Monday, December 24, 2012

LOCAL RUNNERS TAKE THEIR SHARE OF HONORS IN GRAND PRIX


 Written by Madeline Bost
Originally Published by the DAILY RECORD of Morris County, New Jersey
On Sunday, December 23, 2012
Copyright, Madeline Bost, 2012

New Jersey runners that have competed in the USATF New Balance Grand Prix series have been finding a letter of congratulations in the mail along with an invitation to attend the Awards Banquet on January 19th at the Pines Manor in Edison.

Paul DeNunzio of Ironia can be excused for being surprised at his first place finish in the 34 and under age division in the New Balance Grand Prix.  This is but the second year that DeNunzio has competed in the series.

On the other side of the spectrum is Gary Rosenberg of Morristown who has been competing in the series since young adulthood.  Now in the M40 division Rosenberg has placed first in that division.  Scott Isgett of Rockaway placed third.

Antonio Massa of Budd Lake placed second in the M45 division with John Sabatino of Morris Plains taking third.

Beau Atwater of Bernardsville finished out of the money in the M50 division, losing third place by just three points.  That’s a tough spot to be in, but he got a fine consolation prize – first in his division in the Mini One grand prix that features the short races like 5K’s and four milers.  Better yet, Atwater was first overall in the cross country series.

Charlie Slaughter of Parsippany placed second in the M55 division with Will DeRoberts of Boonton getting third.  Bill Bosmann of Rockaway took first in the M60 division and Roger Price of Randolph was third.  Price also placed first in the cross country series in his division.

Connie Augustine of Mendham placed second in the W40 division, with Joanna Stevens of Basking Ridge in third.  Just seven points back, in fourth place was Polly Harrison also of Basking Ridge.

Stacey Graham of Morris Plains placed third in the W45 division.  Jane Parks of Morristown entered the W60 division this year and had no problem winning that division handily.

Shirley Pettijohn of Chatham placed second in the W75 division.  Diane Stone of Bernardsville, Melva Murray of Bedminster, and Patricia Tummey of Randolph finished in that order in the W80 division.

Elena Rozhko of Morristown easily won the Mini One series, having perfect scores in eight of the required nine races.  Other local women include; Karyn Layton of Rockaway, first in W40, Heather Lukeman, third in W45, Dede Paul, of Madison, first in W50, Cande Olsen of Chatham, second in W60 and Lorrie Brnic of Towaco, first in W70.

In the Mini Two series, Lorraine McPhillips of Basking Ridge placed third in the W55, and Betty Langenkamp of Wharton placed third in the W60 division.

Chuck Paul of Madison was first in the M55 division of the Mini One.  Henry Pontious of Parsippany was second in M75 and Arch Seamans of Rockaway was second in M80.  Youssef Rochdi of Parsippany was first in the 34 and under division.

 Pete Tummey of Rockaway was third in the M45 division of the Mini Two, and Mark Washburne of Mendham, third in M55.

In the Cross Country series Charles Castiglioni of Lake Hopatcong was third in the M50 division, as was Lisa Davenport, also of Lake Hopatcong, in the W50 division.  Mark Washburne was third in the M55 and Carl Weaver of Morris Plains was third in the M60.  Betty Langenkamp was third in the W60 division.

Monday, December 17, 2012

USATF-NJ CHAMPIONSHIP RACES ARE POSTED FOR 2013



Written by Madeline Bost

Originally Published by the DAILY RECORD of Morris County, New Jersey
On Sunday, December 16, 2012
Copyright, Madeline Bost, 2012


The season for racers is pretty much over for 2012.  How well a runner or a team did is now history.  Checking out the New Jersey USATF website can inspire the runners to say, better luck next year if 2012 didn’t go as planned.  The Championship races for 2013 have been posted and it looks like a great schedule.

It is not easy to satisfy everyone, but this one looks like it can draw few complaints; at least as pertains to the recovery gaps between races for each division.   Returning once again as the first race on the schedule is the Miles for Music 20K for all of the divisions.  It takes place at Johnson Park in Piscataway on March 10th.

There will be a good gap before the next race, the April 7th Indian Trails 15K in Middletown for open men and women.  I don’t know if Indian Trails ever bids for the masters championship but I would guess that if they did it would be turned down.  It is truly a challenging course and some of the senior masters would not be able to handle it.

They can manage the Clinton Country Run 15K on April 27th.  While not exactly flat the rural course has long grades and never lung busters like the Indian Trails race.  It’s the championship for both masters men and women.

Open men and women have the next race and it is a good long gap from the Indian Trails race, Saturday May 11th.  That’s when the Newport 10,000 in Jersey City takes place.  So far everything looks like the same schedule as 2012, but here is where a change takes place.  The Run for Rachel 5K in Livingston on May 19th will not be the open women’s championship, but the masters women’s race.  So although that is only a week’s difference from the open women’s 10K, it is not a race that they need to run.

The Ridgewood Run 10K has been at various times a championship for one of the divisions and at times has not been in the line-up at all, but for 2013 it is the masters men’s championship.

Now if I were making an oral presentation this is where I would ask for the drum roll.  That’s because the next race is the President’s Cup Night Race on June 17th and it will be the open men’s championship.  Let’s hear the cheers!

