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Tarpon Springs' Wachtel makes strides in training

By DAVE THEALL
Published May 4, 2006

An aspiring triathlete used the hometown Beach to Bayou 5K race as a tuneup for last weekend's St. Anthony's Triathlon.

Jacki Wachtel, 26, successfully defended her women's title in the April 22 run around the Tarpon Springs bayous in 18 minutes, 24 seconds, taking third place overall behind Eugene Fanning (17:08) of Palm Harbor and Adam Dziuba (17:43) of Michigan.

Wachtel, who has been running and winning 5Ks in the low 18-minute range this spring, said she was pleased with the win but a little disappointed in her time until she was told the course may have been a little long.

"I was trying to get under 18 (minutes)," said Wachtel, a math teacher at Mitchell High, "but I was told by an official it might have been 3.25 (miles) that probably accounted for the extra time. I went out strong there into a tail wind and had to deal with the head wind coming back, of course."

Sunday's triathlon was a first for Wachtel at the standard Olympic distances.

She said she felt good coming out of the water but struggled on the bike portion due to cramps. With running as her strong suit, she was able to pass a lot of people, but not enough in her 25-29 age group to qualify for a top-three award. She finished 12th in her age group in 2:31:56. "My eyes are swollen right now," Wachtel said Sunday night. "I might have an allergy to something in the water there, maybe seaweed. I expect I'll be ready for Saturday's Hog Hustle in Dunedin. I'm looking forward to it."

Kailand Cosgrove, 15, a freshman at Tarpon Springs High, finished second to Wachtel at the Bayou in a personal record 18:51. Friday she'll represents the Spongers in the Class 4A track and field championships in the 1,600 meters. At Sunday's triathlon, she won her 15-19 age division in more than four minutes and finished third among non-elite women.

Charlie Fanning, who also runs for Tarpon Springs, took the men's title in 17:08. A senior with a 4.2 grade point average, Fanning has accepted an academic scholarship to Florida Southern, where he'll run cross country this fall.

Among a field of 1,200 at Raymond James Stadium, he ran away with the title in a swift 16:07, followed by Kolby Vaughn (16:32) and Eric Hall (16:38), both of Tampa.

The top women were Tampa's Dana Parrot (18:02), Zephyrhills' Heather Haynie (18:27) and Sarasota's Beth Lukens (20:04).

Stephens rebounded Sunday, running the anchor leg of Team Tribune in the men's field. With Andy Smith swimming and Russ Holecek on the bicycle, they totaled 2:01:36, winning by nine minutes.

"It was a completely different experience for me passing so many runners," Stephens said. "But I managed to get clear and help the team win."

RECAP: Stephens also won the April 21 Night Moves in Ybor City posting 16:32 in the 5K. Jim Bumbul of St. Petersburg finished eighth in 18:48, the only Pinellas man among the top 20. However, Laura Drake, also of St. Petersburg, found her groove, winning the women's title in 19:13. That placed her 10th overall.

Kim Bumbul, Jim's wife, finished second in 19:24. She was followed by Amy McClenathan, fifth in 20:22; Lisa Kaschak, 11th in 21:18; and Leslie Beauchamp, 12th in 21:20, all of St. Petersburg.

Jeremy Richardson of Palm Harbor won the Market Street Mortgage 5K at Largo's Taylor Park 20:22. Largo's Donna Nesslar was only four seconds back in 20:26, taking the women's title ahead of Elaine Nicholson (20:42) of St. Petersburg.

At Eckerd College, Jaeson Clayborn (18:27) prevailed in the Triton 5K in 18:27. Less than a minute back was St. Petersburg's Albert Wieringa winning (19:18) the 55-59 division. Women's winner Rachel Winter of St. Pete Beach finished just ahead of Wieringa in 19:13.

On Clearwater Beach, Joe Smith of St. Petersburg handled the natural surface best, taking first in 20:34. Sara Schultz of Davisburg, Mich., adapted to the terrain winning among women in 23:17.

BOSTON REVISITED: Emery Jewell, 80, of the Forerunners Club, who qualified for historic marathon with a 4:42 effort at Jacksonville, found the hills at Boston last month more than he could handle.

"I was okay through 13.1 (miles) in 2:35 but my legs cramped up and I had to walk the hills," said Jewell, who taught math in the Hillsborough County school system for 31 years. "I made a mistake by not training on hills here and paid for it. But I managed to finish in about 6:15 and was given a medal."

Boston's official results, however, which record finishers through 7:49:11, don't include Jewell.

Palm Harbor's Kevin Lyons, a Harvard junior, breezed through 10K in 34:04 and 13.1 miles in 1:13:04 before crashing just after 25K due to cramps and disorientation due to dehydration.

"Because it was a cool day, Kevin didn't take enough water along the way," said his father, Gary. "He had the shakes and had to stop; he was in about 30th place at the time."

THIS WEEKEND: A race that was intelligently designed 14 years ago has evolved into an annual attraction among north Pinellas runners and beyond.

On Saturday at 8 a.m., the Hog Hustle 5K will be run from Knology Park in Dunedin, spring home of the Toronto Blue Jays.

The certified-accurate course meanders along Edgewater Drive facing St. Joseph Sound, through the historic district on the red bricks of Scotland Street, then back to the starting area. In all, there are seven right-hand turns on the course laid out by city Recreation Department head Peggy Cummings.

The earliest version of the race, called Run For the Pennant with the Blue Jays in mind, was won in 1992 by a husband and wife team. Dunedin's Steve and Kim Langevin will again toe the starting line hoping to earn a top-three age group award.

Last year's winners, Bart Smith of Michigan and Edel Mooney of Ireland, are not expected to return. But the competition will still be keen, especially in the women's division with both Wachtel and St. Petersburg's Christa Benton, the former USF All-American in cross country.

Andy Scavelli of Palm Harbor, second last year, will try to improve by one place in the standings. Hometown favorite Victor Yeager finished third.

The expected field of 300 will share a post-race breakfast of bagels, fresh fruit, juice and coffee, plus commemorative T-shirts of the city's struggle to corral wandering pigs 100 years ago.

Runners may register ($18) on site at the stadium or before at the American Running Company store in Dunedin at 1689 Main Street. The number is (727) 736-8232.

Hyde Park Village in Tampa will host the May Classic 5K on Saturday at 8 a.m. A prize purse of $1,000 for the top three men and women will attract many of the top runners from the area and beyond. They include not only Lee Stephens, but St. Petersburg standouts Maria Ghizzoni and her training partner, Beth Old. Ghizzoni, a native of Sweden, won (17:12) last year over an elite field. She also won December's Holiday Classic 10K in Clearwater. Old was the third Pinellas finisher at February's Gasparilla 15K behind only Ghizzoni and Wachtel.

Stephens finished third at Hyde Park last year in 15:59 behind Ryan Woods (15:22) of Daytona Beach and Tampa's Dror Vaknin in 15:43.

[Last modified May 4, 2006, 00:59:16]