Monday, June 17, 2019

Sweet, juicy victory for Scott Lloyd and Alyssa Terry at the Melon Run

On Saturday morning, 15 June 2019, the Monticello, Florida Kiwanis Club had placed a water table on the Monticello Bike Trail, close to the halfway point of their 41st annual 5K Melon Run. There was another water table just past the finish line, on top of the infamous Water Street hill. The true treat, though, was a little bit further on at race headquarters in front of the First United Methodist Church. There, a table was piled high with sliced watermelon, sweet and juicy.


The melon table may have been an incentive for many athletes to finish the race a little faster, but none finished as fast as Scott Lloyd. A first-year chemistry major at the University of Central Florida, Lloyd won the 3.1-mile Melon Run in 18:39. Alyssa Terry of Tallahassee was the first woman in the race, coming in ninth overall in 20:27.

Scott Lloyd, Alyssa Terry
Scott Lloyd and Alyssa Terry

The runners lined up for the 8:15 start on West Washington Street, Monticello's main east-west artery, in front of the Methodist Church and less than three blocks from the Jefferson County Courthouse. By the end of the first kilometer, Scott Lloyd and Myles Gibson had broken away from the rest of the field. Gibson, a Donalsonville, Georgia master runner, dueled with Lloyd for the lead.


“He kept getting five steps ahead, but I’d come back,” said Lloyd. “He was the one pushing the pace.”

Scott Lloyd, Myles Gibson
Scott Lloyd and Myles Gibson

“I got out and got into the lead on the first hill,” said Gibson. “I felt good until two miles.”


Just after two miles, the runners left the bike trail to race west on Chase Drive. That was where Lloyd took over.

Scott Lloyd
Scott Lloyd

“I tried to stay with that young runner as long as I could,” said Gibson. “The last hill murdered me.”


The “last hill” was the final 400 meters of the race, a slope on Water Street equivalent to climbing to the seventh floor of a high rise. Lloyd reached the top first in 18:39. Gibson was runner-up in 19:05.

Noah Deem, Dalton Gray, Jack McDermott
Noah Deem, Dalton Gray, and Jack McDermott

Behind Lloyd and Gibson, three runners reached the bottom of Water Street together--Dalton Gray, Noah Deem, and Jack McDermott. Gray, a member of the Tallahassee Community College cross-country team, got away on the uphill to take third with a 19:22, leaving twelve-year-old Deem and Tallahassee master runner Jack McDermott fighting for fourth. Deem, a sixth-grader on the Community Leadership Academy cross-country team, edged McDermott for the spot, 19:30 to 19:32.


Lilli Unger and Alyssa Langston shared the lead in the women’s competition through the first three kilometers of the race. Both were cross-country runners--Unger a rising junior on the Leon High team, and Langston a 2019 graduate of Wakulla High where she was a harrier for four years. Alyssa Terry trailed them.

Alyssa Terry
Alyssa Terry

“I felt good after the first mile, so I picked it up,” said Terry.


During the second mile, Terry narrowed Langston and Unger’s lead. During the third mile she passed them. Langston gave chase, but Terry was the first woman to the top of Water Street, running 20:27. Langston took second in the women’s standings and twelfth overall in 20:47. Unger was the third woman and fourteenth overall in 21:13. Monica Judd of Tallahassee was the first woman master and fourth female finisher, 21st overall in 22:08.

Alyssa Langston
Alyssa Langston

Lloyd, the overall winner, had been the ace on the Wakulla High cross-country team in 2018, but had gotten out of running since heading to UCF.


“I didn’t really start running again till February,” said Lloyd. “It’s been fun getting back into it.”


For the present, he plans to stay into it.

Lilli Unger
Lilli Unger

“I’ll probably run the Paul Hoover 5K in two weeks,” said Lloyd.


That seventh annual race at Wakulla Springs honors the late Paul Hoover, Lloyd’s coach for three of his four years at Wakulla High.


194 athletes finished the Monticello Kiwanis’ 2019 Melon Run 5K. Gulf Winds Track Club chip-timed the race.


