Showing posts with label Massachusetts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Massachusetts. Show all posts

Friday, April 28, 2023

Tallahassee athletes in the 2023 Boston Marathon

2023 BAA Marathon SealYou can be a very good marathoner while not being a very good Boston Marathoner.


My favorite marathon runner of the 1930s, Pat Dengis, is an example. Dengis won three AAU National Championship Marathons and the Pan American Marathon, but never took laurels at Boston. Maybe Dengis was unlucky. Or maybe Boston's unique collection of hills, turns, potholes, and contrary weather didn't suit the style of that Baltimore athlete.


We may have seen that play out again at the 2023 Boston Marathon. After the press and fans spent the days and weeks leading up to the race talking about a certain Very Good Marathoner, on Patriot's Day it was a very good Boston Marathoner who prevailed--defending champ Evans Chebet of Kenya. Chebet made it two in a row, throwing down a winning 2:05:54, almost a minute faster than his 2022 mark. On the women's side, Kenyan Hellen Obiri proved to be the best Boston Marathoner, running 2:21:38.


More than a few Tallahassee athletes made the trip to Massachusetts to do the annual run from Hopkinton to Boston. It is, after all, the only way to learn how good a Boston Marathoner you are. Of those Capital City athletes, the fastest was master runner Charlie Johnson, who posted a 2:49:57 and placed 1,777th. Master runner Amy Hines led the women in the Tallahassee contingent, running 3:11:03--good for 6,645th overall and 792nd in the women's standings.


In all, 21 Tallahasseeans finished the 2023 Boston Marathon, up from 16 in 2022. Here are those 2023 finishers:


Tallahassee finishers in the 2023 Boston Marathon, 17 April 2023
PlaceTimeAthletesexageM/F PlaceDiv Place
17772:49:57Charlie JohnsonM431698211
27552:55:15Mickey MooreM53262068
52833:05:10Jason GrahamM434829935
59623:08:06Raymond ReavisM4253551066
66453:11:03Amy HinesF42792105
77693:15:09Michael NiezgodaM3465923571
103803:24:06Jack McDermottM548077896
114993:27:41Carrie MurphyF51285371
117293:28:21Deanna McVayF402972484
120343:29:18Gabriella PassidomoF3131452207
122133:29:53Melanie LeitmanF3932402258
122383:29:57Jillian HeddaeusF403257544
133373:34:03Fanxiu ZhuM5494231206
152503:41:20Alison ThummF455049669
178673:52:29Mary Fran RoweF426565567
181813:54:07Thomas MurphyM53114081507
196554:02:23Judy AlexanderF617588157
200734:05:30Birgit Maier-KatkinF607839185
203124:07:25Tsige TadesseF557972455
217464:19:15Felton WrightM6512963381
256995:23:56Nancy PetersF6410908501


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Monday, April 18, 2022

Tallahassee athletes in the 2022 Boston Marathon

The history of the annual Boston Marathon from 1897 to 2022 hasn't been without interruptions. The race keeps coming back, though. It came back after World War I. It came back after the 2013 bombing. It came back after a pandemic. The grand old marathon returned to Patriot's Day on 18 April 2022, and there were Tallahassee athletes on the starting line in Hopkinton, Massachusetts for the occasion None of them were challenging Evans Chebet for the win when the Kenyan ran 2:06:51, nor was any athlete from Florida's Capital City in the mix when Kenya's Peres Jepchirchir outkicked Ababel Yeshaneh of Ethiopia for the women's title, 2:21:01 to 2:21:05. Nevertheless, they were there.


Tallahassee's first finisher in the 2022 Boston Marathon was Michael Niezgoda, who placed 2164th overall and 2045th in the men's standings with a 2:56:47. Tallahassee's first woman was Claire Berryman, who ran 3:23:02 to place 8492nd overall and 1629th in the women's division. Jon Maner was the first master runner from Tallahassee in the race, placing 6394th in 3:16:23. The Capital City's first woman master in the marathon was Samantha Fillmore, 17040th overall and 6218th in the women's standings with a 4:01:44.


