After surveying part 1 of the star performers of the 2023 women’s Bundesliga yesterday, in this article we will look at the remaining half of the top division.
A range of factors can separate one teammate from another and it is a subjective measurement to call anyone the top performer when there is so much variety in appearances and performances. Generally, though, it is possible to pinpoint a star for each team.
Team Berlin – 2nd
Berlin enjoyed a wonderful season as they took 2nd place overall and Céline Kaiser was at the heart of things.
Kaiser anchored the team to 2nd place in Kraichgau, overhauling Potsdam with a brilliant run split. That result really got the ball rolling for Berlin and set them up for their run at the overall podium.
From there, Kaiser finished 9th in Schliersee and 11th in Hannover. At both events, she was the team’s top performer.
Depth was also key to Berlin’s success this season. Lina Völker and Tina Christmann contributed top-30 finishes in both Schliersee and Düsseldorf, while Völker added a 14th place in Tübingen. Kaiser, though, was the top performer for the team at three separate stages and thus takes the accolade of being Berlin’s star athlete in 2023.
triathlon.one Witten – 4th
Marlene Gomez-Göggel carried Witten for much of 2023.
To start with, while the team struggled to find athletes to race at the season opener in Kraichgau, Gomez-Göggel provided a crucial point of stability. At the next round in Schliersee, when she was joined by a heavily pregnant athlete and a retired athlete, she kept the team alive with a 4th place finish.
To cap it off, she added a bronze medal in Düsseldorf as Witten enjoyed their best round of the season. For showing up when others did not and when the team needed it most, Gomez-Göggel was already the key athlete to the team. The fact she added the best finish of the team’s season in Düsseldorf was icing on the cake.
The contributions of Anabel Knoll should not be overlooked. Knoll finished 6th in Düsseldorf and 4th in Tübingen. However, given that Gomez-Göggel made more appearances and won a medal, she comes out ahead.
Absolute Teamsport KTT 01 – 6th
Anne Busse was the top performer for KTT 01. She helped to bring the team home in 11th place in Kraichgau. Thereafter, her season really got going.
Busse logged finishes of 7th in Schliersee, 11th in Düsseldorf and 10th in Hannover and her consistency made her the sixth highest points scorer in the women’s top division. In all three of her individual races, Busse was the highest finisher for KTT 01. Moreover, she was the only athlete from the team to log a top-10 result.
The depth of the team proved hugely important in securing 6th overall, with multiple athletes chipping in with great races. Throughout it all, though, Busse was a consistent force for KTT 01.
Mey Post-SV Tübingen – 8th
Mey Post-SV Tübingen won’t be back in 2024 after they announced that they will be folding. Their athletes will thus be looking for new teams before the new season comes around.
In 2023, Tübingen got off to a good start with a 6th place in Kraichgau with a strong team effort. The fastest athlete on the team that day was Pia Wolf and from there Wolf would go on to be the top performer across the season.
Wolf finished 18th in Düsseldorf , 11th in Tübingen and 23rd in Hannover. Whenever she raced, she was the top finisher for Tübingen. As a result, Wolf’s combination of multiple appearances and consistent performances make her Tübingen’s top athlete.
Triathlon Team DSW Darmstadt – 10th
Darmstadt are one of the trickier teams to place and the choice of top performer comes down to the metric that is given the greatest weight.
Finja Schierl is an obvious candidate given that she logged the fastest leg of the team in Kraichgau by almost 2 mins, helping Darmstadt to 5th place. Then, at the end of the season, she finished 6th in Hannover.
Although she only raced twice in 2023, both of her contributions were highly impressive.
At the same time, Lucie Kammer was Darmstadt’s top performer in Schliersee, Düsseldorf and Tübingen. Across those three races, she finished 19th, 30th and 15th, respectively. In addition, she added an 18th place in Hannover and was part of the team in Kraichgau.
Kammer thus appeared in every round while also delivering three top-20 finishes.
On balance, Schierl had the individual higher ceiling in 2023 (as her 6th place attests) but Kammer’s consistency and commitment mark her out. It could go either way but Kammer is the athlete we have plumped for as the top performer.
Karlsruher Lemminge – 12th
Sabrina Fleig was the only athlete in the Karlsruhe team to log a top-20 finish in 2023 and she did it twice. Fleig took 14th place in both Schliersee and Düsseldorf.
She endured a slightly disappointing race in Tübingen, finishing 46th, and she was not the fastest athlete on the team in Kraichgau.
Nevertheless, Fleig raced often and raced well. Her combination of multiple appearances and the best finishes of the team make her an easy choice for the top performer.
TSV Amicitia Viernheim – 14th
Based on her performance in Tübingen, the Austrian Junior athlete Tabea Huys could have taken the top performer status for Viernheim. Huys finished 12th which was the best result the team enjoyed this season. Moreover, she recorded the team’s fastest leg in Kraichgau.
At the same time, Kathrin Halter finished 17th in Schliersee, putting her close to Huys’ best result and made two other starts. Helen Scheffold also finished 20th in Düsseldorf while appearing in every race (while enduring one DNF).
Identifying teh Viernheim top athlete is thus a little similar to the conundrum with the Darmstadt team. Are high finishes worth more than more frequent appearances?
In this case, though, there is one point that must be noted.
Kraichgau was Viernheim’s best result of the year and without it they would have finished behind Würzburg. At the end of the season, the two teams were tied on 45 points, with Viernheim’s better total finish count keeping them ahead. Kraichgau was thus a huge moment for the team.
As Huys was the fastest Viernheim woman in Kraichgau by over a minute, she therefore takes the top performer title.
HEIKOTEL Tri Team Hamburg – 16th
Jenny Jendryschik was Hamburg’s top finisher in Schliersee, Düsseldorf and Hannover, finishing 11th, 22nd and 20th, respectively. Moreover, she was the team’s only finisher in Düsseldorf.
Her selection as the team’s top performer is therefore quite a clear-cut case.
Top-40 finishes were fairly hard to come by for Hamburg. Anne Witteveen managed it by finishing 19th in Tübingen and Leonie Konczalla managed 24th place in Schliersee. Beyond that, the rest of the team’s results fell outside the top-40.
Henceforth Jendryschik’s three top-25 finishes offer a clear rationale behind her being the team’s top athlete in 2023.
