October 16 2016. This is the final installment for the 2016 5K Masters Championships. The main focus is on teams. Many runners come to this and other events on the USATF Grand Prix Circuit in order to compete for their team. They are not focused primarily on individual wins although some achieve that in passing. As always there were some tight competitive team races. In road racing the Team Score is based on the top three runners and rather than add up finishing position, the actual times are summed up. Every second counts so it is said that gives a great incentive to each runner on the team. But it also means having a single dominant runner, or not, can have a huge effect on the final outcome. Most runners on 40+ teams are between the ages of 40 and 49 but the '+' means that anyone older than 40 can compete and the same for 50+ and so on. It is not all that unusual for a strong older runner to be added to a team as insurance or just to replace an injured teammate or because some of the stronger runners are fast enough. Then it is a strategic question. Will a 50 year old
Kristian Blaich, for example, do more good to a 40's team or a 50's team? Here are the team contests.
TEAMS.
 |
| A pre-race ritual, team check-in with the Clerk of Course, Marian Lein (white jacket). "Are all of your uniforms substantially similar and do you have your front and back bibs affixed?" [Photo by Katherine Frontino] |
*********************************************************
Men 40+. Six different Clubs entered a total of 7 teams:
Atlanta Track Club, Central Mass Striders, Syracuse Chargers TC, Syracuse TC, TNT International A and B [Philly], and the
Willow Street AC [Albany NY]. Atlanta is the defending champion with three runners under 16:00 last year. But two of Atlanta's top 3 were not back this year (Black and Newton) and their third, Blaich, had been injured since the early spring. If Blaich were fully recovered then, along with
Aaron Totten-Lancaster, who ran 33:22 in the 10K at Dedham, that gives them two sub-16 minute runners.
Greg Putnam and
Tim Van Orden ran 33:02 and 34:02 at Dedham. Once the gun went off any uncertainty about Blaich's fitness evaporated as Putnam and Van Orden moved quickly to match his early pace. Totten-Lancaster was moving even faster, a few strides ahead of Blaich. But
just before the halfway point, Putnam and Van Orden surged to break up
the 1-2 of Totten-Lancaster and Blaich. They crossed the halfway mat with Totten-Lancaster at 7:47, Putnam at 7:49, Van Orden at 7:50 and Blaich at 7:51. Would Blake's fitness hold up? If not, Central Mass might have it their way. And what of the #3 runners for each team,
Joe Shairs for Central Mass and
Thomas Carroll for Atlanta. Here Atlanta had a bit of an edge as Carroll was at 8:02 with Shairs at 8:14. Atlanta had to hope that Carroll could build on that gap and that Blaich could hang tight in the top 4. Central Mass, of course, was hoping that Putam and Van Orden could pull away from one or both of the Atlanta leaders and that Shairs could close up on Carroll.
 |
| Atlanta's Blaich leading Central Mass Striders Van Orden [651] and Putnam [600] at the 2K Mark [Photo by Gavin Liddell] |
As it turned out, things went Atlanta's way as Totten-Lancaster held onto his lead. It was a brave surge from Putnam and Van Orden but Blaich was able to regroup and answer. In the end he had a 4 second lead on Putnam with another 5 back to Van Orden. That meant Atlanta was in the Gold unless Shairs could not only close up on but pass Carroll. That was not to be, at least not on this day, as Carroll pulled away and added a 29 second gap to Atlanta's advantage. Atlanta got the Gold with a 15:58 average, with Central Mass in 2nd place with 16:14 per runner. Those were the clubs in the money.