The history of Tallahassee athletes in the Boston Marathon goes back to 1960, when Florida State University distance runner Kent Mills took time out from track season to run the 26.2-mile race. Mills placed 26th in the race, his second marathon, running 2:48:39. In addition to being the first Tallahassee-based athlete at Boston, Mills was probably also the first runner from Florida to finish the storied event.


No doubt more Tallahassee athletes will be tracing the path of Kent Mills in Boston on Patriots Day 2023. In the meantime, here are the Tallahassee finishers of the 2022 Boston Marathon.


Tallahassee finishers in the 2022 Boston Marathon, 18 April 2022
PlaceTimeAthleteSexAge GroupNet TimePace/Mile
21642:56:47Michael NiezgodaM18-392:55:076:41
63943:16:23Jon ManerM45-493:14:577:27
71803:21:04Jack McDermottM50-543:17:587:33
84923:23:02Claire BerrymanF18-393:22:517:45
89033:28:26Fanxiu ZhuM50-543:24:227:48
111213:35:48Alyssa TerryF18-393:32:318:07
118873:37:01Jenny EarlyF18-393:35:218:13
124143:37:41Jamila AllenF18-393:37:368:18
156023:56:10Deanna McVayF18-393:50:388:48
165503:56:55Jillian HeddaeusF18-393:55:158:59
170243:58:33David PlackM50-543:57:489:05
170404:01:44Samantha FillmoreF45-493:57:539:05
186254:10:55Judy AlexanderF60-644:08:389:29
205254:33:12Birgit Maier-KatkinF55-594:25:1610:07
224524:52:17Richard BergstromM45-494:49:4911:04
230165:06:49Christopher TurnerM40-445:00:1211:27


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Thursday, April 16, 2020

Kent Mills was Florida State's Marathon Man at Boston in 1960

Monday, 20 April 2020, won’t be a typical Patriots’ Day in Boston, Massachusetts. Because of CoViD-19, the bars won’t be open. The Red Sox won’t be playing in Fenway Park. The Boston Marathon won’t be run, rescheduled for 14 September 2020. And with no Marathon, there will be no one at the starting line in Hopkinton from Tallahassee, Florida.


Kent MillsTallahassee athletes have been racing the Boston Marathon for quite some time. In fact, back on Patriots’ Day 19 April 1960, Florida State University junior Kent Mills made the trip from Tallahassee to Hopkinton for the 64th annual Boston. It was what Tom Derderian, a historian of the event, described as “A perfect day for running. A 15-mile-an-hour tailwind on a clear, brisk 50 °F day.” Taking advantage of the conditions, Mills ran 2:48:59, placing 26th overall.


It was a smaller race then, with only 156 starters. Of those, 83 finished. Among those who dropped out along the way was John J. Kelley, the 1957 Boston champion. The 1960 race was also one of three Olympic Trial Marathons for the United States team. In spite of not finishing, Kelley was placed on the U.S. squad. It was a different time.


For Mills, Boston wasn’t his first marathon, nor his fastest. In fact, Mills was already a national marathon champion, in spite of having only been a runner for less than three years.


Growing up in Pontiac, Michigan, Mills hadn’t run in high school. He took up the sport as a freshman at Florida State University during the 1957-1958 academic year, coached by Mike Long. Mills raced the half-mile that year, running 2:01. Even in the 1950s, that performance wasn’t NCAA All-American material. But Mills’ future was in the longer distances. As a sophomore he set the Florida State school record in the two-mile run, going 9:31.4 during the 1959 track season.


Florida State didn’t have a cross-country team in 1959, so late that fall Mills made his own way into Alabama for the third annual Troy Chamber of Commerce Cross-Country Meet. The meet was hosted by Troy State coach Nick Costes, the 1955 US national champion in the marathon and a member of the 1956 US Olympic Marathon team. If Mills hadn’t been thinking about the marathon already, he was now. And the AAU was hosting the National Junior Marathon Championship in Atlantic City, New Jersey on 2 January 1960.


“The team couldn’t afford to send me,” Mills told the school newspaper, the Flambeau. “The University doesn’t sponsor a cross-country team, and the track team was in no position to pay my way up. I wanted to run so bad I could taste it...I had never run the distance before, but I wanted to try.”


