FLRC’s July track meet is now in the books, and it was a wonderful way to spend a summer evening, with perfect weather and lots of friendly runners. Thanks to the Auburn Pulsars, Ithaca Youth Bureau, Lansing Lightning, and SOAR clubs, we had tons of young kids—and not much is cuter than one 4-year-old handing off to another in a relay race. But there were some stellar performances from older athletes as well, culminating with the fast heat of the mile, where the top 8 runners all broke 5:00. Full results are now available.
With our kid-focused event lineup this summer, we started with the 100m, won by 35-year-old Chris Rogers in 12.65 seconds, just ahead of 14-year-old Gyasi Ruffin (12.69). 12-year-old Mackenna Keough of SOAR was the first female finisher in 14.53, well ahead of her teammate Alexis Collins in 16.12.
In the 800m race, last month’s 800m/400m double-winner Samual Voak defended his title with a 2;20 to place ahead of Lansing Lightning’s John Saunders in 2:21 and Aaron King in 2:24. Again like last month, 11-year-old Maggie Houp of SOAR ran a 2:42 to outpace 37-year-old Liz Hartman, whose 2:45 was a 6-second improvement.
To get a relay in before bedtime for our younger runners, we next ran the 4 by 200m relay, won handily by a team of Ithaca Youth Bureau coaches in 2:03. Seventeen other teams competed as well, with times from 2:14 all the way to 4:15.
Samuel Voak matched last month’s performance with his second win for the night in the 400m, running 56.66, well ahead of Tristan Lambert’s 1:00.35. Elsa Wood of SOAR took the women’s crown with a 1:20.63, outlasting sprinter teammate Mackenna Keough, who crossed in 1:24.36 and Abby Ringwood of the Auburn Pulsars in 1:25.59.
Our most exciting race came last, with the 1-mile race that’s part of FLRC’s ongoing MITHACAL MILE SERIES. In a stacked fast heat, Sean Dunn took the race out hard, but Adam Pacheck soon took over, hoping to defang the kick of Sam Lagasse, last month’s winner. Pacheck’s valiant effort was in vain, though, as Lagasse took the lead in the final lap and kicked hard to win in 4:25, ahead of Pacheck’s 4:27 (4 and 7 seconds faster than last month, respectively). In third again was Rich Heffron in 4:40, followed by Dunn in 4:43, Mik Kern in 4:44, 15-year-old Jared Smith in 4:47, Mohamad Alsabbagh in 4:52, and newcomer Adam Berkowitz in 4:53. On the women’s side, 13-year-old Elizabeth Baroody of the Auburn Pulsars won in 5:57, with SOAR’s Maggie Houp second in 6:05.
Although there are no official results from the long jump, shot put, and kid javelin practice hosted by Brett Shelton and Steve Wagner of SOAR during the meet, lots of kids participated and had a great time.
Thanks to Lansing High School and Coach Becca Lovenheim for hosting once again, and to the many volunteers who made the meet possible. Bob Talda took on the head timer duties, with past FLRC president Tom Rishel once again serving as starter. Jullien Flynn managed seeding with aplomb and published results within minutes after each event ended. Bill Watson and Dave Kania worked wonders in lining up all the heats. Adam Pacheck and his girlfriend Christine recorded bibs of finishers in the longer races. Tonya Engst ran registration with help from Lorrie Tily, and both helped with sprint timing, Truck Rossiter was backup timer and lap caller, Steve Folsom and Jim Derick helped wrangle the relay runners, and previous FLRC track director Tim Ingall stepped in once again to help with timing as well.
Don’t miss our final summer meet of 2019 on August 20th!