Top Ten Men, 2019 Melon Run 5K
  1. 18:39, Scott Lloyd (M, 19)
  2. 19:05, Myles Gibson (M, 52)
  3. 19:22, Dalton Gray (M, 19)
  4. 19:30, Noah Deem (M, 12)
  5. 19:32, Jack McDermott (M, 50)
  6. 19:57, Marco Mata (M, 27)
  7. 20:00, Timothy Qualls (M, 40)
  8. 20:05, Duane Evans (M, 51)
  9. 20:32, Ben Colona (M, 23)
  10. 20:44, Tristan Lanasa (M, 26)

Top Ten Women, 2019 Melon Run 5K
  1. 20:27, Alyssa Terry (F, 25)
  2. 20:47, Alyssa Langston (F, 18)
  3. 21:13, Lilli Unger (F, 16)
  4. 22:08, Monica Judd (F, 45)
  5. 22:50, Kaley Ford (F, 24)
  6. 23:42, Casey Anderson (F, 29)
  7. 23:50, Nancy Stedman (F, 57)
  8. 24:18, Paula O'Neill (F, 57)
  9. 24:58, Elizabeth Kessler (F, 13)
  10. 25:08, Norah Peters (F, 13)

Known winners of the Monticello Melon Run 5K, 1979 - 2019
DateMenWomenFinishers
23 June 197915:39, Gary Slayton20:36, Carolyn Crochet
28 June 198015:28, Gary Slayton19:49, Debbie Dickson
1981

19 June 198215:10, Andy Whitener17:38, Laura Ledbetter
18 June 1983
23 June 198415:37, Gary Slayton19:45, Cindy Walker
22 June 198516:09, Felton Wright19:12, Barbara Balzer
21 June 198615:55, Bill Crooks18:32, Karen MacHarg
20 June 198716:14, Bill Crooks19:33, Peggy Johnson257
25 June 198815:47, Bill Crooks18:18, Karen MacHarg324
24 June 198915:02, Jeff Pigg19:05, Vikki Saga
23 June 199015:20, Jessie Close18:06, Karen MacHarg
22 June 199115:23, Phillip Rowan19:34, Vikki Saga
20 June 199215:10, Jessie Close18:35, Lynda Nilges386
26 June 199316:07, Bill Crooks19:37, Sue Kany
29 June 199416:13, Gary Droze18:49, Sarah Heeb
24 June 199514:57, John Charlton19:54, Sissi Carroll
22 June 1996

28 June 1997

27 June 199816:33, Tommy Kunish17:51, Sarah Docter-Williams
26 June 199916:23, Tommy Kunish21:05, Peggy Simpson193
17 June 200017:08, Tim Simpkins18:32, Kim Winn141
16 June 200116:29, Ryan Deak17:54, Sarah Docter-Williams238
22 June 200217:54, Doug Gorton21:41, Laura Atlee139
21 June 2003

19 June 200417:18, Tim Unger20:30, Kate Remillard121
18 June 200518:31, Jack McDermott18:07, Sarah Docter-Williams123
17 June 200617:36, Nathan Haskins22:35, Loranne Ausley170
16 June 200716:28, Nathan Haskins18:50, Sarah Docter-Williams261
21 June 200816:08, Nathan Haskins20:16, Deb Jones194
20 June 200916:54, Charlie Johnson23:49, Sandy Holt267
19 June 201018:07, Gabriel Leitz19:59, Micah Adriani283
18 June 201116:38, Sammy Palmer19:28, Katie Showman258
16 June 201216:28, Stephen Cox18:59, Seeley Gutierrez379
15 June 201316:42, Stanley Linton18:49, Sheryl Rosen284
21 June 201416:17, Chris Lake19:08, Seeley Gutierrez244
20 June 201518:03, Roger Schmidt20:49, Teresa Ristow232
18 June 201615:50, Stanley Linton19:44, Brittney Skiles212
17 June 201716:55, Charlie Johnson19:13, Katie Sherron326
16 June 201819:15, Elvis Maradzike19:40, Sheryl Rosen202
15 June 201918:39, Scott Lloyd20:27, Alyssa Terry194
Thank you to Pat Dugan for providing information about the 1987 race.


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Posted by Herb Wills at 2:05 PM
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1 comment:

  1. Herb WillsJune 17, 2019 at 7:38 PM

    "I was driving through Georgia in late July
    On a day hot enough to make the Devil sigh
    I saw a homemade sign written in red
    Rind County Watermelon Festival Ahead."

    Buddy Brock & Zack Turner (1994)

    ReplyDelete

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