So Mills spent nine days of the winter break hitchhiking north, spending seventeen hours on the road. He made it to Philadelphia at 2:00 AM on 27 December 2020, just eleven hours before the start of the Middle Atlantic Road Runners’ Club Cross-Country Championship. Mills won that 10,000-meter race in 33:51.


After spending nearly a week in Philadelphia, Mills found a ride with another athlete heading to Atlantic City for the Marathon. He trailed during the first half of the out-and-back route. With ten miles to go in the 26.2-mile race, Mills moved up into the lead group. He began to push the pace after that, dropping the rest of the leaders.


“I thought, ‘This can’t be right, I can’t be winning this race,’” Mills told the Flambeau.


Nevertheless, Mills won the race by over half a mile, taking the national title with a 2:30:35. At the end of the year, it would stand as the eighth-fastest marathon by an American during 1960, an Olympic year.


The day after the race, Mills started hitchhiking back to Tallahassee.


Unlike the Junior National Marathon, Boston was in the middle of track season and in the middle of Florida State’s spring session. Mills still made it to Massachusetts for the race, but his 2:48:59 was well off what he had run in his first marathon. Several of the athletes he had beaten in Atlantic City were among the 25 runners ahead of him at Boston. Six days later, Mills was back in Florida, racing at Gainesville in the FSU-UF dual meet. He took third in the mile and second in the two-mile for the Seminoles. Florida State won that day, and the team went undefeated during the 1960 season.


Mills spent another year competing for Florida State before graduating in 1961. He did not log any more marathon victories as a Seminole. But if you’re ever in Hopkinton on the starting line of the Boston Marathon, remember that Kent Mills was there before you.


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Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Tallahassee's top finishers at the Boston Marathon during the 21st century

122nd annual Boston MarathonNine Tallahassee athletes ran the Boston Marathon on Monday, 16 April 2018--Thomas Parker (2295th, 3:03:20), Larry Harris (5485th, 3:20:32), Jason Hohensee (8086th, 3:30:26), Laura McDermott (9883rd, 3:37:00), Allison Eagen (11204th, 3:41:48), Jack McDermott (13284th, 3:49:40), Tsige Tadesse (13345th, 3:49:53), Birgit Maier-Katkin (14423rd, 3:53:54), and Deanna Samaha (25701st, 6:50:22). There are probably a few more from neighboring towns, but these were the ones who lived and worked in Tallahassee, or at least were willing to list Tallahassee on their entry forms.


Of course, these weren't the first Boston finishers from Tallahassee. Florida's capital city has been sending athletes to the Boston Marathon for decades. The race goes back to 1897, and the first Tallahassee runner entered the race some time during the twentieth century. When? Who? Those are unanswered questions. Resolving them woud take researching 100 years of Boston marathons.


The 21st century, though, is a little easier. The records are digital rather than microfilm or decaying newsprint. So here are Tallahassee's top performers at Boston each year, from 2000 on.


Top Tallahassee finishers at the Boston Marathon by year, 2000 - 2018
DateMenWomen
17 April 20003:31:38, Mike Jaynes (6020th)None
16 April 20013:18:04, John F. Affleck-Graves (2551st)3:32:11, Katherine H. Mac Fall (4473rd)
15 April 20023:10:59, Jay V. Silvanima (2176th)2:54:47, Jane E. Johnson (648th)
21 April 20032:59:28, Jack T. McDermott (549th)2:58:47, Jane E. Johnson (517th)
19 April 20043:20:17, David A. Yon (1131st)3:03:44, Jane E. Johnson (419th)
18 April 20053:02:00, Jack T. McDermott (705th)3:41:27, Kimberly L. Likens (5118th)
17 April 20062:53:31, Jack T. McDermott (549th)3:52:34, Christy L. Pardieck (11606th)
16 April 20072:58:10, Jack T. McDermott (777th)3:10:47, Sheryl D. Rosen (1993rd)
21 April 20082:55:28, Jack T. McDermott (745th)3:27:07, Krista Killius (5850th)
20 April 20092:59:29, Jack T. McDermott (1279th)3:28:54, Kelly A. Stevens (6934th)
19 April 20102:56:39, John M. Robida (941st)3:32:29, Shana K. Ryberg (7831st)
18 April 20112:50:52, Jack T. McDermott (633rd)3:08:45, Allison A. Eagen (2736th)
16 April 20122:59:01, Roger J. Schmidt (419th)3:47:05, Nancy C. Stedman (5220th)
15 April 20132:35:09, Chris Lake (142nd)3:12:34, Adriana Piekarewicz (3302nd)
21 April 20142:49:13, Bryan Koon (762nd)3:19:28, Katie Sherron (5703rd)
20 April 20152:39:14, Stephen Cox (225th)3:13:57, Allison A. Eagen (5185th)
18 April 20162:46:19, Roger Schmidt (304th)3:50:05, Laura McDermott (13325th)
17 April 20172:47:45, Charlie Johnson (448th)3:17:11, Carrie Seiberlich (3481st)
16 April 20183:07:50, Thomas Parker (2295th)3:47:33, Laura McDermott (9904th)