 |
| Totten-Lancaster finishes with teammate Blaich rounding the bend in the background [Photo by Bob Brock Images/rhbrockj11@me.com] |
What about the Bronze Medal competition? That was tight, too. Two long-time New York rivals, the
Syracuse Track Club and the
Willow Street AC had their eyes on the podium. The lead runners for Syracuse and Willow Street,
Derek Powers and
Jake Stookey, were running head to head through the first 1.55 hitting halfway with the same time, 7:57. Syracuse had an edge though with
Mike Melfi only 8 seconds back, with a 14 second gap on Willow Street's 2nd runner,
John Stadtlander. Finally, the Syracuse #3,
Todd Halbig, also had a 5 second gap on his counterpart,
Volker Burkowski. Willow Street's
Stookey was able to pull away, finishing 11 seconds clear of his rivals in 16:02. But not only did Powers hang tough in second, Melfi came in only 4 seconds back from him. The final sword cut through when, despite their best efforts, Stadtlander and Burkowski could not outlast Syracuse's Halbig when he came past to give Syracuse 2-3-4. Syracuse claimed third with a 16:27 average to Willow Street's 16:47. Well raced, gentlemen! Post-race 'trash talk' overheard in the parking lot suggests that Central Mass Striders will be looking for revenge in Tallahassee on the XC trails, bringing quality depth! Atlanta will, no doubt, be eagerly anticipating the rematch
Atlanta Track Club 47:52,
Central Mass Striders 48:41,
Syracuse Track Club 49:21
 |
| TNT International Team after the race (L to R Geoffrey Towell, Michael Latsch, David Ash, and Stephen Jones) [Photo by Katherine Frontino] |
Women 40+. As with the men, six clubs and 7 teams contested the division. Again, TNT International fielded two teams:
Atlanta Track Club, Genesee Valley Harriers [Rochester NY]
, Philadelphia Masters, Syracuse Track Club, Team Rogue [Austin TX]
, TNT International-A and B. The Genesee Valley club is the defending champion but two of their top 3 are different this year. Syracuse took 2nd and should run faster this year as local stalwart,
Sascha Scott is running for them this year. But the two outside teams from Atlanta and Austin must be reckoned with. Atlanta did not send their A team last year and Team Rogue did not contest the 40+ team race. With
Sonja Friend-Uhl recovered enough to run at least in the low 18 minute range and
Holly Ortlund and
Irma Dennard both primed to run under 20 minutes, they were strong favorites, with Team Rogue next, the only other team with three runners likely to break 20 minutes. For the 3rd spot on the podium, Scott would give Syracuse a good start but Genesee would rely on a tighter pack of runners.
 |
| It wouldn't be the start of a 5K Championship at Syracuse without the GVH Cheer! Everyone is then in a great mood to compete.[Photo by Katherine Frontino] |
Atlanta took the suspense out early. Friend-Uhl was running right with Scott up front and sped across the halfway mat in 8:48 with Ortlund only 5 seconds back, and Dennard only 4 seconds behind her. With a fast, tight 3-pack, Atlanta would be a tough team to beat. Team Rogue certainly gave it their best.
Cassandra Henkiel was only 2 seconds back from Dennard but then it was over half a minute back to
Mandy Plante and
Carmen Ayala-Troncoso, the 57 year old Hall of Famer, running with the 40's. That was a lot of time to make up in a 5K and it was not to be.Atlanta got a solid victory, averaging 18:11 to Team Rogue's 19:15. In fact, GVH was closer to beating Team Rogue for Silver than Team Rogue was to getting the Gold.
 |
| Fiona Bayly, unaffiliated for this race, with GVH runners (dark red) and Atlanta Track Club runners (pink) dueling in the background [Photo by Gavin Liddell] |
At the half way point, Genesee's top runner,
Heather Webster, was 5 seconds ahead of Rogue's Henkiel and their 2nd runner,
Wakenda Tyler was 4 seconds ahead of Dennard. But Ayala-Troncoso, at 9:39, had over 40 seconds on Rogue's 3rd runner,
Caroline Bucci. Everyone ran tough over the second half with Henkiel and Plante closing ever so slightly on Webster and Tyler but not enough to reverse the time advantage fo those two. But Ayala-Troncoso added to her lead and that was the story as Team Rogue's 19:15 average bettered GVH's 19:34. The Syracuse Track Club (Scott,
Karyl Sargent, and
Kathleen Wheeler) finished 4th with a 20:24 average.
Atlanta TC 54:32,
Team Rogue 57:45,
Genesee Valley Harriers 58:40.
