Race Coverage

Cami & Brandon Are the "Real Deal"...

Sunday, 18 August 2024 00:10

YOUNG LIFE TRIATHLON COVERAGE – We like to make performance predictions, and it's cool when we are correct, although that is usually a result of stating the obvious. Yes, we correctly predicted that BRANDON LEE and KADIE HOKANSON would win Young Life's Olympic race, and that SEAN PICKLE and CAMI ECKHOFF would prevail in the Sprint, but few would have bet against those picks.

What we like even more than being correct, is being surprised, which often means that being wrong is more fun than being right. There were some cool surprises at yesterday's tris, which were celebrating its platinum-plus-one (21st) anniversary.

Examples of pleasant surprises included the fact that while we were correct about Leee winning the men's Olympic men's race, and that NICK JASMER, ANDREW MOEN, DAVID LEWIS and BRETT WINKLEMAN would be among the top finishers, we were wrong about the order. We picked Jasmer to finish 2nd. When Nick saw our preview post, he responded to noting that Fargo's NATHAN MEYETTE (photo) deserved to be on “Podium Watch,” our words not Nick's. He was right. Nathan finished 2nd overall....

So Nick took 3rd, right? Nope. A talented collegiate runner from Massachusetts named FELIX ROGOVIN, a 19-year-old suburban Boston resident who runs for Vermont's Middlebury College finished in the bronze medal position.. Turns out that his swim and bike splits are also pretty darn good.

Fourth was earned by another Fargo guy, Brett Winkleman, who impressed us at Green Lake Olympic the previous weekend. Jasmer then landed in fifth, just twenty seconds after Brett.

Great racing. Exciting stuff.

Finishing behind Hokanson was West Fargo's LISA RICHTER, who snuck into the Top 10 at Northwoods last weekend. Her YLT time was five minutes better than her 4th place time last year. Not a surprise, but pleasant nonetheless.

Amazing Canadian elite AGer, LORI GREEN, 61, took 3rd. A surprise? Not really.

We predicted that Eckhoff could finish as high as 2nd overall in the Sprint, and that's exactly what she did. We predicted that she'd post a 1:01 or 1:02. We were wrong about that, but not by much. Cami's actual time was 1:00:54, just thirteen ticks behind Pickle's overall winning clocking. Cami, is the “Real Deal.”

Not including paddle triathletes, 271 Olympic and Sprint athletes finished this year's race. RESULTS

Page 2 photo - Felix Rogovin & Brandon Lee.