Race Coverage
Another Record for Cami...
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Monday, 08 June 2026 00:10
Photo (L-R) - Julie Weisbecker, who rocked in the Olympic race and Cheryl Zitur and Christel Kippenhan, who excelled in the Sprint.
2026 Buffalo Sprint Coverage - Pre-race morning conditions could be adequately described as warm. Low 70s. When the race got underway, though, "warm" turned to "toasty," and humidity, as well as wind volume, began to tick upwards. Then it became downright "hot," and many would suffer, as would their final times.
But those that set the pace in the Sprint managed to rewrite long-standing records, doing so while the climate was bearable, starting with the overall winners, Mitchell Clayton and Cami Eckhoff. Clayton, whose personal race report will post later in the week, raced confidently en route to a 56:26, which lowered Andy Wiberg's 2016 race record by 18-seconds.
The win was the tenth of Clayton's tri-career.
As for Eckhoff, her record time at Tinman last month portended a victory at Buffalo, an event she had already won twice, and suggested that she just might "challenge" Cheryl Zitur's 2017 mark of 1:03:32....
Challenge it? She blew it way! Cami's time was 1:01:49, giving her thirteen Ws in her young (since 2021) tri career. Not only that, the performace landed her in 4th place overall.
Other brilliant efforts were turned in by tri-rookie Owen Lindseth (photo R), a 22-year-old track and cross country runner at The U, who finished 2nd overall in 58:32. His 17:05 (5:13 pace) 5K sealed the deal.
After the race, Owen said in effect that he was anxious to do more tris, and we are anxious to write about his rise in this sport.
Placing 3rd for the men was elite master Thad Ingersoll, 56, whose amazing 59:06 lowered his Age Group's record by 5:12. It also would have broken the 45-49 and 50-54 AG marks.
Eckhoff, now, 40, naturally set an AG record, but she was not the only woman to do so. Forty-three-time multisport winner Diane Hankee, 49, finished 2nd yesterday, her 1:07:05 proved to be 16-seconds better than Laura Swartz' 45-49W best, set in 2016.
And four-time Buffalo Sprint champ Cheryl Zitur lowered her own 60-64W mark of 1:08:45, set in 2025, by a chunky 1:29.
After two decades of Graniteman event production, Bill and Heather Corcoran have stepped away. We thank them profusely for their contributions to the triathlon lifestyle here in Minnesota. And so you know, the GM events are now managed and executed by Race Day Events of Madison, Wisconsin. They did a wonderfull job at Buffalo yesterday.
For some reason, Active Central Minnesota decided not to give awards to Age Group award winners. Only Overall and the fastest relay teams took home commemorative stoneware. We plan to post the Top 3s in the age division's on MTN's FB page later this week.