In 2012 the popular 5K in Millburn was just another 500 point Category One event.  The folks were not happy.

Wrapping up the spring season is the Lager Run 5K in Glen Ridge on June 23rd and again it will be the masters men championship.

Since the masters women will have the Run for Rachel, the open women will have the Jimmy D 5K for their championship in New Brunswick on September 1st.  The Liberty Waterfront half marathon in Jersey City will be on September 22nd and it is for all divisions. 

The next road championship will be the Giralda Farms 10K and in 2013 it will be the masters women’s race.  Thanksgiving morning all divisions will race at the Ashenfelter 8K in Glen Ridge and that will wrap up the season.  Yes, or should I say No.  No Grand Finale Ten Miler in December.  The championship season will end with the 8K.  Did I hear more cheers? 

The schedule for the cross country races is still incomplete.   There is a good possibility that the 5 kilometer cross country championship will take place in August.   The 8 kilometer will likely take place in October.

What is known is that the national cross country masters championship 5 kilometer was awarded to New Jersey at the annual meeting in Daytona Beach earlier this month and it will be held on October 20th at Deer Path Park in Readington.

NEW BALANCE GRAND PRIX HAS ONE RETURNING WINNER – CATHERINE SMITH.
MICHAEL ANIS COMES FROM BEHIND

Catherine Smith was a solid bet for winning the New Balance Grand Prix for another year.  Smith, of Wayne, missed a perfect score of 5,700 by two points.  Michael Anis of Highland Park was a come from behind winner on the men’s side. 

His was not a near perfect score, 5,653 but 21 points up from Gary Leaman of Hardwick, who had been at the top spot for several weeks.   Anis filled in his score card in November when he took 698 points at the Ashenfelter 8 kilometer and 499 points at the Westfield Turkey Trot.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

FALES RECEIVES PRESIDENT’S AWARD, KEENAN-KIRKPATRICK ELECTED TO NATIONAL POSITION



Written by Madeline Bost

Originally Published by the DAILY RECORD of Morris County, New Jersey
On Sunday, December 9, 2012
Copyright, Madeline Bost, 2012


Morris County was well represented at the annual USATF national meeting in Daytona Beach this past week, with some delegates receiving special recognition.  The New Jersey association with over six thousand members was allowed seventeen delegates at the meeting.  Many associations could send only a handful of delegates.

The meeting took place from November 29th to this past Sunday, December 2nd.   Pam Fales of Boonton, the Managing Director of the New Jersey Association was in Daytona Beach even before the start for participation in special youth meetings.

 Fales is the east region representative of the associations committee; the masters track & field east region representative; is on the executive committee of masters long distance running. Most recently she has served on a task force for creating an on-line system for event sanctioning.

At the opening ceremony on Thursday evening Fales was seated with fellow New Jersey delegates as national President Stephanie Hightower announced her selections for the President’s Award.  The President’s Award is one of the most coveted as it recognizes the accomplishments of the awardees and more importantly, the contributions of the winners.  Many have been “in the trenches” for years before they receive the award, and of course, many never receive this highest of recognition.

Fales had been nominated by New Jersey president Ed Neighbour of Sparta, but even he did not know that Fales would be an award recipient.  Hightower had chosen to give the name of the person receiving the award before reciting his or her achievements.  So with no preamble, Fales was caught completely by surprise. 

After a shocked look around at her fellow New Jersey delegates, she quickly made her way to the stage to receive the award, along with a handshake from Hightower and then a pose for a photo.

Fales has been the managing director since July of 2003 and the organization has had a steady climb in services, revenues and increase in programs for New Jersey members.  Almost immediately after taking the job, Fales implemented streamlined procedures that resulted in a significant drop in expenses.  Thanks to Fales, the association has reached a comfortable bank balance, in keeping with not-for-profit organizations that strive to retain a comfortable cushion in the event of a decrease in revenue or an increase in expense.

The New Jersey association is often looked to for advice or as an example of a well run and balanced organization.  Obviously Fales is at the core of this attention and along with her service on the various national committees, it is one of the reasons for her receiving the President’s Award.

KEENAN-KIRKPATRICK REACHES HIGHEST POSITION AT WOMENS LDR

The name Kim Keenan is a familiar one to those who raced or followed road racing in the 90’s.  Keenan was winning local Morris County and state races.  She won the USATF New Jersey grand prix for several years.  She is an associate athletic director at Seton Hall University.  Keenan is married to Brian Kirkpatrick, another long distance runner and living in Hunterdon County.  Both continue to run for the Sneaker Factory when time and schedule permit.

 Keenan-Kirkpatrick has been active on New Jersey USATF committees and has been involved at the national level in women’s long distance running for over ten years.   In 1999 she was the team leader for the women’s Ekiden in Yokohama Japan and has since served on seven other team staffing spots, including acting as the assistant women’s coach for distance for the US Olympic team in Beijing China.   She was part of the 2008 Olympic Trials site selection committee.

Keenan-Kirkpatrick has been the women’s long distance running vice chair since 2002 and has been on the executive committee since 1999.  At the meeting in Daytona Beach she was elected to the position of chair of the committee.