(Palo, IA - August 16, 2009) Rain and horrendous wind did not prevent New Hope's Kortney Haag from achieving her goal: Winning the Pigman Half.Via email, Cathy Yndestad, who was spectating at Pigman on Sunday, had this to say about Kortney's performance:
"I wanted to tell [everyone] how amazing Kortney was yesterday. In my opinion, her fearless bike (in the most awful windy, rainy conditions), and her focus and determination on the run is truly worthy of a POY nomination. It was fun to watch. Everyone who finished Pigman yesterday deserves very high praise." CY
Other highlights: DKT matches his 2007 course record and Kevin O'Connor finishes 3rd in 4:09:49, making him one of only four amateur men--the others were DKT ('02) and Wisconinites Terry Labinski ('02) and Joe Kurian ('09)--to have broken 4:10 on Pigman's storied courses. Kurian's 4:09:09 was herculian, especially when you throw the inhospitable conditions into the equation. It bettered DKT's amateur race record, set in 2002, by 39 seconds.
Here's how the top Minnesotan men fared on Sunday:
1st - David Thompson (St. Paul) - Thanks to adjustments in the course, his 3:58:17 should stand as a race record. The win, his 6th here, was his 9th of the year and 57th of his illustrious career. It was also his 8th CR of 2009. His bike split--2:11:14--was astonishing (4+ minutes faster than the next fastest rider) given the wind and rain.
3rd - Kevin O'Connor (Medina) - He matched his best placing--he was also 3rd here in 2007--- and his 4:09:49 sawed 2:49 off his previous PR at Big Pig.
5th - Matthew Payne (Columbia Heights) - Matt's 4:17:22 was his fastest half to date and almost 13 minutes quicker than his 9th-place clocking here in 2008.
6th - Josh Riff (Edina) - Dr. Josh's time was 4:18:56. This was his 3rd half of the season. He finished 2nd at Liberty (4:17:37) and 8th at Chisago Lakes (4:05:15).
9th - Doug Davis, 42 (Lakeville) - Like O'Connor, Davis is a Minnesota multisport pioneer who continues to hold his own with the younger studs. Doug's masters division winning time on Sunday was 4:23:00 is a PR. His previous best was a 4:23:31 in 2004.
Also in the Top 20 were: 12th - Jeremy Sartain (St. Paul), 13th - Rich Heilman, 44 (Lakeville), 15th - Harold Doise (Osseo), 16th - Peter Maves (Rochester).
Here's how the top Minnesota women fared:
1st - Kortney Haag (New Hope) - Her 2nd effort at the 70.3 distance produced a win in the circumstantially remarkable time of 4:49:37. Her margin of victory over runner-up Emily Dewald of Bloomington, IL, was 1:55. An extremely talented rookie triathlete, Emily has won three of the six tris she's raced in thus far this season. Dewald will represent Illinois at the Best of the US Championship in California next month.
3rd - Julie Hull (Farmington) - Julie won here in 2007, was 2nd here last year, and 3rd this time around. Her time on Sunday was 4:55:49.
8th - April Morgan (Minneapolis) - Morgan also raced impressively at Chisago Lakes, where she posted a 4:53:51. Her time at Pigman, a significantly more challenging race, was 5:15:04.
Also in the top 20 were: 13th - Julia Mairs, 43 (St. Paul), 16th - Nordica Stocker (Minneapolis), 18th - Ann Moyer (Rochester) and 19th - Tracie Kent (St. Paul).
Minnesota's AG Winners:
20-24W - Nordica Stocker (Minnespolis) - 5:25:50
30-34M - Joe Moyer (Rochester) - 4:42:11
35-39W - Lisa Wacek (Minneapolis) - 5:41:47
35-39M - Harold Doise (Osseo) - 4:39:38
50-54M - Matt Haugen (St. Paul) - 5:15:04
60-64M - David Asp (Red Wing) - 5:37:28
A great story and photos appeared in the Cedar Rapids Gazette. The above photo was shot by Crystal LoGuidice of the Gazette Online.
