Race Previews

2023 Timberman Olympic Preview...

Wednesday, 05 July 2023 00:10

TIMBERMAN OLYMPIC PREVIEW - For the entrants list that we received last week, here, in alpha order, are some of the players who we expecy to be competitive next Saturday:

JOSH BLANKENHEIM, 42 (Photo on Page 2) - Winner here last year and in 2019, Josh also has three 2nd place awards from this race. Timberman is his first tri of the season, yet we think that, based on muscle memory, he is nevertheless the man to beat. A win would be the 15th of his multisport career.

JAN GUENTHER, 64 - Jan owns two divisional records from the prior course, and one from the current route, which has been in place since 2013. She finished 3rd overall here in 2022, which will be hard to match that this weekend. She should nevertheless crack the women's overall Top 10 and win her AG by a ton, as she has already done this year at Maribella 70.3 (ESP) and Lake Minnetonka.

DIANE HANKEE, 46 - Winner of 42 multis in her career, Diane could reach the overall podium this weekend. She should win her 45-49W AG.

BETH HASSLER, 67 - Owner of the 55-59W record here, and divisional champ here last year, Beth should once again win her AG. FYI, Beth won her AG at BIrkie in '22. Also, Beth is a HOOT! ...

CHUCK HENGEL, 59 - Chuck has won his AG in both of the races he's done thus far in 2022. His win streak should stay alive unless, say, Duluthians ROD RAYMOND and/or JOHN KELLEY decide to sign up. Even then, Chuck may come out on top.

ELENA HENGEL, 27 - We love the way this young woman races. She is our state's next national-level star. We are picking her to place 2nd on Saturday behind two-time defending champ Heather Lendway, who has proven invincible since her return to racing after a four-year absence. 

HENRY JESSEN, 27 - Our state's Rookie of the Year in 2021 and top male performer at Nationals the last two years, Henry is very capable of winning on Saturday. If he races like he has in Milwaukee, he will be hard to beat.

TIFFANY KARI, 43 (Top Photo) - Tiff doesn't race tris often, but she totally rocks when she does. Runner-up here in 2022, that will be hard to match with Elena and Diane in the field, but a Top 5 should be in the cards. She's our pick to win the 40-44W AG.

HEATHER LENDWAY, 36 - Clear favorite to win her 3rd consecutive Timberman. Heather simply doesn't lose. She's recorded 5-wins in 5 statrs since her return to the sport in 2021.

DAVID LEWIS, 49 - A four-time Top 5 finisher here since 2015, David hopes to add another Top 5 this weekend.

KRIS NISULA, 47 - This Thunder Bay athlete has podiumed twice at Timberman. He has a shot at doing it again on Saturday. He's our pick t with his AG (45-49M).

SPENCER SYVERTSON, 22 - We're anxious to see how Spence fares this weekend. He's won seven tris since 2017, but he's not collided with the likes of Blankenheim, Jessen and Nisula in a while. Still, he has a shot at a Top 5.

AMY WOOLSEY, 57 - Amy has been off her game of late, but we think she'll get her groove back on Saturday. She's our pick to defend her 2022 55-59W title.

We expect to receive an updated list at mid-week. We will either amend this post, or discuss the field developments on MTN's Facebbok page. RACE WEBSITE