Race Coverage
Josh, Cami & the Law of Averages...
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Monday, 07 April 2025 00:10
21st NORTHWOODS TRIATHLON COVERAGE – BROOKS GROSSINGER did not win this sprint triathlon in 2005 and 200g for a very good reason. He wasn't there. His did win every other NWT, though, a total eighteen....
Shyanne & Spencer!
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Friday, 04 April 2025 00:10
Top Photo: BH Sprint champ Shyanne McGregor. Page 2 Photo: BH Olympic winner Spencer Syvertson.
BREWHOUSE OLYMPIC COVERAGE - Not since 2018 has a triathlete beaten JOSH BLANKENHEIM in his own backyard, i.e. Duluth and environs, until yesterday, that is. Josh and Wade Cruser duked it in '18, with Wade coming out on top at Brewhouse Olympic. FYI, Cruser was the Triathlete of the Year in back then.
Yesterday, Josh turned in his fastest Brewhouse performance ever, but he came up just 22-seconds short. He made up time on the bike and run, but SPENCER SYVERTSON's swim, along with his improved cycling, delivered him to the finish line in course record time. 1:50:17! This performance along with his RR at Alexandria and his 2nd at Lake Minnetonka make him arguably the frontrunner for 2024 Minnesota's Most Improved male triathlete.
Josh's 1:50:39 nuked BH's Masters record.
The final mem's podium sport went to Superior Wisconsin's RICHARD VANDEN BRANDEN, whose fine 1:56:57 on the 1200m - 24 mile - 10K course was highlighted by his signature strong running. According to his Facebook page, Richard is into hunting, fishing and country music.
Wisconsin's MADDY BLAIN, who had a brief stint as a pro triathlete a few years back, and many fine amatuer performances in her home sate since then, was a late registrant. She bracked solid swim and bike spits with...
M & Ms, Girlfriends & Katie's Gun Show...
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Tuesday, 01 April 2025 00:10
GRANITEMAN BIG LAKE OLYMPIC COVERAGE - We don't much about NATHAN LASSELLE, other than that he is young and wears a UM tri kit. He captured our attention in 2023 when he placed 2nd at Big Lake Olympic. So we did some research, starting by Googling the UM Tri Team. We learned at lot:
Nathan Lasselle - "I am this year’s Fundraising Coordinator. I am from Maple Grove, Minnesota, and I am majoring in Chemical Engineering. My hobbies include playing clarinet, being outdoors in nature, weight lifting, eating M&Ms and of course swimming, biking, and running. My favorite part of the team is the friendships that are formed. Many of my best friends were met on the team. My favorite memory of the team is when we went tubing after Pleasant Prairie Tri."
Lasselle, an exuberant clarinet-playing, M & M aficionado (Who isn't?) with fundraising skills is a faster in all three diciplines this year than he was in 2023, when he posted a 2:19:47 second place finish at Big Lake Olympic, which proudly features four bike miles more than standard Olympic routes. Last Saturday at this year's Big Lake Olympic, he won the race, though he needed to overcome a rather slow first transition to eventually track down and pass early leader NOAH BILLINGS, who would keep things close until the run, where he proved to be about 10-seconds per mile faster. Billings, whose girlfriend (phot below) was watching him race for the first time, was justifiably pleased with his effort. ...
Kim & Jasper...
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Wednesday, 26 March 2025 00:10
CHISAGO LAKES 70.3 COVERAGE - In the days leading up to this year's races, ELENA JASPER decided not to race in the Olympic event, and instead tackle the 70.3...
Caryn & Jack, Cheryl and Nick...
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Sunday, 23 March 2025 00:10
CHISAGO LAKES OLYMPIC COVERAGE - There were plenty of awesome performances in Sunday's Chisago Lakes Olympic Triathlon. The race is young, only three years old, and many of the AG records are a bit soft, so it wasn't earth-shattering that eleven of the sixteen non-open class (00-19, 40 & over) age groups saw record times despite the heat and wind. Some of those performances were truly special, like JULIA WESIBECKER's 55-59 effort that landed her in 4th place overall in the women's race, or THOMAS WOODS' 50-54M performance, which landed him in 8th place overall. Woods is a highly decorated elite master from Nebraska....
Locals Impress at Alexandria...
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Thursday, 20 March 2025 00:10
ALEXANDRIA TRIATHLON COVERAGE - Unless the internet was mistaken, conditions facing the triathlons were not ideal. It was a pretty. day to look at, but temps had already reached eighty and wind gusted at twenty-plus miles-per-hour. Conservative pacing with lots of internal and external hydration seemed to be called for. Forget about PRs and course records.
Some athletes ignored that memo. SPENCER SYVERTSON turned in what was probably his finest performance ever in June at the Lake Minnetonka Triathlon, where he placed a close 2nd behind the seemingly unbeatable Preston Youngdahl. He demonstrated a new level of speed and tenacity on that day. His performance at Alex last Saturday was arguably superior to his LMT effort. He not only won the race handily, he nuked the men's race record. (Note: New 5K run course.) Outstanding splits in each discipline kept him in front of 2023 champ, and eventual runner-up COREY NYGAARD, who like Spencer, should recive Most Improved Triathlete nominations at season's end. It would be cool to have two Alexandria residents on the list of MI nominees....
