The first FLRC summer track meet of 2019 is in the books, and it was our largest summer meet ever, with 153 athletes and 312 event entries! Many of those runners came from the Ithaca Youth Bureau’s increasingly popular track program, along with the Lansing Lightning club, SOAR and Team Prefo from Corning, the Auburn Pulsars, and a team from the OnTech Charter School near Syracuse. Full results are now available.
Given the huge number of little kids (the youngest was 3, and there were plenty of 4- and 5-year-olds), we tweaked our event lineup this year to focus on shorter distances. That meant we led off with the 100m, which was by far the most popular event, with 85 entries. Isaiah Smith took the crown by a hair over Christopher Simmons, running an 11.37 to Simmons’s 11.39, with Samuel Voak taking third in 12.06. On the women’s side, 14-year-old Cascade Benenati ran a 13.47 to beat 12-year-old Sarah Jackson-Palmer of the Ithaca Youth Bureau.
Changing gears, we moved on to the 800m, where Samuel Voak took his first win of the night, kicking hard in the final lap to win in 2:12, just ahead of the 2:15 notched by local physical therapist and coach Jason Tuori, who arrived just in time from his strength and conditioning class. SOAR’s 11-year-old Maggie Houp won the women’s race in 2:42, with Liz Hartman second in 2:51.
To cater to the kids, we switched back to a short race: the 4 by 100m relay. It was a bit chaotic to distribute 24 runners across the start and three exchange points, but great fun was had by all, and the OnTech Charter School kids ended up taking first (the boys’ team in 54.5 seconds) and second (the girls’ team) in 1:00.
Back to the sprints with the 400m, Samuel Voak notched his second win for the evening, running a 55.8 to beat Christopher Simmons’s 57.7. 53-year-old former Olympian Michelle Rohl won the women’s race in 1:08, and on the other end of the age spectrum, 12-year-old Ikeara Moye of the Ithaca Youth Bureau took second in 1:14.9 in a squeaker, just 0.1 seconds ahead of 17-year-old Julia Hubbard’s 1:15.0.
In our marquee event of night, the 1 mile race that’s part of FLRC’s ongoing MITHACAL MILE SERIES, we were treated to a classic mile as a three-man group of Sam Lagasse, Adam Pacheck, and Rich Heffron stuck together for two laps before Lagasse and Pacheck pulled away slightly. They ran neck-in-neck for the next lap, but in the final 400, Lagasse unleashed the kick that has kept him undefeated across two years of 3000m races indoors to win in 4:29. Pacheck came through second in 4:34, with Heffron holding on to a solid third in 4:44. On the women’s side, Megan Luckner ran a fast 5:21 for the win, with 11-year-old Maggie Houp of SOAR a strong second in 5:59.
Although there are no official results from the shot put and long jump practice hosted by Brett Shelton and Steve Wagner of SOAR during the meet, lots of kids participated and had a great time. We hope to be able to continue to include such field event practices in the future.
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 and results with aplomb, even after our laptop ran out of power halfway. Bill Watson and Sandy Gregorich worked wonders in lining up 12 heats each of the 100m and 400m. Adam Pacheck and his girlfriend Christine recorded bibs of finishers in the longer races. Tonya Engst ran registration and helped with timing, Aaron Proujansky was backup timer and lap caller, and previous FLRC track meet director Tim Ingall stepped in to help with timing as well.
Come run with us next month at our second meet on July 23rd!