Saturday, February 29, 2020

Ryan Kelly and Kate Merritt were tough on the trails in General Coffee State Park

Two US Highways run through Coffee County, Georgia, but General Coffee State Park isn't located on either of them. The park isn't on what you'd call the beaten path. It was even less accessible on Saturday morning, 29 February 2020--according to the park website, a bridge across the Satilla River was closed, shutting down one of the more direct routes to General Coffee. The website further reported that:

The East River Swamp Trail is partially closed due to high water levels in the Seventeen Mile River. This closure does not affect the planned race route for the Heart to Heart 5/10 K.

Perhaps the park was remote, and maybe some trails were flooded, but more than a hundred athletes still made it for the Heart-to-Heart Run. In the ten-kilometer event, the fastest on the trails was Lake Park, Georgia master runnner Ryan Kelly, who posted a winning 38:17. The first woman in the 6.2-mile race was Kate Merritt, fifth overall in 48:55.


For years, Coffee Regional Medical Center had hosted the Heart-to-Heart Run on the streets of Douglas, Georgia. 2020 was the first year CRMC moved the race six miles east to the trails of General Coffee State Park. Some years the Heart-to-Heart Run had included both a ten-kilometer and a five-kilometer race; other years there had only been a five-kilometer event. Before 2020, the most recent Heart-to-Heart 10K had been the 2018 race, won by Valdosta State University cross-country runner Caleb Watson. When the 10K returned in 2020, Watson was there, and so was Valdosta High cross-country coach Ryan Kelly, who had won the Heart-to-Heart 5K in 2013.


Harriers Watson and Kelly left the rest of the 10K field far behind, but Kelly reached the finish line first, beating Watson 38:48 to 38:58. Miguel Rivas took third in 46:42. Master runner Bret Campbell finished fourth overall in 48:45.


In 2019 the 5K was the longest option available at Heart-to-Heart, so Kate Merritt raced that, winning the women's title. In 2020, just months after her frosh year cross-country season at Coffee High, Merritt moved up to the Heart-to-Heart 10K. She was the top woman in the longer race, running 48:55. Caitlin Mixon edged Katie Roberts for the runner-up spot in the women's standings, 53:03 to 53:04. Mixon and Roberts were ninth and tenth overall. Maria Highsmith was the top woman master and fifth female finisher in the 10K, placing nineteenth overall in 1:02:37, just ahead of female master runner Stephanie Deas (20th, 1:02:43).


36 athletes finished the 2020 Heart-to-Heart 10K.


Top Ten Men, 2020 Heart-to-Heart 10K
  1. 38:48, Ryan Kelly (M, 41)
  2. 38:58, Caleb Watson (M, 21)
  3. 46:42, Miguel Rivas (M, 35)
  4. 48:45, Bret Campbell (M, 45)
  5. 52:05, Gavin Bennett (M, 13)
  6. 52:38, Shane Cumbass (M, 42)
  7. 52:46, David Bennett (M, 39)
  8. 54:55, Mike Booth (M, 45)
  9. 55:02, David Pollock (M, 55)
  10. 55:30, Terry Arnold (M, 58)

Top Ten Women, 2020 Heart-to-Heart 10K
  1. 48:55, Kate Merritt (F, 15)
  2. 53:03, Caitlin Mixon (F, 30)
  3. 53:04, Katie Roberts (F, 35)
  4. 61:07, Ashley Floyd (F, 30)
  5. 62:37, Maria Highsmith (F, 42)
  6. 62:43, Stephanie Deas (F, 46)
  7. 65:36, Kasey Sapp (F, 30)
  8. 65:36, Carson Allen (F, 46)
  9. 66:53, Gina Purvis (F, 60)
  10. 67:36, Angela Booth (F, 46)

Cameron Watson, a junior-year cross-country runner at Coffee High, won the Heart-to-Heart 5K for the third year in a row, covering the 3.1 mile in a winning 19:00. Another Coffee High harrier, sophomore Carter Young, placed second in 19:28, a step or two ahead of Ryan Campbell (3rd, 19:30). Allen Travelstead was the fastest master runner in the 5K, placing tenth overall in 23:01.


Ellie Perkins, a senior on the Coffee High cross-country team, was first in the women's standings of the 5K, placing 14th overall in 28:08. Master runner Heidi Hines was the women's runner-up, sixteenth overall in 28:35. At 29:11, master runner Trish Watson was the third female finisher and eighteenth overall in 29:11.


82 athletes finished the 2020 Heart-to-Heart 5K.


Top Ten Men, 2020 Heart-to-Heart 5K
  1. 19:00, Cameron Watson (M, 17)
  2. 19:28, Carter Young (M, 16)
  3. 19:30, Ryan Campbell (M, 16)
  4. 21:08, Nevin Swanson (M, 14)
  5. 21:25, William Amerson (M, 37)
  6. 21:32, Garrett Mancil (M, 17)
  7. 21:38, Olan Dickson (M, 15)
  8. 21:46, Loyd Amerson (M, 35)
  9. 22:24, Dylan Dixon (M, 14)
  10. 23:01, Allen Travelstead (M, 40)

Top Ten Women, 2020 Heart-to-Heart 5K
  1. 28:08, Ellie Perkins (F, 17)
  2. 28:35, Heidi Hines (F, 41)
  3. 29:11, Trish Watson (F, 52)
  4. 30:34, Lindsay Day (F, 40)
  5. 31:55, Kaitlyn Thigpen (F, 18)
  6. 31:56, Brooke Floyd (F, 26)
  7. 32:34, Adrianna Amerson (F, 28)
  8. 35:38, Jessica Hudson (F, 30)
  9. 35:50, Andrea Vaughn (F, 30)
  10. 36:49, Melissa Vaughn (F, 32)

Douglas, Georgia Heart-to-Heart Run winners
DateDistanceMenWomenFinishers
8 November 20085K
14 November 20095K17:09, Benjamin Woodward23:14, Blaine Richards125
13 November 20105K15:54, Daniel Broadhead21:49, Hannah Moorman51
5 November 20115K
23 February 20135K17:58, Ryan Kelly23:09, Michele McKinnon83
22 February 20145K18:10, Cody Reid23:55, Loretta Woodard98
21 February 20155K17:15, Cody Reid23:01, Hannah Moorman137
20 February 20165K17:02, Roberto Bonilla27:36, Loryn Brown115
18 February 201710K35:53, Cody Reid49:39, Ellie Perkins19
5K18:19, Cameron Watson20:36, Gracie Woods84
17 February 201810K36:36, Caleb Watson46:47, Tashiba Peoples25
5K17:53, Cameron Watson21:08, Abbey Arnett83
23 February 20195K18:04, Carter Young22:11, Kate Merritt81
29 February 202010K38:48, Ryan Kelly48:55, Kate Merritt36
5K19:00, Cameron Watson28:08, Ellie Perkins82


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Posted by Herb Wills at 7:44 PM
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