Race Previews

Falls X Predictions...

Sunday, 22 April 2018 23:10

RACE PREVIEW - Yesterday we posted about the du newbies that are currently enrolled in next Saturday's FALLS DUATHLON. Today, we will talk about those we expect to be the frontrunners, both elite and in some of the AGs.

Our predictions here are based on the assumption that no other elite, or AG challengers, will register between the time we perused the entry list (last Friday) and race day. History tells, however, us that several competitive athletes will be later registrants. We'd be surprised if a few elites, like 2013 women's winner Jenn Scudiero, or Suzie Fox, or defending champ Jesson Baugartner, or Brian Sames and Jacob Olsen didn't make the trip to Cannon Falls next Saturday. Likewise, we think that AG stars like Andy Clark (50-54M) and Tracy Serreyn (50-54W) might decide to show up.

Still, this prediction stuff is fun to do, and those we talk about here will probably perform well on Saturday.

Our pick to win for the men is KEVIN O'CONNOR, who for two decades had been recognized as one of our country's premier open class tri and du-athletes, then became an equally respected and decorated master.

KO, 46, was victorious at Falls in 2016, doing so in Masters Record time. He had also race here last year, placing 3rd behind former World Du champion Jesson Baumgartner and two-time Most Imprved nominee Jordan Roby.

At this point in time, we think that Kevin's stiffest competitive will come from SCOTT MYERS and PETER SOMERS, who like his dad, is a Cheesehead (photo below) ...

Rochester's Dynamic Duo of Ruth Brennan Morrey and Dani Vsetecka, record holders at Falls, will not be racing on Saturday. RBM has retired from multisports, and Dani has other committments.

So, who will lead the way for the women? We think that KATHERINE LENGLET (top photo), ANDREA MYERS and SHELLEY OSTRANDER will be the ones to watch. Katherine had a breakout year in 2017, wherein she had one win and four total podiums in six starts. This, plus the fact that she has always raced well at Falls. She placed 2nd here in 2016, and 5th last year against the deepest women's field in Falls history, suggests that she is ready to win. 

Myers, 42, has been nominated for Master of the Year after each of the last two seasons. She won two races outright in 2017, and finished just twenty-six seconds behind Lenglet here last year.

Ostrander is a bit of a wild card here. We haven't seen much of her in the last two years, but are aware that she has won at least four races in her multisport career, two of them being duathlons.

We promised to predict some of the AG champs, so here goes:

40-44M - SCOTT MYERS

40-44W - ANDREA MYERS

45-49M - KEVIN O'CONNOR

65-69M - LUKE HARNED

70-74M - STEPHEN PENKHUS

Will you be at Falls this weekend? We hope so. RACE WEBSITE