Mann and Quarles Win Stonehouse 5K, Mann and Volk Lead CRR Grand Prix
By Rick Platt
All the contenders for the 2002 Colonial Road Runners Grand Prix overall awards were at Saturday's tenth annual Heritage Humane Society 5K Run at Stonehouse--Michael Mann, Keith Schumann and Jim Bates for the men, and Jen Quarles, Sherry Volk, Valerie Plyler and Carol Talley for the women. With one race left (the November 23rd Governor's Land 5K), Hampton's Michael Mann and Williamsburg's Sherry Volk are the expected champions.
There were a record 270 entrants (for the Stonehouse location) in the race benefiting
the Heritage Humane Society and its animal shelter, with 217 finishing the 5K
run/walk, along with a one mile fun run, quarter mile run and 25-yard Toddler
Trot. This was the fourth year the HHS race was held at Stonehouse (the first
five years were at Governor's Land, and the 1998 race was at First Colony).
In the men's race over the hilly Stonehouse 5K, Mann, 34, led from the start
and soloed to a 16:03 win, exactly 30 seconds slower than Rob Hinkle's course
record 15:33 from 1999. Schumann, 32, of Williamsburg was second in 16:41 and
Bates, 46, of Hampton was fourth in 17:05.
Ben Bristow, 22, of Williamsburg (assistant coach) won the battle of Lafayette
High cross country, with his third-place 16:55, ahead of this year's No. 1 Ram
runner John Hopke (5th, 17:22) and head cross country coach Craig Wortman (7th,
17:50).
With the scoring from 10 of the 11 CRR Grand Prix races completed, Mann will
need to run the Governor's Land 5K to ensure his Grand Prix title, but he has
a comfortable 67-62 lead over Bates, with Schumann third (53).
While not as fast as her personal record 19:12 from the previous week's William
and Mary Homecoming 5K Run, Quarles, 30, of Williamsburg ran her second-fastest
time ever, a 19:30 to win the Stonehouse 5K, just eight seconds ahead of Volk,
41, whose 19:38 was a PR by two seconds. Plyler, 43, of Newport News was third
in 19:56.
For the women's Grand Prix Volk has an insurmountable 81-68 lead over Quarles,
with a close battle for third between Carol Talley, 48, of Toano (6th for the
women at Stonehouse in 20:55) and Plyler. Talley leads by one point, 39-38.
In the Masters (ages 40-and-over) category, Bates and Ned Berg are tied with
40 points each for the men, while Volk (a perfect 50 points) leads Plyler (23)
and Talley (22) for the women.
Stonehouse race age group records were broken by Blaine O'Reilly (boys 14-and-under,
18:32), Michael Mann (men 30-34, 16:03), Bob Spencer (men 60-64, 19:32), Sharon
White (women 45-49, 20:13), Joan Coven (women 60-64, 22:55), Nancy Patron (women
65-69, 26:58) and June Mathews (women 70-and-over, 47:29). Spencer's time would
have been an all-time CRR 5K record for men 60-64 (the previous mark had been
19:59), except that he had broken the record with a 19:25 one week earlier at
the Homecoming 5K.
Strong racewalking fields were won by George Fenigsohn, 55, of Poquoson (29:57)
and Noreen Zimmerman, 46, of Yorktown (34:37).