Men 50+. This was a barn burner of a race with the top 5 teams finishing, on average, within a minute of each other. There was a spread of 17 seconds per runner for 2nd through 5th. Wow, that's close; every runner had to come through for the team!
Playmakers Elite/New Balance [Lansing MI] are the defending champions with GVH and the Atlanta TC coming in 2nd and 3rd last year. Playmakers knew it would be a struggle this year as two newcomers both brought strength, the
Greater Springfield Harriers [Springfield MA], with a lead runner,
Nat Larson, who was likely to be the first runner in for a team, and
Francis Burdett, who would not be far back. Their success would likely depend on how close their third runner, touted by Burdett as the 'fastest CEO in the country',
Ron Lombardi, could stay to those two.
Cal Coast TC [Southern Cal] originally had the strongest team but when
Pete Magill had to withdraw with a hamstring issue, that cost the team well over two minutes, too much to overcome for a win. Still, with
Rob Arsenault leading the way for
Matt Ebiner and Rob's brother
Dan, they would definitely be in the mix for a podium spot.
 |
| Some pre-race strategizing by the Playmakers' Barnett (L) and Henderson (R) cannot hurt, can it? [Photo by Katherine Frontino] |
Over the first half of the race, there were a bunch of runners pretty close to the front.Springfield's Larson was leading the way at 7:51. Cal Coast's R. Arsenault was five seconds back, breaking up the top two Springfield runners as Burdett was only 2 seconds back. If Burdett could stay up tight with Arsenault like that, it would spell trouble for the other teams. The defending champs, Playmakers, came next with a trio of runners,
Ruben Henderson at 8:13 and 5 seconds later,
Dave Bussard and
Kerry Barnett. Henderson has a reputation of starting a bit faster than he finishes so Playmakers was not home free yet, but it was a good start. The worrying thing, if they had known it, was that Springfield's 3rd runner, Lombardi, was only 4 seconds behind them.
 |
| Dave Bussard of Playmakers Elite, leading his teammate Kerry Barnett at the 2K Mark. The runner in the white singlet about 20 meters behind Barnett is Ron Lombardi of the Greater Springfield Harriers [Photo by Gavin Liddell] |
Atlanta's
Michael Strickland broke up the Playmaker's top 3 at 8:15 but his teammates were not with him. GVH's 'twins'
Alan Evans and
Mike Nier were up next at 8:24, but their teammate,
Joseph Mora III, who ran so great at the 1 mile championship was 11 seconds back. Atlanta's
Jeff Haertel was a second behind the GVH guys, with teammate
Gary Droze a dozen seconds back.
What about Cal Coast? Ebiner was in between Haertel and Mora, with D. Arsenault 6 seconds behind Droze.At that point Springfield should have been feeling pretty good about their chances. Playmakers, except for the fact that they want to win so badly, shouldn't have been feeling too bad. Atlanta, Cal Coast and GVH knew they needed someone to step up if they were going to move ahead of the two leading clubs. Over the second half of the race there were some minor rearrangements but mostly runners held their place. Greater Springfield's Larson, Burdett, and Lombardi all held their positions in the race; in fact, Lombardi moved up a couple of spots. They were rewarded with the Gold Medal on an average time of 16:33. Henderson did fade a little for Paymakers, although that could also have been due to the killer work schedule Henderson has had to endure over the latter part of his race prep. But he stayed tight enough on Bussard and Barnett that Playmaker Elite held onto 2nd with an average of 17:04, but it was tight. They only had 3 seconds per runner on Cal Coast. Atlanta's Droze moved up with a very evenly paced race but it was not enough to make the podium as they averaged 17:17 per runner. And GVH was tight up on them at 17:21 per runner.
 |
| Mike Nier (581) of GVH and his teammate, Joseph Mora (576) kicking it in to get the lowest time score possible. [Photo by Katherine Frontino] |
You can bet all these teams will be heading to Tallahassee and Club XC with their eyes on maintaining their edge or getting even!
