Published in the Daily Record of Morris County
on Sunday, December 16, 2018
COME FROM BEHIND WINS IN NEW BALANCE GRAND PRIX
He wasn’t even on the radar at the beginning of November, missing two Category Two races, but Aaron Leskow of Morristown did what he had to do to soar to the top in the New Balance Grand Prix. Leskow was in 31st place when he successfully added 700 points from the Ashenfelter 8K, and two days later the Westfield Turkey Trot’s 500 points. It was what he needed to take over the lead.
Kyle Price of Milltown had been in 6th place and he did what Leskow did, but his finishes behind Leskow, while adding points, put him in second place with 5,682 points to Leskow’s 5,691. Michael Dixon of Highland Park moved up from 8th place to third after adding the same races.
Stuart Haynes, 42, of Chatham, finished in fourth place for first masters overall.
The women’s contest is even more interesting. Only four points separate the top three women. Hortencia Aliaga of Garfield had the lead in early November with 5,652 points. The contest was so close that had she not run in the Ashenfelter 8K where she improved her score in the grand prix by nine points and then run in the Super Santa 10 miler in December where she added eight points, she would have dropped down to fifth place. But the 46-year-old did do those two races and held on for second. Erika Meling of North Brunswick had to get to the 8K in Montclair and with her 697 points she moved into first place – only one point ahead of Aliaga.
Karen Auteri of Belvidere also needed the 8K and with her 695 points for the race she moved into third place from fifteenth. Her final score was 5,666 points, just three less that Aliaga. It has to have been the closest finish in the history of the women’s’ grand prix.
Nine Morris area runners placed first in their age division. They include Mark Minervini of Stanhope, as mentioned earlier Stuart Haynes of Chatham, Robert Skorupski of Rockaway, Gary Leaman of Hardwick, Reno Stirrat of Rockaway, Bruce Langenkamp of Wharton, Nora Cary of Morristown, Mary Anne Murphy of Livingston and Diane Stone of Chatham.
NEW JERSEY TEAMS AND RUNNERS EARN NATIONAL AWARDS
The Garden State Track Club New Balance won the M40 team division of the national team grand prix. The Shore Athletic Club had a sixth place finish in the M50 division and third in the M60 division.
New Jersey individuals include Sam Tiegan who placed second in the M40 division and Thomas Knowles third and Chuck Schneekloth in sixth place. Jonathan Frieder of Rye Brook NY was second in the M45 division, while Gary Leaman of Hardwick placed third in the M55 division. Those five men were on the winning Garden State TC team.
In the M60 division Reno Stirrat of Rockaway placed seventh and Roger Price of Randolph placed ninth in the M65 division. Susan Stirrat of Rockaway placed sixth in the W60 division and Madeline Bost of Randolph won the W75 division for the fourth year in a row.
Much like the New Jersey grand prix(s) the best five races count out of a possible eight or nine championship races each year. A minimum of three races must be completed to make it into the final score.
FROST HAS BACK TO BACK WINS
Colin Frost of Randolph, who wasn’t able to make the trip to Spokane on December 8th for the national cross country meet, due to his work schedule, gave himself a consolation prize of sorts. Frost won the Montclair Bread Company Donut Run 5K in 15:25 on December 9th. Karen Auteri of Belvidere, third place finisher in the New Balance Grand Prix, was the women’s winner with her time of 18:36. Just over two thousand runners were in the race running for donuts.
Frost was making winning a habit. He won the Super Santa ten mile race the previous week with a 53:01. Diana D’achille of Denville was the women’s winner in 1:03:26.
##
A calendar of USATF sanctioned events can be found at www.usatfnj.org or at www.raceforum.com for running and tri and biathlon events.
Contact Madeline Bost at madelinebost@verizon.net
No comments:
Post a Comment