Distant Rumblings
From about mid-day on, Deland was besieged by huge banks of black, billowy clouds that seemed to surround Sperling Sports Complex with a forecast of doom and gloom, before slowly surrendering their grip and sliding past. Each succeeding wave seemed more ominous than the last, until, at the scheduled 4:30 PM start, race director John Boyle predicted the possibility for evacuation of the event: “Lightning rules…stop running…wait in cars and busses…” The signal, added Referee Tony Tussing, would be “…a series of car horns.” The assembled teams, some of which had come from as far away as southern Florida and Tennessee, answered his warning with several minutes of stunned silence; you could literally hear the wind blowing through the abandoned microphone.
Fortunately, Sperling is far enough away from I-4 that its predictable Gulf-churning, “cumulonimbus conveyor belt” was neutralized by the Deland “donut” effect, and the meet continued, surrounded by storms, yet unscathed. John postponed the awards ceremony, because of lightning, but no sooner had the words come out of his mouth than that too ended.
Women’s College and Open Race
It is obvious from the photos that the runners in the race came in all shapes and sizes. The winner, Mackenzie Howe, came in size fast. A health and exercise major--how apropos--she was one of only two runners entered by the Kennesaw State coach, Stan Sims.
“I brought her and Nathan Haskins (21st in the Mens race, in 27:32), our number one runners, to see the course under race conditions,” he explained between races. They had also made a trip to Sperling, earlier this season, after they competed in the Disney Race. “I would like for them to see the (Atlantic Sun Conference) championship course. (That meet is scheduled for Halloween, October 31st.) Nate, unfortunately, has been injured. He has a stress fracture, and this is his first race in a month and a half.”
Sims, originally from Lakeland, Florida, is a math teacher at Kennesaw (Atlanta, Georgia), who works in their teacher education program. He is also the head cross country coach for men and women, and the assistant head coach for track. “…a part time gig, that is a full time job,” he quipped.
In the latter case, it is apparent that Howe is one of his great successes.
“In (Oconee County) high school, I never broke 19 (for 5K),” she said. “My freshman year in college, my times started tumbling. I got 17...like 17:45.
“In high school, I trained more as an individual. I’d do maybe 35 to 40 miles a week. It was nowhere near as intense. Now it’s probably 60 or 70 miles a week. It has doubled since high school. In college, training with a group (was a big change)….
“When you have a good coach, it helps. Mr. Sims is very positive. If you have a bad race, he says ‘next time you’ll do better.’”
Better for her has been a 17:13 PR. She is, so far, undefeated in the 2009 season, and has won A-Sun Runner of the Week honors five times. (That makes nine for her career.)
Looking forward to October 31st, she has one more challenge to a perfect season.
“There’s a girl--Brittany Thune--from Belmont that beat me last year.”
Thune ran a 17:39.06 personal best in that 2008 race, earned A-Sun Runner of the Year honors, helped her school win the team trophy (56 points) and her coach (Seth Sheriden) the Coach of the Year award. Also, her teammate, Kara Sephel, led the all-freshman team as freshman of the year.
But this is 2009, and Mackenzie Howe seems to be riding the crest of a very big…thunderstorm.
Women’s Team Results
The top three teams finished in exactly the opposite order of the top three team finishers, and exactly ten points apart. Shelby Kittrell (third in 18:13) led the University of North Florida (3-8-12-14-20-33-41; 57) to the win. USF junior Nicole Rozario’s second place time (18:06) led her team to second place (2-4-11-24-26-43-45; 67). And Florida Atlantic’s Friederike Feil ran 17:55, first among the team finishers, thus assuring Florida Atlantic’s third place finish (1-10-18-21-27-28-36; 77). 174 college women, six unattached (open) women, and 20 college teams competed.
Men’s College and Open Race
Like Howe, Cameron Marantz’s win came sans a team. Listed on the results as being from Philadelphia, he is currently a graduate student (finance) at the University of Florida, and running-wise, simply sizzling.
“When I ran in college, I won one race,” he said between bites of Sodexo’s delicious post-race pasta. “Beyond that I didn’t have much experience in winning. But I’ve been putting in the training and I have confidence in my fitness, so I tried to be as confident as I could (this evening). The key for me was to be as relaxed as possible, for as long as I can.”
The outcome of the race was a carbon copy of his victory at FLX (October 3rd), where he was the only sub-15 in the college/open field;14:53.20 and the fastest time in that event.
“He (East Tennessee State University senior, Ken Rotich) actually was slowly catching me from the first mile mark (4:37)--through a 9:38 two--to the third mile mark. He finally caught me at 5K. I sat on him after that, caught my breath, and recovered. With a 2K, or a mile and a half to go, he faded and I put on a little surge. That was pretty much it.”
Rotich, like a number of runners in the field, is from (Nairobi) Kenya. The construction engineer major has PRs of 24:09 for 8K, and 30:20 for the 10,000. But he is a big guy, for a runner, and found the start rather tight.
“The start was so narrow that, by the first mile--he ran it in 4:40-- I was chasing him (Marantz). I have been injured--I’ve had a little leg trouble--and didn’t want it to get so bad…I just let him go and followed him (to the finish).
“I wanted (ETSU) to win the team championship, and the overall win, too….”
However, as at FLX, Marantz again clinched the victory, and another “sub five” in 24:57.
Men’s Team Race
Embry Riddle (3-8-12-19-27-34-39; 69) gave it their best shot--was that Sam Vazquez leading for awhile?--but ETSU’s one-two finish (Rotich’s cousin, Ben Ronoh, was second in 25:53) proved to be one Kenyan too many. Their 65 points (1-2-6-18-38-78) were too few to beat.17 college teams produced 134 athletes. There were also 15 “unattached” runners.