Home
Slam Dunk Selections...
-
Tuesday, 12 November 2013 02:10
(Photo L- Triathlete of the Year and Most Improved award winner, Heather Lendway.)
Most Improved Award - Like the slam-dunk selection of Pam Stevens as Minnesota's 2013 Grand Master of the Year, the MMA Selectors believed that naming Heather Lendway and Brian Sames (photo on page 2), last year's premier rookies, this year's Most Improved winners was a no-brainer. Because one's position on Team Minnesota is central to the determination, the fact that neither Sames, nor Lendway were on the Team in 2012, but earned prominent spots--Lendway ranked #2, Sames, #9--this year, sealed the deal. FYI, Sames was the...
Why Nicole? Why Greta?
-
Sunday, 10 November 2013 06:10
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR - On Saturday, Nicole Heininger (photo L) was named 2013 Rookie of the Year. She beat out one of the most talented freshman classes in state history. Arguably the class of 2013 was second only to the Class of 2010 (though the Class of 2008 was darn awesome, too) from a talent and Most Like to Succeed standpoint. In '10, Jenny Shaughnessy took home the prize, beating out Sam Janicki, Claire Bootsma and Dan Hedgecock. We may not see a group like that again for a long time, but this year's nominees--Heininger, Olivia Bagnall, Casey Miller and Larry Hosch--are darn good and all appear to be bound for stardom.
Why did Heininger win? "Versatility" was one of the major reasons. While the other three athletes excelled in short course tris, Nicole enjoyed success in duathlon, sprint tris and longer events (1/3 IM and a half IM). Moreover her resume featured two course record victories and four other podiums. Also, she held her own against some of our region's top women in two of our state's most competitive races, as demostrated by her 2nd at Lake Waconia and 3rd at Heart of the Lakes....
Minnesota's Athletes of the Year...
-
Sunday, 10 November 2013 00:10
(Photo - Matthew Payne won three EMMAs last night.)
Minnesota Multisport Awards - Here are the winners of the 2013 MMAs. The selections will be analyzed and explained in future posts.
LENDWAY & PAYNE EACH COLLECT 3 EMMAS
- Rookie of the Year - NICOLE HEININGER
- Junior of the Year - GRETA DANIELSON
- Grand Master of the Year - PAM STEVENS
- Master of the Year (Women) - JAN GUENTHER
- Master of the Year (Men) - KEVIN O'CONNOR....
Doing Other Stuff is Good...
-
Friday, 08 November 2013 06:10
Variety is the Spice of Training
By Jason Gootman and Will Kirousis (for usatriathlon.org)
Should you go rock climbing? Should you go snowshoe hiking? Should you play soccer every once in a while? Or should you swim, ride, and run all the time? After all, the principle of specificity states that you get better at what you specifically do. Can cross-training actually up your triathlon game or is swimming, cycling, and running inherently enough cross-training? Enough of our 20 questions—let’s get to four truths about cross-training....
The Greatest Endurance Athlete Ever...
-
Thursday, 07 November 2013 06:10
By Dan Empfield (slowtwitch.com)
I’ve seen a lot of endurance athletes leveraging overwhelming talent through great strength of will. It’s been my pleasure and good fortune to see these athlete because of an accident of chronology: Most of the athletes you’d place on a “best ever” list have been racing during my 45 or so years of involvement in endurance sports. Who was the best ever, among the men who raced? I could not blame anyone for saying it was Greg Lemond, Hicham El Gerrouj, Miguel Indurain, Haile Gebrselassie. Maybe Michael Phelps or Jim Ryun.
But the best I ever saw was Mark Allen. You might find fault with this choice because Mark did none of the three sports as well as any individual sport athlete. But neither did Jackie Joyner Kersey, or Daley Thompson. And, by the way, I'm in good company. ESPN asked this very question last year, and they also chose Mark, ahead of 2nd place vote getter Bjorn Daehlie...