Greater Springfield Harriers 49:39,
Playmakers Ellite/New Balance 51:11,
Cal Coast TC 51:20.
 |
The Atlanta Track Club looking sharp for the team photo before the race (L to R: Kathy Allen, Cindy Williams, Laurie Wharton, Holly Ortlund, Stephanie Whitis, Sonja Friend-Uhl, Irma Dennard) [Photo by Katherine Frontino]
|
Women's 50+. Six clubs contested this division. Last year the
Athena Track Club A and B teams finished 1-2 but there is more competition this year. Still Athena was clearly the team to beat with
Marisa Sutera Strange heading up their team. Having a sub-18 minute runner on your team always helps, especially when the rest of your runners are pretty strong too. If Strange ran her usual race, it seemed unlikely that any of the Clubs could stay with them but there would e a hack of a race for the rest of the podium. The new team on the block, the
New Balance Tampa Masters (FL), who were featured in the July issue of
National Masters News, were led by Susan 'Lynn' Cooke who might well break 20 and two other strong runners
. The
Clifton Roadrunners [NJ] had a similar team in that
Suzanne LaBurt would likely crack 20 minutes. The Atlanta TC and GVH hoped to counter with teams that would rely on a tight pack rather than a fast leader. Athena's Strange took off as usual and crossed the halfway point in 8:49. So unless the other Athena runners fell off badly, they looked good for the win. Thirty seconds later the next runner came across and, to me at least, was a bit fo a surpris, Tampa's
Trish Butler, who I thought would play a supporting role. Clifton's LaBurt was a dozen seconds back with GVH's
Kathleen Hayden 5 seconds back. When Tampa's Cooke came across 7 seconds later, it looked like Tampa might actually be able to challenge Athena. But Athena's
Mary Swan was 8 seconds back so Athena was still in good shape. After Atlanta's
Laurie Wharton came across 4 seconds later, with Athena's
Julie Pangburn right on her heels, it was clear Athena had little to worry about. Atlanta's
Patrice Combs and
Paula Johnson crossed in 10:03 and 10:04 respectively, Atlanta had their first 3 runners accounted for.
 |
| Paula Johnson (528) crosses the line, followed closely by her teammate, Patrice Combs [Photo by Bob Brock Images/rhbrockj11@me.com] |
But it was only a second back to Tampa's 3rd runner,
Michelle Allen so things were still looking good for them.But it was starting to look like Clifton and GVH would be off the podium as their 2nd and 3rd runners were still yet to reach the halfway point. And that is how it turned out. Strange came across first with a 67 second bulge on Tampa's Butler. When Swan came across 4th with a half minute gap on Tampa's Cooke, who was having an off day, that pretty much sealed the win. Pangburn, as it turned out, also had an edge over Allen so that gave Athena the win with a 19:31 average to Tampa's 20:13. The only other question was whether the tight 3-pack of Atlanta would outperform the LaBurt led Clifton team to land in the third podium position. LaBurt finished in 19:34 and it was almost a full minute before Atlanta's Wharton finished. But then Johnson and Combs came in 7 and 9 seconds later respectively to put the pressure on.
Laura Delea finished in 20:55 for Clifton which meant that if their 3rd runner,
Kerry Monahan, could finish in 31:08 or less, Clifton would get the Bronze medal. But despite her best efforts, Clifton came up just short, an average of 20:34 per runner to Atlanta's 20:33. GVH averaged 21:09.
Athena TC 58:31,
New Balance Tampa 1:00:37,
Atlanta TC 1:01:37.
Men 60+. Seven clubs fielded 8 teams to contest the division. GVH fielded an A and a B team. The defending Champions, the
Boulder Road Runners were back but only one of their 2015 top three was back, Hall of Famer,
Doug Bell.
Cal Coast TC also brought a very competitive squad, perhaps the only other team with 3 runners likely to break 20 minutes.
