By Rick Platt
Two teenage runners who hadn't yet made it to college were the winners last Saturday of the 10th annual The Vineyards of Williamsburg 5K Run. Jamestown High graduate Bryce Ruiz, 19, won for the men in 15:28 in his last race before leaving Williamsburg to attend North Carolina State on a track and cross country scholarship. Ruiz left town Friday. Lindsay Van Alstine, 17, of Midland Park, N.J., won the women's division in a course record 17:43, breaking the previous mark of 17:52 by Pam Runquist in 1995, and 20 seconds faster than Alison Holinka ran to win in 2001. Those involved with the William and Mary track program hope that Van Alstine will spend not one evening, but four years, running in Williamsburg. She was down with her family visiting Virginia Beach, and touring W&M on an unofficial recruiting visit. Van Alstine is a "blue-chip" cross-country runner, having qualified for the Footlocker national high school cross-country championships last December. The Footlocker meet is a true high school championship. There are four regionals (Northeast, Southeast, Midwest and West), and the top eight from each region qualify. As a junior Van Alstine was seventh in the Northeast region at Van Cortlandt Park in New York City, then placed 27th of 32 in 18:16 at the championship meet in Orlando
.
Van Alstine is from a very small private school, Hawthorne Christian Academy,
that doesn't even have a track team. In cross country, she was first in the
class B division of the New Jersey parochial schools, then was first in the
all-division New Jersey state championship. She had previously run a few road
races, including a PR 17:39 for the 5K in June, and a 36:28 for the 10K in the
Ridgewood (N.J.) Memorial Day Run. Entering her senior year, W&M is one
of the colleges that Van Alstine is considering for college studies and competition.
The women's race was the fastest ever. Not only did Van Alstine break the course
record, but the second and third place runners had outstanding times, all placing
in the top 17 overall. Second was Jenny Ledford, 22, of Quantico (a PR 18:18)
and third was Lindsay's older sister, Bethany Van Alstine, 21 (19:04). Ledford
was also new to the area. She started running distance her junior year in high
school (Rose Hill, Kansas), then walked on to the University of Oklahoma track
and cross country teams in 1998. Although she ran all four years, six stress
fractures hampered her development. She ran the 1,500 (PR 4:58) and 3,000 meters,
but her best event was the 3,000-meter steeplechase, a relatively new event
for women. Ledford placed fifth in the Big 12 conference meet, and had a school
record best of 10:54.62. She has been at Basic School at Quantico for two months.
Ruiz was part of a three-man pack (along with Tommy Holland of Virginia Beach
and Michael Mann of Hampton) that was the same trio that went 1-2-3 in the July
4th Yorktown Freedom Run 5K (Ruiz won that race in 15:35, with Mann second in
15:35 and Holland third in 15:42). At the Vineyards race, Ruiz won in 15:28,
with Holland second (15:39) and Mann third (15:59). The three traded the lead
through a 4:55 first mile. Heading into the turnaround point on Treasure Island
Road, Ruiz surged and Mann dropped off the pace. Ruiz and Holland went through
two miles in 9:56. With a half mile to go Ruiz surged a second time, entering
The Vineyards of Williamsburg neighborhood. This surge dropped Holland, and
Ruiz cruised to a 11-second victory.
After 2 1/2 miles warmup and the 5K race, Ruiz socialized for about 15 minutes,
then immediately ran six miles (at 6:05 mile pace) back Treasure Island Road
to the Colonial Parkway to his Kingspoint home, all in preparation for his first
college cross country season. He is building up from his high school 40 miles
per week to a college-level 60-70 miles per week. Besides his Yorktown Freedom
Run victory, Ruiz had also won the Lake Matoaka Trail Challenge three days before
the Vineyards race.
Besides the women's overall record, six age group marks were broken this year,
including Bryce Ruiz (men 15-19, 15:28), Jim Bates (men 45-49, 17:00), Lindsay
Van Alstine (women 15-19, 17:43), Joan Coven (women 60-64, 22:57), Nancy Patron
(women 65-69, 28:14) and Jo Ann Daus (women 70-and-over, 56:45).
There were a record number of entrants (282) this year at The Vineyards, with
230 finishers in the 5K and 33 finishers in the one mile. The race was part
of the RRCA (Road Runners Club of America) Women's Distance Festival Series,
and was the sixth race in the 2002 Colonial Road Runners Grand Prix. Michael
Mann and Sherry Volk are the current leaders of the CRR Grand Prix.
The race was again held in memory of Lynn Garland, and benefited both Avalon
and the Colonial Road Runners Scholarship Fund (Ruiz was one of the two CRR
scholarship recipients this year, along with Jamestown teammate Wyatt Beyer).
The 5K walk was won by Ray Funkhouser of White Stone in 26:12 and by Linda Kidder
of Williamsburg in 30:24. With the assistance of Funkhouser, a former national-class
race walker, the Vineyards race was designated the Virginia Association USATF
5K race walk championship.