Finish Line

Runners ranged in age from 5-year-old twins David and Mary Humphrey of Pittsburgh to West Penn’s 78-year-old Marvin Kaufman.

West Penners own 18 of the 35 age-group records with eight of the 13 men’s records and eight of the 10 women’s records.

Dick Firsching, Mt. Lebanon’s 1945 PIAA 220y gold medalist, started the 2K and 4K races. Mark Schwartz, long-time USATF National officer, started the 8K.

Smethport High’s Ben Hahn, fourth highest finishing freshmen in the PIAAs, won the 4K in a record 14:08. And Indiana High’s Rachel Umbel–another standout freshmen–won the 4K in a record 16:39.

Neither of the 8K winners threatened the meet records. Marrisa Umbel’s 31:32 fell 36 seconds short of the 30:56 record set last year by West Penn’s Christine Taranto (now running at the Naval Academy). And Jerry Pullins’ 26:49 fell 50 seconds short of the 25:59 record set in 2001 by Ricky Moore of Wheeling Jesuit University. Ricky–on the same day as the Challenge–won the silver medal in the NCAA Division II East Region XC Championships.

Runners from three states competed: Arizona, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Tucson’s Ramesh Jagasia traveled the farthest.

St. Vincent’s women and the Pharaoh Hounds’ men claimed the Open (20-29) team titles, but the host West Penn crew took the women’s 30-39 and 40-49 and the men’s 30-39, 40-49, and 50-plus titles.

RUNNERS SCRAMBLE FOR POSITION AS THEY HEAD FOR THE TRAILS IN FRICK PARK.DALE DIX PHOTO

ANDY HERR (LEFT) AND JERRY PULLINS REMAIN NECK-AND-NECK AS THEY APPROACH THE FINISH LINE.
DALE DIX PHOTO

THREE GENERATIONS OF HARWICKS COMPLETED THE CHALLENGE. FROM LEFT: JOHN HARWICK (70-74),
GRANDSON MIKE HARWICK (14-15), AND SON BOB HARWICK (45-49).

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This entry was posted on Sunday, November 9th, 2003 at 10:04 am and is filed under Results, Achievements, Members. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.