Shore AC would ordinarily be in that class as well but their top runner,
Reno Stirrat, sustained a freak ankle injury a week before the race and had his foot in a boot. Without Stirrat in the lineup they would be playing catch-up. Still, sub-20 minute runners,
Patrick Gaughan and
Scott Linnell would at least keep them in the hunt for a podium position. GVH would likely need a healthy
Mark Rybinski to lead them to a podium finish. Just returning from an injury, Rybinski is probably not at full fitness yet. And the
Atlanta TC and
Syracuse TC are in the same boat with only one runner under 20 minutes. Atlanta hopes fo rbetter times in the future;
Ken Youngers ran for them in the 1 Mile Championships but now has a surgery to recover from. Rumor has it that
Tom McCormick is recovered and running well now and may rejoin them at Tallahassee.
Ann Arbor TC has 3 solid runners but without the likes of
Terry McCluskey and
Lloyd Hansen, they do not have the speed up front to contend. Things were looking good for Boulder when Bell sped across the halfway mat in 9:01 with his teammate,
Kyle Hubbart, in 2nd, only 11 seconds back and gaining. Worrisome, however, was the Cal Coast trio of
John Holcomb, Perry Forrester and
Keith Witthauer, in that order, all within 3 seconds of Hubbart. GVH's Rybinski was right with that trio but his number 2 runner,
Bill Beyerbach was a dozen seconds back. Syracuse's
Brian Cummins was right on Rybinski's heels but their 2nd runner was way back. Shore's 2nd runner,
Scott Linnell, came along next at 9:25, with Boulder's number 3,
George Braun, right on his heels along with GVH's #2, Beyerbach. Shore's 2nd runner, Gaughan, was a few seconds behind Beyerbach, keeping Shore in the hunt and it helped that even though Shore's 3rd runner,
Mark Chiusano, was almost half a minute back from Gaughan, no other team had a runner between them. GVH's third runner,
Tony Gingello was 8 seconds behind Chiusano.
If Bell and Hubbart could maintain their 1-2 standing it appeared that Braun was close enough to deliver the victory. If none of them faltered, Cal Coast, despite its tight 3-pack, would have to settle for 2nd. If Gaughan and Linnell could hang tight with Beyerbach and if Chiusano could stay ahead of Gingello, Shore should claim the bronze. And that is how it turned out. Hubbart and Bell took 1-2 but with the order reversed from halfway. Braun finished in 10th and broke 20 minutes to seal the victory with an average of 18:56. Shore's Gaughan came on strong to break up the Cal Coast trio but that was not enough to derail their Silver Medal race. Holcomb, Forrester and Witthauer all finished from 19:05 to 19:17, demonstrating a strong team consistency.
 |
Cal Coast's John Holcombe (white cap) and his teammate Perry Forrester (486) head to the line, aiming to close out all competitors (except the Boulder Road Runners) [Photo by Katherine Frontino]
|
Shore AC's runners had a good last 1.55 miles. Gaughan, as noted, came on strong, passing Linnell and Witthauer. But Linnell also expanded his gap over Beyerbach from 2 seconds ot over half a minute, and Chiusano upped his margin over Gingello. Shore averaged 19:48 to claim the Bronze medal. GVH was just off the podium with a 19:57 average followed by Syracuse at 20:04, Atlanta at 201:13 and Ann Arbor at 20:26.
Boulder Road Runners 56:47,
Cal Coast TC 57:28
, Shore AC 59:23.
Women's 60+. GVH was the defending champion but their women's 60+ team has not been heard from yet this year. I hope all are okay and just too busy to make the trips. Two new teams contested the division this year, the
Atlanta TC and the
Impala Racing Team (SF Bay Area). Impala hoped to duplicate the race they had in Dedham MA at the 10K championships where they took the division gold medal. Unfortunately,
Mo Bartley, their top runner at Dedham, did not make the trip so
Dianne Anderson gamely agreed to be their third runner. Atlanta came loaded with their top 60's runners so the contest was a little uneven. Atlanta's
Nancy Stewart zipped across the halfway mat in 9:43 and it was a minute more before Impala's
Jill Miller-Robinett crossed. Sixteen seconds later
Margaret Taylor crossed for Atlanta, followed by her teammate,
Cynthia Williams, a few seconds later. That pretty much settled things unless someone's pacing was way off. Impala's
Jo Anne Rowland came along a half minute later, and then a bit further back, Anderson. There were no changes in order over the seocnd half of the race so that's the way they finished. Atlanta took the victory with a 21:58 per runner average and Impala took the Silver Medal.
