History Repeats at Pittsylvania XC Challenge
Posted by: John Harwick in Results, Achievements, MembersFINISH LINES
Runners ranged in age from 5-year-olds Morgan Ansell of Hunker and Katie Harwick of West Penn to 70-year-old Elmer Gasper of West Penn.
Stable describes the number of finishers in the Challenge: 99 in 1999, 78 in 2000, 97 in 2001, and 90 this year.
Starter Dick Firsching won the Pennsylvania 220y title in 1945 for Mt. Lebanon High.
Bob Harwick–along with children Katie, Mark, and Mike–had the largest contingent of finishers from one family.
Last year Ricky Moore–then a Wheeling Jesuit University red-shirt–ran 25:59 to set the 8K course record. This year Ricky’s quick 25:13 win in the West Virginia Conference 5-Mile Championships led the Cardinals to the team title. Then the two-time West Virginia high school state XC champ took third in 32:45 in the NCAA Division 2 Regional 10K and 108th in 33:44.3 in the NCAA Division 2 National 10K.
Referee Mark Schwartz–the long-time USATF national official–did his usual excellent job of running the finish line.
Three Challenge runners finished in the top ten in the Mid-East XC Meet on November 16 at Kettering, OH. Justin Simpson took third in 15:39.18, Josh Simpson fourth in 15:39.92, and Christine Taranto seventh in 18:45.77. And all three ran in Foot Locker Regionals. Justin took seventh in 15:06.9 and Josh took 10th in 15:15.14 on November 30 at Charlotte, NC. Christine took 18th in 18:57.69 on November 30 at New York City. Justin–by finishing in the top eight–qualified for the Foot Locker Nationals on December 15 in San Diego, CA.
Runners from the host West Penn team own 22 of the 34 age-group records (65%).
“WEST” SERVED AS THE OPERATIVE WORD FOR THE MEN THAT WON THE MAJOR TITLES IN THE CHALLENGE. FROM LEFT: WEST PENN’S CARL HUBEL, WINNER OF THE 40-PLUS TITLE; OAK GLEN’S SENSATIONAL TWINS JUSTIN AND JOSH SIMPSON –RECENTLY 1-2 IN THE WEST VIRGINIA XC CHAMPIONSHIPS–WENT 1-2 IN THE 16-19 RACE; AND FORMER WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY ACE JEFF GORMAN WON THE OPEN TITLE. JOHN MALICKY PHOTO
FROM LEFT: RACE DIRECTOR JOHN HARWICK, WEST VIRGINIA CHAMP JUSTIN SIMPSON, CHRISTINE TARANTO, AND HONORARY CHAIR JIM HAMILTON. JOYCE GEROUX PHOTO
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