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Masters Excellence - 2024 Edition, Part II...More Updates...

Sunday, 15 September 2024 00:10

Next month Simon and Garfunkel will evaluate the women Masters (ages 40-54). At this point in time, the five athletes highlighted below are the top candidates for consideration. Three will receive MOY nomnations.

KADIE HOKANSON, 43, Alexandria – Five starts. Four outright women's wins, one 2nd. Concerns? Kinda. Race selection. Her toughest competion was at Green Lake Intermediate, where she placed 2nd behind fellow Master Becky Youngberg. Kadie's win at Square Lake 70.3 was impressive.

TIFFANY KARI-CIZMAS, 44, Duluth (photo)– Four starts. One overall women's win, two 2nds and a 4th (1st Master). Concerns? Not really. PS - Tiff WON One Last Tri Olympic outright on September 15!

BETTINA KEPPERS, 41, Duluth – Three MN starts. Two wins and a 2nd. She is an avid Xterra triathlete and we haven't evaluated those performances yet. Concerns”?Yes, she finished behind Kari-Cizmas at Buzz Ryan.

ANDREA MYERS, 48, Medicine Lake – Four starts. One outright women's win, a 2nd (1st Master), 3rd, and a 5th (1st Master). Concerns? She finished behind fellow Master Becky Youngberg at Lake Minnetonka.

BECKY YOUNGBERG, 50, Shakopee – Seven starts. Four outright women's wins, a 2nd (1st Master) and a 13th (1st AG @ Des Moines 70.3). She was a silver medalist most recently at Madison 70.3. Concerns? Nope!

UPDATE: HEATHER LENDWAY, 40, of St. Paul, has only raced twice this season, and though her thin resume is formidable--An overall women's victory at AG Nationals in Atlandtic City, and a 2nd at Timberman Olympic, she needs one more race performance to be eligible for MOY (AOY, too) consideration. However, her win at Nationals, the 3rd time she's done that (!), will certainly be nominated for Performance of the Year.

UPDATING THE UPDATE: Results from Hopkins needed deciphering, as athletes were allowed to create their own distances. We took time to find those who did the full course (5K - 12mile bike) and learned that HEATHER LENDWAY was the fastest woman, and 2nd overall behind Micah Warning..  The MMH evaluators will likely include HL's Hopkins results to her 2024 resume, which would make her eligible for nominations.