Atlanta TC 1:05:52,
Impala Racing 1:12:56.
Men's 70+. Six teams contested the division. It is probably easier to say who should not be favored than who should. The
Ann Arbor TC has been a power in the past and the defending champion, but none of their top 3 from last year are running this year.
Doug Goodhue and
Monte Piliawsky, their usual 1-2 punch, are both out. Ann Arbor's top runner this year is likely to be
Paul Carlin (that's me). But after running the 10K in 42:19 (net) in April, I strained my left hamstring and was in Physical Therapy until mid-September. Rather than aiming for something around 20, getting in under 22 will be the main goal. Needless to say that will not be competitive enough to carry a team.
Atlanta TC is another strong team but their number 1 runner,
Ron Mastin is perhaps even further from being fit than I am so they probably are out. The
Clifton Road Runners will compete but it is hard to hit a top 3 70's finish when none of your runners are under 74.
 |
Clifton Roadrunners, Matt Lalumia (L) and William Ash (R) in perfect step. The chocolate milk makes me think it looks like a post-race shot but if so, they look remarkably fresh after their 5K efforts.[Photo by Katherine Frontino]
|
That leaves three teams, the
Genesee Valley Harriers, the
New England 65 Plus Runners, and the
Shore AC. It seemed like the top runners for GVH and Shore,
Jim May and
Przemek Nowicki respectively, should fight it out for the win, with a time somewhere around 21:00. The 2nd and 3rd runners for GVH appear to be slightly stronger than the 2nd two for Shore but it is likely to be close and will depend on who has a better day. the NE65+ team should have a good shot at the Bronze Medal; their top three runners could all well fall between 24 and 25 minutes. Ann Arbor and Atlant are probably fighting over 4th and 5th with the outcome probably depending on how strong a race Mastin can run. GVH had the first runner across the halfway mat in 10:00. With a 24 second lead over Nowicki, GVH was off to a good start. Twenty seconds later, I came across the mat headed toward my predicted sub 22 minute time. Twenty seconds after that, in 11:03,
Milton Schumacher was the first runner across the mat for the NE 65+. That suggested the NE65+ team might be better than anticipated. That became even clearer when the ext runner up was also from NE65+, Joe Noonan in 11:23. Luckily for GVH and Shore, their other runners were coming next, GVH's
Liam Finnigan in 11:29 with Shore's number 2 runner,
Ed Smith, on his shoulder. Then came the third runners for NE65 and Shore,
Robert Knight, and
JL Seymore in 11:36. Two seconds back was GVH's 3rd runner at this stage,
Jim Glinsky, with Atlanta's
Fran White on his shoulder. Now the top 3 teams all had their top 3 runners across the hd the two leaders as the group ran impressively faster than predicted at least through the first half of the race. alfway mat. at that stage it was looking At this point it was looking good for GVH. The 24 second advantage of May over Nowicki was good as the 2nd and 3rd runners for GVH and Shore were running very close. The big surprise was that the NE65+ team was not far behind, all 3 on pace to break 24 minutes. Over the second half, May held strong and stretched his lead over Nowicki to 42 seconds. While Finnigan faded a little, Glinsky did better so that was a wash for GVH and allowed them to claim the victory with a 22:48 average. Although Nowicki did not do as well as May over the last 2.5K, the only chaser who closed the gap on him was me and Ann Arbor was not in contention. Nowicki stretched the gap with NE 65's Schumacher from 39 seconds to nearly a minute and that was enough to offset the gains made by the other two NE65+ runners on the 2nd and 3rd Shore runners. Shore finished 2nd with 23:12 per runner, a mere 5 seconds per runner ahead of the NE65+ club, much closer than expected--Well done, NE 65+! Atlanta was just off the podium with a 25:46 average and Ann Arbor TC 4 seconds per runner slower.
