Best Of The U.S. Week 12 Recap

Four Best of the U.S. Qualifiers pushed the series past its halfway mark this weekend. Three top athletes will be making returns to the 2009 Championship.

Race #24:    Warsaw Optimists Triathlon, Indiana, June 27
Now 39, the amazing Chris Wickard of Indiana takes the women’s state Best of the U.S. title for the fourth consecutive time. Wickard has been one of the most consistent championship performers. She finished 11th in 2006, 15th in 2007 and 13th in 2008.  D.J. Hanback, who represented Indiana in 2006, just missed this year’s podium, finishing fourth behind Luke Beasley, who raced at the championship last year.

This year’s medalists for Indiana:
First:    Chris Wickard (Women, 39, Crown Point) and Greg Mueller (Men, 38, South Bend)
Second:    Lisa Mueller (Women, 27, South Bend) and Greg Howard (Men, 27, South Bend)
Third:    Elise Laub (Women, 18, Spencerville) and Luke Beasley (Men, 21, Muncie)
Click here for complete results.

Race #25:     Cheyenne Sprint Triathlon, Wyoming, June 28
30-year-old Galen Gough from Casper topped the BOUS podium in Wyoming Sunday, with phenomenal 50-year-old Michael Walker of Cheyenne hot on his heels just 24 seconds back. If Gough is unable to accept his championship birth, Walker could turn some heads and be very competitive with the younger set.

Wyoming’s Best of the U.S. medalists for 2009:
First:    Daisy Pacheco (Women, 30, Casper) and Galen Gough (Men, 30, Casper)
Second:    Lisa Bomengen (Women, 32, Thermpolis) and Michael L. Walker (Men, 50, Cheyenne)
Third:    Kristi Ruben (Women, 39, Cheyenne) and L.J. Brown (Men, 32, Worland)
Click here for complete results.

Race #26:    Lake Waconia Triathlon, Minnesota, June 28
Big stories came out of Minnesota Sunday. A year ago Duluth’s Brian Bich made BOUS history as the first Masters athlete to podium at the Championship, taking home the third place trophy at the age of 42. Bich has all but owned the Lake Waconia course for the last six years and has earned Minnesota’s first place BOUS award every year, missing the Championship just once—while injured in 2007. In past championships he has placed third (2005), ninth (2006) and third (2008).

Minnesota’s BOUS medalists:
First:    Brooke Mutzenberger (women, 29, Eden Prairie) and Brian Bich (men, 43, Duluth)
Second:    Jan Guenther (women, 50, Long Lake) and Kevin O’Connor (men, 38, Medina)
Third:        Susan Williams (women, 36, Minneapolis) and Matt Payne (men, 32, Columbia Heights)
Click here for complete results.

Race #27:    Philly Tri, Pennsylvania, June 28
Beth Shutt earned the right to defend her eighth place at the 2008 Championship with a two-minute margin over the next Pennsylvania women. Today’s BOUS first place male medal went to Brian Duffy, Jr., the number three ranked (by USAT) 20-24 year old in the country.

Philadelphia’s Best of the U.S. medalists for 2009:
First:        Beth Shutt (Women, Natrona Heights) and Brian Duffy, Jr. (Men, West Chester)
Second:    Lindsay Zemba (Women, Palmyra) and John Nowoslawski (Men, Philadelphia)
Third:        Sharon Schmidt-Mongrain (Women, Philadelphia) and Greg Rezwich (Men, Philadelphia)
Click here for complete results.

Next up:
Best of the U.S. Week 13, July 11 & 12

Saturday, July 11
Race #28    YMCA Spudman Tri    Idaho Qualifier    http://www.ymcatvidaho.org/index.cfm?ID=98,4,11
Sunday, July 12
Race #29    Chattanooga Riverfront    Tennessee Qualifier    http://teammagic.com/events/waterfront/index.html

Best of the U.S. Info: Bestoftheus.com