KURIAN 9TH ACROSS THE LINE AT IRONMAN WISCONSIN; 1ST AMONG ALL AGE-GROUPERS
Team GEARGRINDER Clothing’s Joe Kurian worked a strong and steady pace over all three splits to finish first among all Non-Pros at Ironman Wisconsin in Madison, September 13th. Racing in his hometown in conditions that turned out much warmer than anticipated, Kurian beat half the Pro field in clocking a 9:12 to finish in 9th place overall. The temperature played into his hands as Joe was using the race as long, hard but controlled training preparation for next months Ironman World Championships in Kona. It looks like Joe is on track! But the heat which rose throughout the race was not so kind on the rest of the field of 2400 participants making this already tough course even tougher. Despite the conditions all 11 TGG athletes who entered finished. Congrats to Jon Neumann, Clayton Chase, Jen Takata, Eric Maercklein, Scott Bowe, Janell Lanza, Josh Cowdy, Eric Beach, Maria Carlstadt and Marnie Pearsall, you ARE IRONMEN. More race reports and results can be found in the newsletter.
AMMAN LEADS STRONG TGG TEAM AT IM LOUISVILLE AS TWO STUDENT-ATHLETES QUALIFY FOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Two, count ‘em, two members of TGG’s student team qualified for the Ironman World Championships at Ironman Louisville August 31st. Tom Shepard and Christopher Boettcher finished 6th and 7th in 18-24 age group and survived the roll-down to join the ever larger TGG team in Kona. IM Louisville featured 5 TGG finishers led by Matt Amman who, despite losing 7 minutes due to a flat, finished in 9:54 good enough for 29th overall male but, alas, just missing a Kona slot. Mark Hering and John Lancaster both finished in top 20% of their age group in this event among the 2400 finishers. See all the results in the newsletter.
KURIAN AND LANOUETTE IN THE MONEY AT IOWA PIGMAN
TGG athlete, Joe Kurian, sharpens up for Ironman by taking 2nd overall at the Pigman Half-Ironman August 16 at Cedar Rapids, IA. Working a 24.7 mph bike split and 6:12 per mile run pace, Kurian finished in 4:09 trailing only top Pro David Thompson in one of the Midwest’s leading long-course races. Michelle Lanouette finished 5th overall among the women to pick up her share of the prize money on offer. See newsletter for all results.
MATHES SWIMS, THEN WINS!!!
Jordan Mathes shows he is ready for his senior season as a member of the UW-Green Bay Academic All-American swim team. Mathes turned in a Phelps-esque swim to open the Waupaca Area Triathlon emerging from the water several minutes ahead of his nearest rivals. Jordan then held them all off with strong bike/run splits to take the overall win among a field of 285 men at this modified sprint distance event August 16th.
GRECO WINS SPRINT AT PLEASANT PRAIRIE; TGG ON PODIUM IN OLYMPIC
TGG high school student-athlete, Robbie Greco, was the first male finisher at the Pleasant Prairie Sprint distance event August 16th. Meanwhile in the Olympic Distance event, TGG’er Matt Amman was 2nd clocking a 1:57 while Tracy Kellner was 3rd overall among the Women. Scott Bowe won the 30-34 age group. Greco showing improvement with each race throughout the season, realized his dream of winning a race as he now turns his attention to competing for Brookfield Central CC team. Fellow TGG high school student-athlete, Gus Peterson, finished 28th in the race. Read the race report of these outstanding young men in the newsletter.
TGG MULTI-SPORT AWARDS PARTY DATE ANNOUNCED
Mark your calendars now for Sunday, September 27th for a Team GEARGRINDER Clothing multi-sport team awards party. We will celebrate the team’s accomplishments throughout the season, honor this year’s Ironman achievements and help send off the TGG team to the World Ironman Championships in Kona. Planned start time will be 3:30 pm at Pat’s house in Whitefish Bay. Watch the newsletter and web-site for more details to come.
MATHES TAKES 5TH OVERALL AT STEELHEAD 70.3
Team GEARGRINDER Clothing student-athlete, Jordan Mathes, places 5th overall out of a field of 1200 amateur men at this premier event August 2nd in Benton Harbor, MI easily qualifying for the 70.3 world championship. Mathes, age 22 and a student at UWGB, put together strong swim and bike legs en route to clocking a 4:21 in his first attempt at the long course distance finishing ahead of several pros. John Lancaster led the rest of a strong TGG contingent at this world class event but timing chip error by event organizer took him out of official results. Clayton Chase, Chris Boettcher, Ben Harrison, Mark Hering, Russ DeLap and Paul Nemschoff all finished well up in the results putting a big TGG stamp on the race. See newsletter for all results and watch for Jordan’s race report.
AMMON AND LANOUETTE WINNERS AT CAMP WHITCOMB/MASON
Team GEARGRINDER Clothing athletes won BOTH the Men’s and the Women’s race at the 17th annual Camp Whitcomb/Mason Triathlon at Lake Keesus on August 9th. Matt Ammon broke the tape first out of a strong field of 400 athletes while Michelle Lanouette was first among all female competitors and 17th overall. Scott Bowe (3rd), Phil Bdzuzek (5th) and Alan Mast (8th) put TGG into 4 of the top ten overall in one of Wisconsin’s longest-running and most competitive events. See newsletter for all results.
