Race Previews

Buff Stuff...

Thursday, 02 June 2011 03:00

Buffalo Triathlon Preview - This great event, which will celebrate its 8th anniversary on Sunday, has the distinction of being the largest (1500 participants) race in the Tri Minnesota Series.

It is also the most competitive race in the series. And this year's Buffalo Olympic Tri field, despite the absence of the 2010 and 2009 women's champs (Cathy Yndestad and Kortney Haag), both of whom are injured, and the fact that it shares its date with Pigman Sprint, where last year's Tri Buff men's winner (Patrick Parish) will be racing, will be as stout as ever....

Leading the way for the men on Sunday will be three-time champion Chris Legh, a highly decorated Aussie pro who is best known for his 70.3 and Xterra successes. Yes, we believe he will win yet again, BUT we predict that his margin of victory over the amateur winner will be significantly leaner than in the past. In each of Legh's wins, the gulf between his clocking and the first amateur's was between six and seven minutes.

We predict that either Sam Janicki or Matt Payne, or both of them, will not only go slightly faster (the new bike course is a tad longer than 40K) than Sam Hauck's 2008 amateur record of 1:57:49, but finish within five minutes of Legh.

Why?

Because Sam and Matt are wicked fast. Also, Sam has his sights set on a pro career and plans to race with pit bull aggression. Matt, whose competitive juices also have a very low boiling point, will match that aggressiveness. Their personal battle will be grisly and should result in insane times and finish line collapses. We could even see some hurling on Sunday.

Also fueling the fast times will be the fact that the bike course has been altered and is purported to be faster than those travailed in prior years.

Breaking two hours in an Olympic tri is a sturdy feat. Only seven amateur men have managed to do so here. And no more than two non-pros have ever done so in any single edition of this race.

That could change on Sunday, assuming the weather complies, of course. Our picks to dip under the magic mark are Sam and Matt, plus totally cool Canadian guy, Jon Balabuck, who was the amateur champ here in 2006 (2:00:48) and 2nd non-pro (behind Payne) in 2009. Others who will flirt with a sub-2, and may even crack it, are Todd Landgraff, Ross Weinziel, Harold Doise and Anthony Orlando (WI).

Additionally, the men's masters record (Greg Taylor's 2:05:42) should go down hard. We expect Taggart Downare to pop a 2:03 or better.

Who is going to lead the way for the girls? And is Cathy Yndestad's 2:08:53 in danger? While we don't believe a sub-2:10 is in the cards, we imagine a great battle between Michelle Andres, who is undefeated in 2011; 2007 winner / Master Record owner, Heidi Keller-Miler (photo L); 2009 Rookie of the Year, Suzie Finger, who is racing superbly this season; 2010 Master of the Year nominee / Team Minnesota member, Sarah Mercer; Diane Hankee, who has 10 career wins; and rising star Claire Bootsma, all of whom should dip well under the 2:20 mark. And they will be pushed hard by Nordica Stocker, Cindy Blackstock, Marta Lewinski, Canadian Karen Rosehart, Ann Snuggerud, Leah Prudhomme and perhaps Nicole Cueno, an elite runner who occasionally dabbles in multisports.

Our prohibitive pick to win? Andres in 2:11.

We also believe that Troy Anderson and Laura Swartz will, once again, win the companion Buffalo Sprint. Troy was victorious here in 2010 and 2009. Laura, who has a smile the size of Utah and a identical twin sister who looks exactly like her, including the Utah smile, won this race in '08, and has finished 2nd twice (2010, 2009). RACE WEBSITE

Partial coverage and a results link will be posted after the race on Sunday. More words will follow on Monday and/or Tuesday.