Tuscaloosa weather: Race Day
expected high - 88 degrees
Overall, AG, Masters and Grand Masters winners take home an official 2009 National Champions Jersey. How many Minnesotans will earn this garment?
* CATHY YNDESTAD TAKES 30-34W CROWN AGAIN!
E-report from Kerry Yndestad at 11:30 AM CDT: "CY wins AG and beat Lindsay (Whalen) and Beth H (Handley). Looks like 2 20-24 F are showing up ahead of her in overall. Devon 2nd AG 3rd Overall so far. Dennis Dane 2nd AG behind Mark Harms."
* DULUTH'S RHETT BONNER WINS 45-49!
At least 2 Minnesota's have earned AG Champions Jerseys - Cathy Yndestad & Rhett Bonner. Devon Palmer and Dennis Dane reach AG podium.
* 1:30 PM update from Kerry Yndestad: "Cy finished ahead of LR (Linda Robb), but still 3rd OA behind two unknown 20-24 AGs. We think Devon won the bike preme, and maybe Cy too."
MTN's AG National Champions Predictions & Final Results:
00-19M - Joseph Welsh (TN) - (Welsh won by a 6:57 margin)
00-19W - Jennifer Walz (GA) - (Walz won by 3:18 over runner-up Lauren Rantala of Eden Prairie)
20-24M - Brian Duffy, Jr. (PA) or DEVON PALMER (MN) - (Won by overall champ Joe Maloy of Brighton, MA. Palmer placed 2nd in the division; Duffy, 5th)
20-24W - Erin Anderson (IA) - (Won by overall champ Kaitlin Shiver of Gainesville, FL)
25-29M - Daniel Moss (SC) or SAM HAUCK (MN) (Deepest division in the race! Includes IA's Nathan White, PA's Rick Fesler etc.) - (Won by Floridian Sean Jefferson, an elite runner who closed with a 30:59-10K. Hauck placed 6th in the division; Moss did not crack his division's top 10.)
25-29W - Lindsay Whalen (IL) - (Won by former Tennessean Bethany Handley, who now resides in Oklahoma City. Whalen placed 2nd, 55 seconds back.)
30-34M- Mark Harms (WI) (MN's DENNIS DANE could reach the podium) - (Harms won his division for the 2nd year in a row. Dane finished 2nd, 2:01 behind Harms.
30-34W - CATHY YNDESTAD (MN) -(Like Mark Harms, Cathy won for the 2nd consecutive year. Her margin was 2:37 over runner-up Lauren Ivison of Boulder, CO.)
35-39M - Jason Schott (GA) - Defending National Champion (Denver's Kirk Framke dominated the division. Schott placed 2nd, 3:36 back.
35-39W - Michelle Shoup (GA) - (North Carolina's Alicia Parr won the division. Shoup placed 2nd.)
40-44M - Bruce Gennari (TN) (Yes, he will beat NJ's Doug Clark. Bruce went to college in Tuscaloosa.) - (Clark won for the 2nd year in a row. Gennari placed 2nd.)
40-44W - Peggy Yetman (TX) - (Fellow Texan Mina Pizzini took 1st; Yetman finished 2nd.)
45-49M - RHETT BONNER (MN) - (Bonner won handily by a margin of 3:11 over William Schumann of Connecticut.)
45-49W - Linda Robb (FL) - (Robb won by almost 4 1/2 minutes and placed 7th overall, the highest placing ever by an 45+ triathlete. THe previous best placing by a 45+ woman was an 18th by California's Karen Chequer-Pfeifer in 2003.)
50-54M - Steve Pyle (CO) - (The division was won by Texan Michael Buonaugurio. Pyle finished 2nd, 31 seconds back.)
50-54W - Laura Sophiea (GA) - (Sophiea won by a slim 17 seconds over former pro Liz Bulman of San Diego, CA.)
55-59M - Kevin Moats (GA) - (Kim McDonald of Del Mar, CA won. Moats finished 3rd.)
55-59W - Karen McKeachie (MI) - (McKeachie won by a 7:13 margin.)
60-64M - Steve Smith (IN) (MN's Ben Ewers will take the silver.) - (Smith, as always, won. Ewers crushed the bike but seemed to have problems in the tepid lake, losing more than 11 minutes to Smith. In 11th place when he arrived in T1, Ben rallied to finish 4th.)
60-64W - Lauren Binder (OR) - (Binder nuked her division by a margin of 26:31.)
65-69M - Robert Plant (CA) - (Plant won, beating fellow Californian William Marshall by 10:01.)
65-69W - Ann Erickson (TX) - (Erickson was either a DNS or a DNF. The division was won by Macon, Georgia's Anne Wright.)
70-74M - Don Ardell (FL) - (Late-registrant Jon Adamson of Alpharetta, GA won. Ardell took 2nd.)
70-74W - Lis Heckmann (TX) - (Heckman was either a DNS or a DNF. Evanston, Illinois' Graciela Val won the division.)
75-79M - Dick Robinson (CA) - (No 75-79 finishers recorded)
75-79W - Molly Hayes (MT) - (No 75-79 finishers recorded.)
80+M - Dean Davis (FL) - (Davis won)
MTN Predictions: 12 out of 26 (46%)