HENKEL WINS AT OSHKOSH
TGG Pro Justin Henkel continues to pile up the hardware winning the Olympic distance race by 11 minutes at the Oshkosh Triathlon, August 9th. Hammering a 27+ mph bike split followed by 34 minute 10k run, Henkel continues a dominating season on the local race circuit as he prepares for the IM World Championship. This race featured strong performances from TGG supporters, Maggie Melowski (wife of Kona qualifier Dennis) who finished 3rd overall in the women’s Olympic race and Joanne Greco (mom of TGG student-athlete Robbie) who was 9th in her age group in the Sprint distance. See newsletter for more details
TGG ON PODIUM AT BRADFORD BEACH AND RIPON; MAYER WINS CUDAHY 10
Team GEARGRINDER Clothing athletes stand tall on podiums all over SE Wisconsin recently. Phil Bdzuzek took 2nd overall in the Olympic distance and Robbie Greco 2nd in the Sprint Distance at the inaugural Bradford Beach triathlon in Milwaukee. Dan Reimer was 5th in the Olympic event. Meanwhile, TGGer Rick Rischman finished 3rd overall at the Ripon Medical Center Triathlon at Green Lake. Proving that Team GEARGRINDER Clothing can also get it done off the bike as well as on it, Jason Mayer won the Cudahy 10 Miler road race. See all race results in the newsletter.
TGG OWNS THE PODIUM AT TRI-ING FOR CHILDRENS
Team GEARGRINDER Clothing athletes captured ALL 6 podium places at the Olympic Distance Tri-ing for Children’s race Sunday, July 26 at Ottawa Lake. Laurel Kliebor won the women’s race and was joined on the podium by Tracy Kellner (2nd) and Michelle Lanouette (3rd) in this event which benefits Children’s Hospital. On the Men’s side, Joe Kurian ran down his two teammates to take the win while Jordan Mathes (2nd) and Matt Ammon (3rd) held off local legend Terry Labinski to make it a clean sweep of all podium places for TGG. Read full race reports and see all the results of Tri-ing for Children’s in the Newsletter.
LANZA GOES SUB-10 AT LAKE PLACID TO CLAIM KONA SLOT
Team GEARGRINDER Clothing athlete and veteran Ironman, Craig Lanza, breaks 10 hour barrier for first time at Ironman USA at Lake Placid, NY on July 26. Lanza gutted out a 3:14 run to finish 45th overall among 2200 finishers good enough for 6th among 40-44 men earning a slot to join the ever-growing TGG contingent at this year’s Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii in October. Craig was one of only 28 non-Pro men to break 10 hours. Larry Lanza also finished strong as well in the event but a flat and too much glue on his sew-up took him out of competition before the run began. Read the Lanzas’ race report in upcoming edition of the Newsletter.
HENKEL CLAIMS 2ND OVERALL AT CHISAGO LAKES HALF-IRON
Team GEARGRINDER Clothing Pro, Justin Henkel, showed once again that he is one of the fastest long course multi-sport runners in the world today. Laying down 5:33 mile pace, Henkel gained ground but in the end ran out of real estate in finishing second to fellow Pro David Thompson at the Chisago Lake Half-Ironman in Minnesota on June 26th. Keep up with Justin as he competes at the highest level of the sport on his blog.
HENKEL 4TH AT IRONMAN COUER D’ALENE
Make no mistake folks, Justin Henkel can run!! Coming out of the water 22nd among the pros after the 2.4 mile swim, Henkel worked a strong 112 mile bike to move up to 13th as the run began. Justin then scorched a 2:49 marathon to move all the way up to 4th overall and first American against a world class international field Sunday at Ironman Couer d’Alene in Idaho. Racing for Team GEARGRINDER, Henkel finished in 8 hours and 56 minutes and made a strong statement he will be a force to be reckoned with in his first year back into the pro ranks. TGG’s Dennis Melowski, coached by Henkel, was first among 40-44 age groupers after the bike and held on for 6th place in that division, 52nd overall among the 2100 finishers. Read newsletter for complete results
TGG TAKES TOP TEAM HONORS AT HIGH CLIFF HALF IRONMAN
In another display of overall team strength and depth, TGG athletes dominated the front of the field at Saturday’s High Cliff Half-Ironman in Appleton. Led by Craig Lanza’s 8th overall finish TGG men captured 9 of the top 40 places among a field of 300 male finishers. Craig came across the line in 4:28 and was followed closely by Chris Boettcher in 4:34 and Larry Lanza in 4:39. Nick Hardrath also finished in the top 25 in 4:48. See all results and read more in the newsletter.
TAKATA 10TH AMONG AMATUER WOMEN AT BOISE 70.3
TGG’s Jen Takata shines on a rain soaked day at the Ironman 70.3 in Boise, ID June 13, to take 10th place overall among amateur women against a strong international field at the Ironman 70.3. Takata was 2nd among 35-39 women in 5:06 in a race highlighted by a photo finish sprint!!!. Read all results
GRECO ESCAPES FROM ALCATRAZ
Team GEARGRINDER student-athlete, Robbie Greco of Brookfield, completed his dream (a VERY big dream indeed) by finishing the diabolically tough Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon in San Francisco on June 14th. Greco was 4th among the 17-19 yr olds in this world-class event which begins (get this now) with a 30 foot plunge from shipdeck into the boiling seas on the SF BAY. Surviving the swim to shore is followed by an extreme run on the sand and a climb up hundreds of stairs only to be followed by even more extreme climbs and descents on the bike and run. Greco finished in a little over 3 hours. Major Kudos to this amazing young athlete who sets his sights on goals that other high-schoolers don’t even dare dream about. Rest easy all ye old-timers. The next generation of leaders is alive and well.