Race Previews

Hedge, Boots & PP Among Hy-Vee EA Faves...

Wednesday, 29 August 2012 02:30

Hy-Vee 5150 U.S. Championship - The second deepest elite amateur field of the year (behind USAT Nationals) will be on hand for this weekend's 5150 EA National Championship in Des Moines, Iowa. On the men's high-end side, the race will feature the Top 4 finishers at AG Nationals, and yes, we believe that these guys, all of whom will likely be considered for 2012 USAT AOY, will sweep the podium+one. Will the order be the same as at Nationals? That is the question. We hope not.

2012 USAT AG Nationals - Men

1. Brian Duffy (PA)

2. Drew Scott (CO)...

3. Dan Hedgecock (MN)

4. Adam Webber (PA)

Yes, we'd like to see Hedge win, and we feel he is very capable of doing so. Besides, he needs the car. That's right. The EA winner gets a car....

And we'd love to see Patrick Parish, who placed 6th here in 2011, upset our podium+one predictions. He is very capable of doing just that. Additionally, another Minnesotan, Rochester's Alex Hooke, has Top 10 potential.

As for the girls, Minnesota has one podium hopeful. Claire Bootsma. She'll need the race of her career to do so, though. Two of last year's Top 3 girls--winner Kim Pancoast (WA) and 3rd placing Hallie Blunck (AL) are back. Also in the field are former pros Michelle LaBlanc (TX) and Rebecca Witinok-Huber (CO), plus 2012 St. Anthony's champion Kailand Cosgrove.

The event, which features professional, EA and AG races, is Sunday and St. Paul pro David Thompson will, one again, be competing. He hopes to match or better his impressive 8th place effort in 2011.

MTN hopes to post words and a results link in the late afternoon on Sunday.