Monday, June 5, 2023

Cadden Maxwell and Megan Noonan take Potluck

Days before Saturday, 3 June 2023, and Gulf Winds Track Club's 25th annual Potluck Bash Four Mile, race director David Yon stated, "This will be the fastest PLB course ever."


After the race through Tallahassee's Phipps Park, Cadden Maxwell said, "I thought it was shorter than four miles."

Cadden Maxwell, Zach DeVeau
Cadden Maxwell and Zach DeVeau

That's one way of ensuring the "fastest course ever."


Maxwell knows his distances. A high school sophomore, Maxwell has put in two years on the cross-country team at Leon High, preceded by three more years at Raa Middle School. And he was also the fastest athlete on the trails at the Potluck Cross-Country Race, running 25:43 for whatever distance it was. Megan Noonan was the first woman in the Potluck, placing thirteenth overall in 31:13.

Hong-Guo Yu, Matthias Laywell
Hong-Guo Yu and Matthias Laywell

The Potluck course varies from year to year, but the starting line has always been at Meridian Park and the finish line at Forestmeadows Athletic Center, with the intervening miles of running in Phiips Park. The 2023 event followed this pattern, and the athletes set out from Meridian Park at 6:00 PM. A few minutes later, the field crossed the Meadows Soccer Complex, with Cadden Maxwell setting the pace and Zach DeVeau close behind. A few weeks earlier, Maxwell had finished his sophomore year track season. Since then, his only running had been an easy six miles a few days before Potluck. In spite of the layoff, Maxwell soon shrugged off the pursuit, although he couldn't say exactly where.


"When we left the east loop, that's where I couldn't see him behind me any more," said Maxwell.

Megan Noonan
Megan Noonan

After that, it was a solo run for the Leon High athlete, with only the lead bike to keep him company. Maxwell arrived at Forestmeadows and the finish line in 25:43, taking first. Tallahassee master runner Hong-Guo Yu was second with a 26:40. Jonah Blay, a rising senior on the Chiles High cross-country team, placed third in 26:50. Zach DeVeau, who had challenged Maxwell for the lead in the early going, ended the race fifth in 27:48.


Megan Noonan was the first woman to make it to the Meadows Soccer Complex, arriving there fifteen seconds before Madison Sims. Only the size of the lead changed after that. Noonan went on to grab the first woman's spot, running 31:13. Sims, another sophomore cross-country runner from Leon High, was the second woman and eighteenth overall in 33:14. Signe Ulsamer was the top woman master and third female finisher, nineteenth overall in 34:37.

Madison Sims
Madison Sims

Athletes run the Potluck without timepieces because the race includes a prediction competition--i.e., runners see how close to a predicted time they can complete the course. The best prognosticator was Tallahassee master runner Allen Blay, who predicted a time of 31:59 and ran 31:54. In contrast, Cadden Maxwell, the first runner across the finish line, was more than two minutes off his prediction. Maybe if he hadn't taken those three weeks off....


"Summer training starts Monday," said Maxwell.


Top Ten Men, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2023 Potluck Four Mile
  1. 25:42.8, Cadden Maxwell (M, 16)
  2. 26:39.6, Hong-Guo Yu (M, 54)
  3. 26:49.7, Jonah Blay (M, 17)
  4. 27:16.9, Gregory Noonan (M, 40)
  5. 27:47.2, Zach Deveau (M, 35)
  6. 28:21.9, Micah Andrews (M, 33)
  7. 28:37.1, Jay Wallace (M, 58)
  8. 28:48.7, Duane Evans (M, 55)
  9. 29:08.9, Matthias Laywell (M, 24)
  10. 29:42.0, Paul Guyas (M, 45)

Top Ten Women, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2023 Potluck Four Mile
  1. 31:12.9, Megan Noonan (F, 39)
  2. 33:13.4, Madison Sims (F, 16)
  3. 34:36.8, Signe Ulsamer (F, 45)
  4. 35:08.7, Kara Guinan (F, 23)
  5. 35:17.5, Madeline Brockmeier (F, 13)
  6. 37:07.7, Nancy Stedman (F, 61)
  7. 37:34.5, Martha Guyas (F, 38)
  8. 37:45.1, Georgina Hernandez (F, 33)
  9. 37:58.0, Mary Jane Hayden (F, 43)
  10. 40:25.8, Deirdre McCarthy (F, 43)

Potluck champions, 1998 - 2023
DateMenWomenFinishers
20 June 1998
5 June 199929:29, Zack Heissner32:26, Sarah Docter-Williams58
3 June 200024:42 Paul Hoover25:59, Kim Wynn
2 June 200124:59, Reid Vannoy25:33, Sarah Docter-Williams53
8 June 200222:47, Ryan Deak26:04, Sarah Docter-Williams132
7 June 200325:17, Tim Unger25:36, Sarah Docter-Williams91
5 June 200423:05, Caleb Carmichael25:59, Kara Newell136
4 June 200523:22, Caleb Carmichael27:21, Kara Newell110
3 June 200623:06, Jared Black25:58, Sheryl Rosen155
2 June 200724:26, Tony Guillen27:36, Jane Johnson115
7 June 200823:00, John Robida25:09, Sarah Docter-Williams144
13 June 200922:40, Jay Wallace27:05, Micah Adriani177
5 June 201022:14, Matt Mizereck27:39, Micah Adriani173
4 June 201122:57, Vince Molosky26:33, Summer Calder196
2 June 201222:33, Vince Molosky27:18, Katie Showman232
1 June 201321:17, Kevin Sullivan26:24, Micah Adriani237
31 May 201423:34, Kevin Sullivan32:17, Katie Sherron165
6 June 201525:45, Vince Molosky30:35, Carrie Seiberlich179
11 June 201622:52, Stanley Linton30:02, Ann Centner160
3 June 201732:22, Scott Lloyd35:53, Jillian Heddaeus107
9 June 201823:10, Stan Linton28:47, Sheryl Rosen155
8 June 201925:37, Charlie Johnson27:35, Ann Centner128
5 June 202126:52, Leonardo Canete29:19, Katie Sherron73
11 June 202226:15, Chris O'Kelley36:31, Nancy Stedman48
3 June 202325:43, Cadden Maxwell31:13, Megan Noonan75
Multiple wins by men: Vince Molosky (3), Caleb Carmichael (2), Kevin Sullivan (2),
      Stan Linton (2)

Multiple wins by women: Sarah Docter-Williams (5), Micah Adriani (3),
      Katie Sherron (3), Kara Newell (2), Sheryl Rosen (2), Ann Centner (2)

The race was five miles in 1998 and 1999, and four miles thereafter.


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Posted by Herb Wills at 2:30 PM
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