More than 130 runners took off last Saturday with the sound of the gun in the 18th annual Tawawa Park Runners Scholarship Run. It was a good morning to run and the runners responded with excellent times.
“We were thankful for a great day,” race director Kristin Allen stated. “The weather was perfect and many runners showed up on race day.”
17-year-old Joe Spitzer of Versailles finished in 16:10 to win the men’s title for the second straight year. Lady Raider runner Claire Meyer, 16, won the women’s race, running the 3.1 mile course in 20:43.
Local runners established the race in 1999 with a goal of raising funds for scholarships given out annually to county runners graduating from high school. Winning scholarships this year were Shae Goubeaux of Russia, Lucas Huber of Anna and Lehman grad Brandon Simmons.
The high school team race trophy was captured by Houston. The top five Wildcat runners were Ethan Knouff, Parker Cox, Jacob Slater, Blake Jacobs and Patrick Meiring. Russia finished a close second with top runners Zach Bell, Andrew DeLoye, Gavin George, Jonathon Bell and Claire Meyer.
The age group winners were as follows:
Tawawa Park 5k Scholarship Run
Female 10 and under: Kaelin Steward
Male 10 and under: Jake Kipp
Female 11-14: Breann Reaman
Male 11-14: Jonathon Bell
Female 15-19: Mariana Kellner
Male 15-19: Gavin Bockrath
Female 20-24: Bridget Hoehne
Male 20-24: Charles Baumgardner
Female 25-29: Janica Deloye
Male 25-29: Aaron Deloye
Female 30-34: Lisa Pence
Male 30-34: Bryan Boyer
Female 35-39: Bridget Davis
Male 35-39: Dean Oakley
Female 40-44: Jenny Wanger
Male 40-44: Fred Schmiedebusch
Female 45-49: Melissa Godwin
Male 45-49: Mike Thomas
Female 50-54: Pam Deloye
Male 50-54: William Gold
Female 55-59: Julia Fogt
Male 55-59: Terry Campbell
Female 60-64: Lisa Hoewischer
Male 60-64: Mike Toal
Female 65-69: Debra Henkener
Male 65-69: John Villers