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Friday, September 25, 2015

Florida State women sixth, Florida State men seventh at the 'Battle in Beantown'

On Friday afternoon, 25 September 2015, Boston College hosted their annual "Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown" cross country meet for the third time. The women's field included four nationally ranked teams; #4 Georgetown, #9 Providence, #19 Syracuse, and #25 Dartmouth. Two nationally ranked men's teams were also entered in the Battle; #3 Syracuse and #26 Florida State.


The women's 5K race started at 3:00 PM. Racing on the historic Franklin Park course, Stony Brook junior Christina Melian edged Syracuse senior Margo Malone for the win, 16:50 to 16:51. Providence junior Catarina Rocha was third in 16:54, the first of three Friars in the top ten. Those three--Rocha, Sarah Collins (4th, 16:56), and Lauren Mullins (7th, 17:12)--led off a Providence total of 42 points, earning the Friars the team title. Syracuse was second in the 24-team field with 127. Georgetown, led by senior Samantha Nadel (8th, 17:12), was third with 134.


Florida State was sixth with 155 points, placing ahead of Harvard (7th, 165) and nationally-ranked Dartmouth (8th, 181). The Lady Seminole's scorers were Florida State senior Georgia Peel broke into the top ten for the Lady Seminole, placing ninth in 17:16. The Lady Seminoles' other scorers were sophomore Bridget Blake (11th, 17:18), frosh Carmela Cardama Baez (14th, 17:24), senior Christine Griggs (50th, 17:56), and junior Courteney West (72nd, 18:08).


Women's Team Standings, 2015 Battle In Beantown 5K
  1. Providence, 42 points
  2. Syracuse, 127
  3. Georgetown, 134
  4. Purdue, 141
  5. Lipscomb, 151
  6. Florida State, 155
  7. Harvard, 165
  8. Dartmouth, 181
  9. Brown, 226
  10. New Hampshire, 275
  11. Boston College, 297
  12. Connecticut, 339
  13. Albany, 342
  14. Stony Brook, 356
  15. Georgia, 358
  16. UMass Lowell, 474
  17. UMass Amherst, 540
  18. Boston University, 545
  19. Army West Point, 588
  20. Fordham, 621
  21. Northeastern, 634
  22. Hartford, 678
  23. St. John's, 703
  24. Maine, 731

Top 15 Women, 2015 Battle In Beantown 5K
  1. 16:50.0 ~ Christina Melian (Stony Brook) JR-3
  2. 16:51.0 ~ Margo Malone (Syracuse) SR-4
  3. 16:53.9 ~ Catarina Rocha (Providence) JR-3
  4. 16:55.6 ~ Sarah Collins (Providence) JR-3
  5. 16:58.1 ~ Courtney Smith (Harvard) SO-2
  6. 17:10.9 ~ Dana Giordano (Dartmouth) SR-4
  7. 17:11.3 ~ Lauren Mullins (Providence) JR-3
  8. 17:11.3 ~ Samantha Nadel (Georgetown) SR-4
  9. 17:15.1 ~ Georgia Peel (Florida State) SR-4
  10. 17:15.9 ~ Natalie Schudrowitz (Brown) SO-2
  11. 17:17.4 ~ Bridget Blake (Florida State) SO-2
  12. 17:19.6 ~ Brianna Ilarda (Providence) SO-2
  13. 17:23.9 ~ Sydney Leiher (Syracuse) JR-3
  14. 17:24.0 ~ Carmela Cardama Baez (Florida State) FR-1
  15. 17:24.0 ~ Laura Hottenrott (Boston College) SR-4