GVH 1:08:24,
Shore AC 1:09:35,
New England 65 Plus Runners Club 1:09:49.
Women's 70+. Two teams contest this division, the
Syracuse Chargers TC and the
Checkers AC [Buffalo NY]. The Syracuse Chargers are definitely the favorites as their top 4 runners,
Sue Gardinier, Mary Casey, Rosemary Laquidari, and
Carol Rider are all likely to break 35 minutes and it is unlikely that the Checkers runners,
Fran Rowe, Christa Maier, and
Edna Hyer, will be able to match that. Most likely the Checkers AC team was happy to run the race, have a good time, and pick up the Silver Medal.The Chargers took the Gold medal with an average time of 30:03 and the Checkers came in at 37:33 per runner for the Silver Medal.
Syracuse Chargers TC 1:30:07,
Checkers AC 1:52:38.
Congratulations to all these great teams. It leaves me eagerly anticipating the ferocious team contests we will see at the Club Cross Country race in Tallahassee in December. But first we have the last road Championship race of 2016, the
USATF 15K Championship at the Tulsa Run in Tulsa Oklahoma on the last Saturday in October, the 29th!
SPECIAL FEATURES
Overall Team Age-Grading Winners (in the USATF 5 K Championship)
(Rules—Top 3 runners for each complete scoring team,
across age groups, in age-grading tables, score by place not %; all declared
runners can displace)—Only runners on complete teams counted. Lower scores are better.
MEN
Cal Coast TC 19 John Gardiner 3 Rob Arsenault 4 Matt Ebiner 12
Atlanta TC 28 Kristian Blaich 2 Gary Droze 11 Jeff Haertel 15
Playmakers Elite/New Balance 29 Dave Bussard 5 Kerry Barnett 6 Ruben Henderson 18
Other teams in contention included the Greater Springfield Harriers with 30 points and the Central Mass Striders with 39.
WOMEN
Atlanta TC 13 Nancy Stewart 2 Patrice Combs 5 Sonja Friend-Uhl 6
Athena Track Club 25 Marisa Sutera Strange 1 Mary Swan 7 Coreen Steinbach 17
New Balance Tampa 39 Trish Butler 3 S. Lynn Cooke 8 Michelle Allen 28
Other teams in contention included Team Rogue (Ayala-Troncoso-Henkiel, Plante) with 47 points and the Impala Racing team (Miller-Robinett, Rowland, Anderson) with 56 points.
OVERALL WINNER GRAND PRIX (for the Masters Grand Prix Circuit)
Recall that those who
finish in the top 5 overall positions in the race earn points--10-6-4-2-1
After the USATF Masters 1 Mile Championship in Flint Michigan, the standings were:
MEN
John Gardiner 16 Greg Mitchell 16 Jacques
Sallberg 14 Mark Andrews 10 Kevin Castille 10 Christian
Cushing-Murray 6 Neville Davey 6 Peter Hammer 6 Jerome Vermeulen 6 John Howell 4 Rob McConnell 4 Greg Putnam 4 Oscar Baumann 2 Andy Gardiner 2 Okwaro Raura 2 Lee Shaw 2 Andrew Duncan 1 Brantley Lutz 1 Craig Nieset 1 Rusty
Snow 1 Aaron Totten-Lancaster 1
WOMEN
Marisa Sutera Strange 16 Grace Padilla 11 Julie Ertel 10 Rachel Jaten 10 Tammy Nowik 10 Cindy
