The UF runner pulls away late to win the Citrus Summer Showdown 5K.
By KEITH NIEBUHR
Published July 13, 2003
INVERNESS - Saturday's third annual Citrus Summer Showdown 5K at Whispering Pines Park looked more like a collegiate event than a local race.
That's because the field was loaded.
The top four finishers compete in college, and the runner who finished fifth is a former standout at Notre Dame. Steve Zieminski of Sarasota, who runs track and cross country for the University of Florida, claimed the overall title in 15 minutes, 30 seconds. Tyrone Bell of Florida Southern was second in 15:34.
Tara Gruber, a 16-year-old Texas prep star, won the women's title in 20:00.
Zieminski and Bell were part of a large pack during the first 2 miles, but separated toward the end. Zieminski, a junior at Florida, had a strong cross-country season last fall and was one of the Gators' top long-distance performers in track. This spring, he was UF's best in the 1,500 meters and 3,000 steeplechase.
Zieminski was seven seconds behind Sean McManus' race record (15:23) set in 2001.
Vinny Ambrico of Altamonte Springs, a runner at Notre Dame, was third, followed by former Citrus state champion Cory Presnick, now a cross-country and track standout at UF.
McManus, a state champion while at Lecanto and later an All-Big East runner at Notre Dame, was fifth. He was second last year and first the year before.
Gruber shook off a relatively slow start to defeat Karen Edmonds by 22 seconds. Gruber improved her time by 36 seconds from last year, when she was third.
The showdown had 225 participants, up from 118 two years ago.
"I was really pleased with the race," organizer Milton Lyons said. "Instead of having two or three runners up there we had six or seven pushing the pace to the 2-mile mark. It was great."
