Staff report
SIDNEY — More than 140 runners took off at 8 a.m. last Saturday at the sound of the gun in the 17th 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 said. “ The weather was good and many runners showed up on race day.”
The Spitzer family runners from Versailles swept to first place finishes. Sixteen-year-old Joe Spitzer finished in 16:31 to win the men’s title. Sister Kara won the women’s race, breaking 20 minutes with a time of 19:58. She is 15.
Local runners established the race in 2000 with a goal of raising funds for scholarships given out annually to county runners graduating from high school. Winning a $1,000 scholarship was Molly Kearns of Russia, who had an outstanding career, breaking the all-time Russia record in the 3200 meter run. She will continue her academic and running career at Wright State.
Sidney High School runner Jonathon Perin and Botkins runner Cameron Flora were each awarded a scholarship.
Perin, who will be attending Miami University, finished high school with a 4.0 GPA. He ran one of the top ten fastest times ever at his school.
Flora won the county meet in cross country and was academic All-Ohio three times. He will be attending Bowling Green State University.
The high school team race trophy was captured by Russia. A total of 17 Russia runners ran together. The top five runners for Russia were Alex Seger, Caleb Ball, Zachary Bell, Gavin George and Andrew Deloye.
The Houston Wildcats finished a close second with top runners Tristin Freistuhler, Ethan Knouff, Parker Cox, Devyn Ostrander and Joseph Earl. Sidney High School finished third.
Following are the age-group winners:
FEMALE
Overall — Kara Spitzer, Versailles
10-and-under — Brittany Arnold, Sidney.
11-14 — Ana Adams, Sidney
15-19 — Claire Meyer
20-24 — Haley Lemperkle
25-29 — Jarica DeLoye, Russia
30-34 — Alexandra Hedrick, Troy
35-39 — Bridget Davis, Sidney
40-44 — Jenny Wagner, Sidney
45-49 — Chris Helman
50-54 — Maggie Burch, Sidney
55-59 — Nancy Hirt, Wapakoneta
60-64 — Mary Siegrist, Sidney
MALE
Overall — Joe Spitzer, Versailles
10-and-under — Grant Flora, Botkins
11-14 — Andrew DeLoye, Russia
15-19 — Tristin Freistuhler, Sidney
20-24 — Jack Van Horn, Sidney
25-29 — Alex Massey, Anna
30-34 — Greg Zumberger, Minster
35-39 — Tony Arnold, Sidney
40-44 — Bill McKinney, Sidney
45-49 — Mike Thomas, Anna
50-54 — Steve Young, Sidney
55-59 — David Mikesell
60-64 — Gregg Gooding, Jackson Center
65-69 — Phil Kocher, Quincy
New Life Center 5k
at Tawawa on Sept. 5
The Elizabeth’s New Life Center 5K run/walk will be held at Tawawa Park on Sept. 5 starting at 8:30 a.m.
The course will run through the park, and strollers, wheelchairs, wagons and families are welcome.
Packet pickup and same-day registration begins at 7 a.m. at the gazebo at Tawawa Park.
Online registration is available at cantstoprunningco.com/events-list/, and forms are also available in the lobby at Russell Road Church.
If you register by Aug. 26, you are guaranteed a T-shirt. The cost before Aug. 26 is $20 with a shirt and after that date it’s $20 without a shirt.
For more information about Elizabeth’s New Life Center, visit www.ElizabethNewLife.org.
