Race Coverage
A Great Way to Spend a Sunday...
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Wednesday, 13 August 2025 00:10
22nd GREEN LAKE TRIATHLON Coverage - St. Cloud's GRETCHEN AMUNDSON (photo below) is an "occasional" triathlete who happens to be pretty darn good at this swim-bike-run thing. And when she decides to do a tri, it is always Green Lake. ...
Spencer's Best Ever...
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Monday, 11 August 2025 00:10
Photo - In order of height: Mitchell Clayton, Spencer Syvertson, Nicholas Jasmer
22nd NORTHWOODS TRIATHLON COVERAGE - We predicted that an unprecedented five guys would dip under the one-hour mark last Saturday at Northwoods. We were wrong. Sort of. This is because three of the predicted men were no-shows. The two that raced, though, raced brilliantly, starting with SPENCER SYVERTSON's Performance of the Year-level effort. He came into the race undefeated in four starts before turning in what was arguably his finest performance ever, thanks largely to his breakout DKT-like bike split (27 mph). When he arrived in T2 at just over the 38-minute mark, everyone watching knew that something special was happening. It became clear at that time that BROOKS GROSSINGER's 2014 course record--57:06--would finally be seriously challenged.
When Spencer came into view approaching the finish line, the crowd knew that Syvertson would come away, at the very least, with the second fastest time in race history. Syvertson dug deep, not allowing...
Diane's Back!
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Tuesday, 05 August 2025 00:10
38th BREWHOUSE TRIATHLON - Lots of storylines! Here's four of them:
- ELAINE NELSON's triumphant return to tri racing.
- JOSH BLANKENHEIM's Long Course record.
- SHYANNE MCGREGOR's 2nd consecutive outright win in the Sprint competition.
- BREWHOUSE's super-awesome volunteers.
Elaine - During her absence from the triathlon scene in 2023 and 2024, we worried that Elaine, inauguably Duluth's all-time most successful female triathlete, had retired. We couldn't be happier that our fears were unjustified. Last Sunday she raced at Brewhouse Olympic and did what she had done eight times before, i.e. won by a convincing margin. The W was the 28th of Diane's tri career dating back to her Rookie of the Year campaign in 2010.
Josh B - Duluth's premier male triathlete since the retirement of the great BRIAN BICH, Blank not only won the BHO for the 3rd time, he lowered SPENCER SYVERTSON's 2024 course record, a mark that looked like it might...stand for a long time, by 38-seconds. Josh is now the first man to break 1:50 (1:49:39) on BH's .75 - 24 - 5 course. The 2024 Master of the Year, Josh is the current frontrunner for that honor this season. He needs one more elite level performance to lock that in, and we are confident that his return to Northwoods next week will make that happen....
"...Super Fast Until it is Not"....
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Sunday, 27 July 2025 00:10
By Brandon Lee
Ironman 70.3 CDA was a fun one! Great course and super spectator friendly!
Came away 16 OA male 2nd in 40-44 AG, pretty stoked with the result, given a quick turnaround from DSM and not a lot of prep time or fitness built.
Swim was beautiful, water temp was around 65 degrees race morning and air temp was 48. Having done Square Lake 70.3 in 2024, conditions were quite similar so I knew it would be chilly on the bike starting out but needed to remember I’ve done it before. And not to worry about it. Had to back off the effort the last few hundred yards as my stomach was starting to turn a little.
I messed around too long in T1, with gloves and arm warmers and eventually just opted to go without anything except ankle smartwool socks. Honestly my feet got a little cold but that was it. My legs did remain quite stiff for the first 25-30 miles, and I imagine it was from being a little cold. The course is super fast until it’s not, a fair amount of long climbs but...
"...A Big Deal"...
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Friday, 04 July 2025 00:10
By Linda Williams
Abby Williams, 17, from Winona, MN made her debut in the Sprint Trinona on Sunday, June 8, 2025, finishing on top of the podium for her age group.
Though this may not seem like a big deal to some, to Abby and her family it was a day of great pride and accomplishment.
In February of 2024, in the last regular season basketball game before section playoffs, Abby tore her ACL and meniscus. Abby had surgery in March of 2024 to repair these injuries.
Abby’s recovery was not easy. She worked extremely hard and by the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year she was back in the pool (with restrictions) with her teammates where she CO-OP’s with the Winona Senior High-Cotter Swim and Dive Team. Abby has been a member of the varsity team since 7th grade.
Abby continued to strengthen her knee through PT and weight room workouts. Abby was cleared late in the swim season to swim her signature stroke: the breast stroke, which she holds the school record in. After only swimming this stroke two times before the section meet, she retained her section title in both the 100 yard breast stroke and the 200 IM (individual medley) and earned a trip to the MN State High School Swim And Dive Tournament. Abby finished 5th in both of her events...
CR for Sean. PR for Kadie...
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Monday, 28 April 2025 00:10
Photo - Men's Top 3 - Soren Schwendeman (4:30:02), Sean Cooley (4:10:53) and Brandon Lee (4:18:13)
SQUARE LAKE 70.3 - In 2019, JOSH MORK won the Square Lake Half in course record time: 4:11:39. That performance earned him a Performance of the Year nomination. SEAN COOLEY kicked of his tri season, which he balances with his running and cycling seasons, with a 4:07 5th place finish at Ironman. 70.3 Des Moines. He followed that up with a 4:14 2nd place effort under brutal conditions (heat and wind) at Chisago. Earlier this week he decided to take on the Square Lake Half, our state's most challenging long course event, a race he won in 2023 in 4:23. His result placed him in the Performance and Triathlete of the Year conversations. Leading from the get-go he time-trialed his way to a new course record 4:10:53.
Wait a minute! Didn't Wisconsin's PATRICK ALLAIRE's 4:10:59 in 2020 steal the CR from Mork? Nope. The swim was shortened to a half-mile that year.
And while Sean's performance can be called a runaway, let's not discount BRANDON LEE's 2nd-placing 4:18:13, a Masters Record, and whch lowered his 70.3 personal best by more than five minutes. Lee appears to be a shoo-in for a Master of the Year nomination....
