Sunday, August 20, 2023

Leonardo Canete and Acadia Hassell race like Maseratis on the Cadillac Trail

Since 2013, when Bobby York established Gulf Winds Track Club's annual Summer Trail Race Series, there have been years when the Cadillac Trail Race has been the opening event of the series. Other years it has been the final event. Still other years, Cadillac Trail isn't on the circuit at all. On Saturday morning, 19 August 2023, Cadillac was the closing act of the Series, and the stage was Tallahassee, Florida's Tom Brown Park. Leonardo Canete was the lead actor in that performance, winning the nine-kilometer race in 38:27. Acadia Hassell took first in the women's standings, placing seventeenth overall in 48:20.

Leonardo Canete
Leonardo Canete

For once, I had arrived at the race with my camera a good fifteen minutes before the 8:00 AM starting time. Bill Lott was setting up cones near the finish line.


"There's a half hour delay," said Lott.


Half an hour? Was the course mismarked? Had EMS been called away? Was there a tree down across the trail?


"Bobby overslept," said Lott.


Bobby York, director and founder of the Summer Trail Series, had just phoned saying he would be late. More importantly, the race bibs with the timing chips would also be late, because they were with him. No less vitally, be also had the post-race beer and mimosa fixings.

Mike Tercyak
Mike Tercyak

But at 8:37, the race did get underway. Master runner Leonardo Canete, who had won the three previous events in the Summer Trail Series, immediately jumped out ahead of the field. He was still well ahead ten minutes later, running through Heritage Park. He was followed by another master runner, Mike Tercyak.


"How far ahead is he?" called out Tercyak.


Far enough to be out of sight. And Canete was about half a kilometer ahead when he crossed the finish line in a winning 38:27. Tercyak was second in 40:43. Master runner Hans Hassell took third in 43:49.

Hans Hassell
Hans Hassell

For Canete, it was his eight win in a Trail Series race--more than any other runner. It was also his sixth win in a row in Trail Series racing, a streak that goes back to the summer of 2022. Canete was also the overall Series winner for 2023, repeating his victory in 2021 and 2022. He's not about to rest on his laurels, though.


"I'm thinking of racing the Corporal Andy Lavender 5K in Jacksonville next week," said Canete. "The week after that is the Blue Bird 5K here in town. I'm going to be there."


The Blue Bird 5K is on the trails of the J. R. Alford Greenway. Trail runners gotta trail run.

Acadia Hassell
Acadia Hassell

Canete was a master runner who had won eight previous Summer Trail Series races. In contrast, the women's field at the Cadillac Trail Race was led by two schoolgirls who had never won a women's title in the Trail Series--eighth-grader Alexis Mayfield and fifth-grader Acadia Hassell. Two kilometers into the Cadillac Trail Run, her first Summer Trail Series race, Mayfield was setting the pace for the women's field. Did she expect to be leading?


"No!" insisted Mayfield.


Most of the women were well behind Mayfield at that point, but Acadia Hassell was only a few seconds back.


"I was like two steps behind her on the third mile," recalled Hassell. "Then I caught her on the last mile."

Alexis Mayfield
Alexis Mayfield

The two continued close all the way to the finish line, with Hassell crossing first in 48:20 and Mayfield following in 48:22, seventeenth and eighteenth overall. Averi Lewis, the first woman in the previous three Summer Trail Series races, placed third in the women's standings and 21st overall in 50:21. In the race for the top woman master's spot, Laura Sellati overtook Mary Fran Rowe just before the finish line, where Sellati narrowly prevailed 54:48 to 54:51. Sellati and Rowe were sixth and seventh in the women's division and 33rd and 34th overall.


Both Hassell and Mayfield have more racing planned. "I'm racing at the Duelling Summits Cross-Country Meet next week," said Hassell.


Mayfield, who runs cross-country for the Swift Creek Middle School girls' team, competes again even sooner. "We race on Wednesday at Apalachee Regional Park."


Trail runners gotta trail run.

Melissa Sullivan
Melissa Sullivan

108 athletes finished the 2023 Cadillac Trail 9K Trail Race. Gulf Winds Track Club chip-timed the event. It was the final event in Gulf Winds Track Club's 2023 Summer Trail Race Series, but the circuit should be back in 2024. Till then, GWTC offers several races where runners can get their trail fix--the Salute To Prefontaine 5K on 23 September 2023, the Pine Run 20K on 14 October 2023, the Tannenbaum Trail 6K on 16 December 2023, and Bobby York's own Swamp Forest Trail Half Marathon in January.


Top Ten Men, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2023 Cadillac Trail 9K Trail Race
  1. 38:27, Leonardo Canete (M, 44)
  2. 40:43, Mike Tercyak (M, 40)
  3. 43:49, Hans Hassell (M, 40)
  4. 44:25, Daniel Korecky (M, 38)
  5. 44:52, Jeremy Floyd (M, 46)
  6. 45:02, Benjamin Goldsberry (M, 50)
  7. 45:12, Gavin Dunn (M, 33)
  8. 45:23, Kevin Ethridge (M, 46)
  9. 45:32, Barry Drenkhahn (M, 39)
  10. 45:37, Hayden Fravel (M, 15)

