USF's Benton is dominating Pier 60 Series

A former state champion in cross country and track literally is running away with the women's title in the Sunsets at Pier 60 Series at Clearwater Beach.

Keswick Christian graduate Christa Benton, 18, a USF sophomore, won her third straight 5-kilometer event on the hard-packed beach Friday night.

Spurred by a group of high school boys who surrounded her during the last mile, Benton placed eighth overall in a field of nearly 250. She was timed in 18 minutes, 24 seconds -- 2 seconds faster than her performance in Race 2 despite a strong headwind.

In each of the series' first three events, Benton has prevailed over last year's series winner, Judy Maguire. A week ago, Benton improved the victory margin from 11 to 61 seconds.

Benton's success comes as no surprise to her former coach at Keswick, Lance Lipham, who trained her since the eighth grade.

"The reason Christa excels is simple," said Lipham, who helped Benton capture four state cross country and track crowns. "She loves to run; she loves the sport.

"She should be USF's No.1 distance runner this year," he said. "Part of that is because they (the coaches) are letting her compete this summer. Last year, her coach frowned on it. She enjoys the freedom. Someday, she'll be a great marathoner."

Benton was coming off a big July 4 victory in which she ran away with the title of the Midnight Run 10K in Dunedin. She beat Maguire and Clearwater's Vicki Stum, winner of last spring's Armadillo 10K in Oldsmar.

"I really enjoy the Kiwanis Midnight Run," said Benton, who won with a time of 37:35. "It's a lot of fun running at night."

BENTON NOTES: Benton's 10K PR was set on the track at Louisville last spring as she placed fourth (32:26) for the Bulls in the Conference USA Championships.

She is a music education major who plays the oboe in the USF symphony orchestra's No.1 chair.

Benton graduated third in her class at Keswick and was elected to the National Honor Society. She skipped the first grade.

BEACH EVENT: St.Petersburg's Steve Wilcox, 31, won his second consecutive crown this summer.

This one was a battle from the outset. Wilcox, a member of the Forerunners who ran for Florida State, completed a hard first mile in 5:15, only to find himself behind Brad Millett of Crystal River and Clearwater's Keith Sawayda.

The trio was together for part for the next mile until Wilcox found that he was being used as a wind shield on the return trip to the Pier 60 finish line.

"At that point, I dropped back and let Millett take the lead," Wilcox said. "But realizing he's about 21, I figured if it came down to a sprint at the end, he'd outkick me, so I surged ahead early.

"That didn't work the first time, as Millett and Keith stayed right with me," Wilcox said. "Then with about 600 yards to go, I threw in another surge, and this one worked successfully."

Wilcox won in 17:18, just 7 seconds ahead of Sawayda, and Millett was third in 17:50. Largo High's Brian McClymont took fourth (18:05), a click ahead of Russ Orr.

RACE NOTES: McClymont is part of a strong Largo Packers contingent training hard this summer and running well in the beach series. The other members of the 2002 cross country team will include Matt Timm, Dan Patterson and rising freshman Philip Brookins, timed in 17:44 in the second race of the series. Brookins recently ran 5:01 for the mile in a time trial. Largo finished second to Seminole High in last year's Pinellas County Conference Championship. ... Wilcox is training 55-65 miles a week for November's New York City Marathon. He does his long runs Sunday mornings with the Forerunners in St.Petersburg under the coaching of Joe Burgasser. ... Amy McClenathan, 42, finished behind Benton and Maguire for the third consecutive time at Pier 60. ... Palm Harbor's Duncan Cameron captured his third straight men's 55-59 title.

ELSEWHERE: Buzz Hoge, 68, of St.Pete Beach won gold, silver and bronze age-group medals in last month's National Organ Transplant Games in Lake Buena Vista. They came in the 5K run, the 1,500-meter event and the 800, respectively. Hoge was competing in the 60-plus division. ... Chuck McCann, 50, of Treasure Island placed second in his age division in last month's Wild Rivers 5K Challenge in Irving, Calif.

HOW THEY FARE: These rankings of Pinellas runners are based on competitive results in the past three months, including the July 4 Midnight Run.

MEN -- 1. Tony Teats, 2. Keith Batten, 3. Steve Wilcox, 4. Keith Sawayda, 5. Jim Burgasser, 6. Brian Scott, 7. Terry Fluke, 8. Victor Yeager, 9. Andy Scavelli, 10. Michael Weiss. Masters: 1. Dunn Neugebauer, 2. Joe Costas, 3. Joe Burgasser, 4. Duncan Cameron, 5. Jim Keppeler. WOMEN -- 1. Christa Benton, 2. Judy Maguire, 3. Vicki Stum, 4. Lisa Valentine, 5. Christy Phillips, 6. Laure Blume, 7. Carol Glasscock, 8. Amy McClenathan, 9. Donna Nesslar, 10. Kit Van Allan. Masters: 1. Mary Ann Protz, 2. Dianne Cayll-Skiles, 3. Karen Gately, 4. Lisa Kothe, 5. Mary Stewart-Wong.

FINISH LINES: Midnight Run winner Tony Teats has the Oct.13 Chicago Marathon on his schedule. He's hoping to finish under 2:22 to qualify for the 2004 Olympic Trials. Midnight Run results are posted at coolrunning.com. ... The Disney Marathon and Half Marathon, set for Jan.12, have closed with 22,000 entries. The 10th annual run will have a field of 16,000 in the main event. ... Moroccan Asmae Leghzaoui broke the women's 8K world record Saturday with a 24:28 performance in the Crazy 8's in Kingsport, Tenn. She took 10 seconds off the mark of England's Paula Radcliffe. ... There's a 5K at 7 p.m. Friday at Pass-A-Grille. On Saturday at 7:30 a.m., there's a 5K at Largo's Highland Recreation Complex. It's the Save Your Skin race organized by Bay Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery. The Strangeman's 5K beach event is at 6 p.m. July 27 at Clearwater's Palm Pavilion.

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