Abrami 6 Hilary Corno 6 Sonja Friend-Uhl 6
Nathalie Higley 6 Mariam Ngo 6 Nicole Hagobian 5 Melissa Gacek 4 Renee Tolan 4 Sonya Wilkerson 4 Jennifer Anderson 2 Cate Fenster 2 Lisa Lucas 2 Mariam
Ngo 2 Lisa Veneziano 2 Serena Kessler 1 Desa Mandarino 1 Ingrid Walters 1
After the USATF Masters 5K Championship in Syracuse NY, the standings are:
MEN
John Gardiner 22 Kevin Castille 20 Greg Mitchell 16 Jacques
Sallberg 14 Mark Andrews 12 Christian
Cushing-Murray 6 Neville Davey 6 Peter Hammer 6 Jerome Vermeulen 6 David Angell 4 John Howell 4 Rob McConnell 4 Greg Putnam 4 Oscar Baumann 2 Andy Gardiner 2 Okwaro Raura 2 Lee Shaw 2 Aaron Totten-Lancaster 2 Andrew Duncan 1 Brantley Lutz 1 Craig Nieset 1 Rusty
Snow 1
WOMEN
Marisa Sutera Strange 18 Grace Padilla 11 Julie Ertel 10 Rachel Jaten 10 Janet McDevitt 10 Tammy Nowik 10 Cindy
Abrami 6 Hilary Corno 6 Sonja Friend-Uhl 10
Nathalie Higley 6 Mariam Ngo 6 Sascha Scott 6 Nicole Hagobian 5 Melissa Gacek 4 Renee Tolan 4 Sonya Wilkerson 4 Jennifer Anderson 2 Cate Fenster 2 Lisa Lucas 2 Mariam
Ngo 2 Lisa Veneziano 2 Serena Kessler 1 Desa Mandarino 1 Holly Ortlund 1 Ingrid Walters 1
AGE-GRADING Individual GRAND PRIX (for the Masters Grand Prix Circuit)
Recall that those who
finish in the top 5 overall age-grading positions in the race earn
points--10-6-4-2-1
After the USATF Masters One Mile Championship in Flint Michigan, the standings were:
MEN.
Rick Becker 20
Tom Bernhard 14 Nat Larson 12 Kevin Castille 10
Christian
Cushing-Murray 10 Brian Pilcher 10 Jerome Vermeulen 10 Carl Combs 8 Jacques Sallberg 4 Fred Zalokar 4 Kevin Broady 2 John Gardiner 2 Peter Hammer
2 Eric Williams 2 Pete Gibson 1 Ruben Henderson 1 Greg Mitchell 1 Mark Reeder 1 Rusty Snow 1
WOMEN.
Edie Stevenson 26 Jo Anne Rowland 20 Marisa Sutera
Strange 20 Cindy Abrami 6 Suzanne Morris 6
Lisa Veneziano 6 Jan Holmquist 4 Lorraine Jasper 4 Rachel Jaten 4 Kelly Kruell 4
Louise Davis 2 Honor Fetherston 2 Lisa Lucas 2 Grace
Padilla 2 Christine Vincent 2 Nathalie
Higley 1 Jill Miller-Robinett 1 Nancy Stewart 1 Kelle Taylor 1 Sonya
Wilkerson 1
After the USATF Masters 5K Championship in Syracuse NY, the standings are:
MEN.
Rick Becker 20 Brian Pilcher 20 Tom Bernhard 16 Kevin Castille 16 Nat Larson 16
Christian
Cushing-Murray 10 Jerome Vermeulen 10 Carl Combs 9 Jacques Sallberg 4 Fred Zalokar 4 Kevin Broady 2 John Gardiner 2 Peter Hammer
2 Eric Williams 2 Pete Gibson 1 Ruben Henderson 1 Greg Mitchell 1 Mark Reeder 1 Rusty Snow 1
WOMEN.
Edie Stevenson 27 Marisa Sutera
Strange 24 Jo Anne Rowland 20 Kathryn Martin 10 Cindy Abrami 6 Libby James 6 Suzanne Morris 6
Lisa Veneziano 6 Jan Holmquist 4 Lorraine Jasper 4 Rachel Jaten 4 Kelly Kruell 4
Nancy Stewart 3 Louise Davis 2 Honor Fetherston 2 Lisa Lucas 2 Grace
Padilla 2 Christine Vincent 2 Nathalie
Higley 1 Jill Miller-Robinett 1 Kelle Taylor 1 Sonya
Wilkerson 1