Top Ten Women, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2023 2023 Cadillac Trail 9K Trail Race
  1. 48:20, Acadia Hassell (F, 10)
  2. 48:22, Alexis Mayfield (F, 11)
  3. 50:21, Averi Lewis (F, 26)
  4. 52:26, Melissa Sullivan (F, 32)
  5. 54:33, Alyssa Terry (F, 29)
  6. 54:48, Laura Sellati (F, 44)
  7. 54:51, Mary Fran Rowe (F, 42)
  8. 55:23, Kendall Meikenhous (F, 35)
  9. 55:25, Meredith Strange (F, 43)
  10. 56:42, Martha Guyas (F, 38)

Gulf Winds Track Club's Summer Trail Series race winners, 2013 - 2023
YearDateRaceTop MaleTop FemaleFinishers
2013June 22Cadillac Trail 5½M37:38, Kevin Sullivan45:07, Stephanie Liles-Weyant121
July 13Swamp Forest Trail 4½M30:19, Kevin Sullivan34:12, Micah Adriani124
July 27Magnolia Trail 3½M21:44, Kevin Sullivan24:45, Stephanie Liles-Weyant114
August 3Red Bug Trail 4½M33:31, Bryce Van Dam43:46, Stephanie Liles-Weyant92
2014June 21Red Bug Trail 4½M38:30, Charn McAllister42:02, Brook Pace114
July 12Swamp Forest Trail 4½M29:06, Charn McAllister33:13, Brook Pace109
July 26Magnolia Trail 3½M26:03, Charn McAllister30:16, Emily Molen108
August 2Cadillac Trail 5½M41:38, Brian Molen48:25, Emily Molen88
2015May 30Cadillac Trail 5½M39:15, Zach Deveau42:51, Alyson Churchill158
June 13Oak Hammock Trail 5M32:59, Zach Deveau35:10, Alyson Churchill129
July 18Coon Bottom Trail 4M28:42, Zach Deveau29:14, Alyson Churchill112
August 1Red Bug Trail 4½M35:14, Greg Bargo35:24, Alyson Churchill112
2016May 21Magnolia Trail 3½M25:18, Dan Baur27:05, Katie Gorman133
June 4Oak Hammock Trail 5½M42:53, Eric Godin45:24, Katie Gorman123
July 9Red Bug Trail 4½M33:14, Dan Baur35:04, Katie Gorman130
July 30Cadillac Trail 5½M43:06, Paul Guyas42:29, Alyson Churchill95
2017June 10Munson Hills 6M36:45, Chris O'Kelley46:34, Emily Molen87
July 1Red Bug Trail 4½M37:34, Chris O'Kelley48:24, Emily Molen90
July 15Oak Hammock/Swamp Forest 5M33:35, Charles Biberg39:36, Kat Sack89
August 5Tom Brown Park 4½M32:40, Chris O'Kelley36:36, Jennifer Bayliss71
2018June 23Munson Hills 6M38:02, Vince Molosky45:10, Emily Molen124
July 7Phipps Park 4M30:49, Jim Schafer33:39, Kat Sack127
July 21Maclay Gardens 5M38:26, Brad Busboom44:39, Kat Sack110
August 4Tom Brown Park 4½M28:39, Brad Busboom32:29, Kat Sack109
2019June 22Red Bug Trail 4½M35:27, Zach DeVeau38:53, Rachel Durbin125
July 6Munson Hills 6M38:24, Zach DeVeau43:56, Rachel Durbin86
July 27Tom Brown Park 5M37:13, Bryan Gensits44:47, Rachel Durbin108
August 24Maclay Gardens 4½M39:00, Zach DeVeau43:00, Rachel Durbin91
2021June 12Cadillac Trail 5½M40:26, Daniel Wurgler46:21, Clifton Lewis107
July 10Swamp Forest Trail 5M29:07, Leonardo Canete34:24, Amelia Bryant104
July 24Maclay Gardens 5M37:48, Jonathan Stern44:06, Clifton Lewis111
August 28Red Bug Trail 4½M34:23, Leonardo Canete38:10, Clifton Lewis72
2022May 28Swamp Forest Trail 4½M28:08, Jonathan Stern38:29, Andi Vilardo141
June 19Red Bug Trail 4½M32:19, Jonathan Stern44:01, Andi Vilardo111
July 16Maclay Gardens 5½M38:28, Leonardo Canete52:14, Andi Vilardo120
August 20Cadillac Trail 5½M37:18, Leonardo Canete48:39, Alyssa Terry98
2023May 20Red Bug Trail 4½M33:26, Leonardo Canete40:05, Averi Lewis124
June 19Maclay Gardens 5½M38:39, Leonardo Canete47:18, Averi Lewis126
July 16Swamp Forest Trail 4½M29:39, Leonardo Canete36:27, Averi Lewis106
August 19Cadillac Trail 5½M38:27, Leonardo Canete48:20, Acadia Hassell108
Multiple wins by men: Leonardo Canete (8), Zach DeVeau (6), Kevin Sullivan (3), Charn McAllister (3), Chris O'Kelley (3),
       Jonathan Stern (3), Dan Baur (2), Brad Busboom (2)
Multiple wins by women: Alyson Churchill (5), Emily Molen (5), Kat Sack (4), Rachel Durbin (4),
      Stephanie Liles-Weyant (3), Katie Gorman (3), Clifton Lewis (3), Andi Vilardo (3), Averi Lewis (3),
      Brook Pace (2)


Links
#2962
Bookmark and Share
Posted by Herb Wills at 11:55 PM
Labels: , , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)