Saturday, July 18, 2015

DeVeau and Churchill make it three-for-three at the Coon Bottom Trail Race

2015 Coon Bottom Trail RaceVariety is a theme of Gulf Winds Track Club's Summer Trail Series. The four races of the 2015 circuit take place during four different months in two different parks on four different trails. There are three morning races and one evening race. Every step of the way there could be a new patch of mud to slide in or a new root to stumble over. In the first three races of the 2015 series, though, Zach DeVeau has been a rebel fighting variety. Even while so much is different about each run, DeVeau has made sure that there is no variety in the overall winners of the races. He's done that by winning each of the three trail races, including the Coon Bottom Trail Four Mile on Saturday morning, 18 July 2015, where DeVeau finished first overall in 28:42. Alyson Churchill has been DeVeau's ally in the fight against change; the Swift Creek Middle School cross-country runner is three-for-three in the women's division at the trail series after winning the women's title at the Coon Bottom Trail race, placing third overall in 29:14.


On the morning of the Coon Bottom Trail Run, race director Bobby York presented the runners a course somewhat shorter than the advertised four-and-a-half miles.


"It's four miles," said York. "I really tried to make it four-and-a-half."


Alyson ChurchillIn the July heat and humidity, very few regretted the missing distance, especially when they were trudging up the final hill to the finish line. The runners passed a posted four-mile mark before the end of the race, so the run was slightly longer than four miles anyway, if not four-and-a-half.


After the race Zach DeVeau had a bloody scrape on his left forearm. He shrugged it off.


"I took a tumble about 50 yards from the finish," he said. "Fortunately, it was on an uphill."


DeVeau picked himself up after the fall and completed the race about half a minute ahead of runner-up Greg Bargo. DeVeau had trailed Bargo for over half the run.


"It was the last mile where I caught him," said DeVeau. "I maintained the same pace and Greg started to come back."


Zach DeVeau, Greg BargoBargo finished in 29:11, just seconds ahead of Alyson Churchill's 29:14. Churchill had been fourth at the halfway point of the race, then passed Brian Molen to moved into third. Molen finished fourth overall in 29:57.


Joel Piotrowski was the top master runner in the Coon Bottom Trail race, placing seventh overall in 31:25. For the third time in three races of the trail series, Carrie Seiberlich was the top woman master and second female finisher. This time she was 14th overall in 33:01. Megan Churchill was third in the women's standings, coming in 18th overall in 33:18, while Shelley Yaun (21st, 33:55) was the fourth female finisher.


112 athletes finished the Coon Bottom Trail Race. The fourth and final race in Gulf Winds Track Club's 2015 Summer Trail Series will be the Red Bug Trail Run on Saturday, 1 August 2015 at 6:00 PM. The four-and-a-half mile race will start from Forestmeadows Athletic Center.


Top Ten Men, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2015 Coon Bottom Trail 4-Mile Race
  1. 28:42 ~ Zach Deveau (M, 27)Andy Roberts
  2. 29:11 ~ Greg Bargo (M, 32)
  3. 29:57 ~ Brian Molen (M, 39)
  4. 30:36 ~ Scott Gordon (M, 32)
  5. 30:59 ~ Jim Halley (M, 35)
  6. 31:25 ~ Joel Piotrowski (M, 45)
  7. 32:00 ~ Andy Roberts (M, 48)
  8. 32:11 ~ Mark Sobczak (M, 37)
  9. 32:16 ~ Tony Guillen (M, 46)
  10. 32:25 ~ Trent Mills (M, 27)

Top Ten Women, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2015 Coon Bottom Trail 4-Mile Race
  1. 29:14 ~ Alyson Churchill (F, 13)Carrie Seiberlich
  2. 33:01 ~ Carrie Seiberlich (F, 43)
  3. 33:18 ~ Megan Churchill (F, 13)
  4. 33:55 ~ Shelley Yaun (F, 37)
  5. 35:32 ~ Jane Skalski (F, 30)
  6. 36:23 ~ Kristin Halley (F, 33)
  7. 36:25 ~ Melissa Hooke (F, 36)
  8. 37:29 ~ Beverly Hamilton (F, 37)
  9. 37:57 ~ Crystal Douglas (F, 39)
  10. 39:33 ~ Sarah Monbarren (F, 29)

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Posted by Herb Wills at 2:49 AM
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