her swim and run splits made that happen, just as tri-sophomore CAMI ECKHOFF solidified her Most Improved nomination with a strong bike spilt that secured her silver medal position in a time--4:54:16--that was a 16-minute improvement on her prior 70.3 best.

Finishing 3rd in the women's competition was KRISTEN HAWKINS, whose 5:06:16 was only 11-ticks slower than the PR set set at Chisago in late July.

One hundred and thirty of the 148 enrollees finished this 21-year-iold race.  RESULTS

ED. A brief recap of last Sunday's Square Lake Sprint has already posted on MTN's Facebook page.