Race Previews

Trinona 2024 Preview....

Tuesday, 28 May 2024 00:10

Trinona Preview - The cancelation of the Buffalo Triathlon left a gaping hole in our state's tri calendar. Between now and Trinona XIV on June 9 there isn't much going on unless you decide to give a couple of small community events--Carleton Tri in Northfield on May 31, or Tri For Health on June 7--a shot.

In any case, make sure you sign up for Trinona.    

We studied the current enrollment, which already outnumbers last year's attendance, but organizers and the MTN guys would love to see a ton of additional sign-ups between now and the close of registration.

And though we expect the Olympic race's eventual frontrunners--athletes like last year's winners SEAN COOLEY and CARYN HERRICK--to be late registrannts, we are happy to see that TIMOTHY BONTRAGER is already signed up. Timothy enjoyed a breakout season in 2023 and is currently the man to beat, and he's ready to thrown down with the best in our region....

While TB was uppied his game in a big way ast season, we believe that former Winona State runner MICAH WARNING is ready to do the same this year. Certainly his amateur victory at Tri Clear Lake Olympic portends  that kind of outcome.

We were pleased to see KATIE DEREGNIER's name on the list of entrants. Like Bontrager, she is coming off a breakout year, albeit in 2022, as 2023 was devoted to growing her family. She'll have some rust, some of which was knocked off on May fourth at TriByKnight Sprint in Wartburg, Iowa, where she was 2nd overall woman. Katie Sue's good friend KRISTEN HAWKINS is also renrolled. Like DeRegnier, she enjoyed a successful racing season in 2022 but did not race in '23. She finished 4th at TriByKnight.

The men's race in the Sprint tri could be a repeat of what unfolded on May 25 at Tri Clear Lake, where MITCHELL CLAYTON and NOAH BILLINGS earned the top two steps of the podium. Billings won this race in 2022 and placed 2nd in an even faster time in 2023. Clayton's last Trinona appearance was in 2015, when he finished 12th. We expect him to podium this year.

FYI - Like Katie Sue and Kristen Hawkens, Billings rocked out at TriByKnight, placing 2nd in the men's competition.

We hope to post additional Trinona preview stuff in the near future. RACE WEBSITE