The men's 8K race followed at 3:30 PM. Syracuse sophomore Justyn Knight won the race in 23:51, the first in a lead pack of four runners--Purdue senior Matt McClintock (2nd, 23:53), Syracuse senior Martin Hehir (3rd, 23:55), and Syracuse sophomore Colin Bennie (4th, 23:55). Syracuse added junior Joel Hubbard (7th, 24:11) and senior Dan Lennon (10th, 24:17) to give the Orangemen five runners in the top ten, a team total of 25 points, and the win. Led by senior Curtis King (8th, 24:12), Dartmouth was second with 82 points. Purdue was third with 82, and Cornell fourth with 93 behind their top scorer, senior Ben Rainero (5th, 24:04).


Senior Jack Goodwin broke into the top ten for Florida State, placing sixth in 24:10. Behind Goodwin, the Seminoles totaled 186 points and placed seventh in the field of 21 teams. The other Florida State scorers were redshirt junior Stanley Linton (34th, 24:42), junior Grant Nykaza (43rd, 24:51), sophomore Michael Hall (54th, 25:01), and sophomore Bryce Kelly (57th, 25:03).


Men's Team Standings, 2015 Battle In Beantown 5K
  1. Syracuse, 25
  2. Dartmouth, 67
  3. Purdue, 82
  4. Cornell, 93
  5. Georgia, 154
  6. Harvard, 172
  7. Florida State, 186
  8. Brown, 288
  9. Boston University, 298
  10. Fordham, 302
  11. UMass Lowell, 304
  12. Northeastern, 348
  13. UMass Amherst, 384
  14. Connecticut, 422
  15. Army West Point, 426
  16. Stony Brook, 435
  17. Boston College, 471
  18. Maine, 482
  19. New Hampshire, 523
  20. Albany, 595
  21. Rhode Island, 679

Top 15 Men, 2015 Battle In Beantown 8K
  1. 23:51.0 ~ Justyn Knight (Syracuse) SO-2
  2. 23:52.6 ~ Matt McClintock (Purdue) SR-4
  3. 23:54.2 ~ Martin Hehir (Syracuse) SR-4
  4. 23:54.8 ~ Colin Bennie (Syracuse) SO-2
  5. 24:04.0 ~ Ben Rainero (Cornell) SR-4
  6. 24:10.0 ~ Jack Goodwin (Florida State) SR-4
  7. 24:10.9 ~ Joel Hubbard (Syracuse) JR-3
  8. 24:11.5 ~ Curtis King (Dartmouth) SR-4
  9. 24:13.5 ~ Tate Schienbein (Purdue) SR-4
  10. 24:16.7 ~ Dan Lennon (Syracuse) SR-4
  11. 24:17.0 ~ Connor Herr (Cornell) SR-4
  12. 24:17.8 ~ Brian Masterson (Dartmouth) SR-4
  13. 24:18.4 ~ Steven Spevacek (Georgia) SR-4
  14. 24:21.4 ~ Peter Geithner (Dartmouth) SR-4
  15. 24:24.7 ~ Joey Chapin (Dartmouth) JR-3

Coast-to-Coast Battle In Beantown Champions
2013 - 2015
Women's 5K
DateTeam ChampIndividual Champ
27 September 2013Providence, 5016:51, Emily Sisson (Providence)
26 September 2014Michigan, 5516:30, Liv Westphal (Boston College)
25 September 2015Providence , 4216:50, Christina Melian (Stony Brook)
Men's 8K
DateTeam ChampIndividual Champ
27 September 2013Oregon, 22 points24:11, Edward Cheserek (Oregon)
26 September 2014Oregon, 2424:20, Edward Cheserek (Oregon)
12 September 2015Syracuse, 2523:51, Justyn Knight (Syracuse)


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