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Letter to the editor

Missing competitor makes Pier 60 win a little thin

By DAVE THEALL, Golf
Published July 29, 2007

Neighborhood

Though St. Petersburg's Jon Mott won the second Sunsets at Pier 60 on Clearwater Beach race, he still came away disappointed.

Mott, a sophomore at Webber International, is training seriously for the upcoming college cross country season and was hoping Kevin Lyons (Clearwater Central Catholic/Harvard), winner of the series' first race, would be there.

"I didn't run for time on Friday night I just ran for place," said Mott, a Northeast High standout for four years. "I wish Lyons were there to make a race of it. I probably would have run in the low 16s (minutes) rather than the 17:28 I actually ran that night. I need quality races to get ready for cross country season."

Russell Snyder, Northeast's No. 1 runner last fall, was second at the beach race in 17:57. Twins Mark (also 17:57) and Brian Benjamin (18:48) of Kenneth City finished third and fourth, followed by St. Petersburg's Marc Dannis (18:54).

In age-group highlights, Dunedin's Victor Yeager, 47, captured seventh in 19:42 and Northeast High's John Zurek, 16, also cracked the top 10 in eighth at 19:47.

Those were the men's highlights.

As usual, Christa Benton (Keswick Christian/USF) broke up the male pecking order, finishing fourth (18:26) overall among 162 as she remains undefeated over a three-year period on the sands at Pier 60.

Women ages 44 to 50 captured the next four places after Benton.

Donna Nesslar, 44, (21:22) of Largo; Mary Dworkin, 48, (22:49); Helen Lavoie, 50, (22:58) of Holiday; and Carol Bancroft, 47 (23:02), of Safety Harbor rounded out the top five. St. Petersburg's Annette Frisch continues to dominate the 65-69 age division, winning in 28:18, good for 28th place.

PALM HARBOR FLEA MARKET 5K: Christine Moorby of South Pasadena was the women's winner at the July 14 event. She finished seventh overall. Oldsmar's Rosalyn Randall, 57, was first over 40 in 25:31. In the men's race, St. Petersburg's Brian Wilson won in 19:33, followed by South Pasadena's Eric Sager (19:40) and Tarpon Springs' Jim Hummel, 47, in 19:54. The event, which was put on by Suzanne Henslee of Elite Sports Timing, drew a field of 75.

PICNIC ISLAND ADVENTURE RUN: Dannis, 30, prevailed under adverse conditions July 20, winning the challenging race in 21:39, breathing room ahead of runnerup Dominic Wyzonirski (22:53) of Pittsburgh. St. Petersburg's David Meri (23:34) was the second Pinellas finisher in 23:34, followed by Adriano Alcoz (24:08) of Clearwater and Anthony Velardocchia (24:47) of Tarpon Springs.

Benton was in the thick of the race, taking third overall to win the women's division in 23 flat, nearly three minutes ahead of women's runnerup Bree Maier of Sarasota.

Kailand Cosgrove of Tarpon Springs, fresh off a fourth-place finish at the Midnight Run 10K, finished strong for third in 26:14, just ahead of Largo's Marlise Davidson (27:03) and Donna Nesslar (27:46). Alison Bodi (28:47) of St. Petersburg took ninth and Erin Kowal of Redington Beach was 10th.

STATE'S BEST AT 13.1 MILES: Florida Running has compiled a list of the top age-group runners at the half-marathon distance in 2007. Only certified courses were used, including Walt Disney World and February's Bank of America in Tampa. Among Pinellas runners, St. Petersburg's Ian Jackson heads the 50-54 list with 1:21:31; Albert Wieringa clocked 1:24:14, winning his 60-64 division at Naples in January.

Seminole's Laura Magee was second, ages 25-29, in 1:27:37, Lisa Kothe earned a second-best 1:31:47, 45-49, at Naples and Denise Skinner of the Forerunners finished second statewide in 1:34:30 for her 50-54 age-group win at Sarasota. Third place in the standings are held by Mike Weiss for his 1:18:16 at Gasparilla in the 40-44 group, Jessica Mundie (1:42:47), 50-54; and Millie Hamilton (1:59:10), 60-64.

Belleair's Evan Jensen had every reason to go into match play of the 59th U.S. Girls Championship at Tacoma Country Club in Lakewood, Wash., brimming with confidence.

Among the starting field of 156 international qualifiers, Jensen shot opening rounds of 68-72 for 4-under 140, tying for fifth.

In her opening match with Katie Sylvan of San Diego, Jensen took a 3-up lead after five holes. Then Sylvan birdied Nos. 7 and 9 to cut the lead to one and squared it at 12 with birdie.

"I was making pars but she was sinking putts from all over the greens," said Evans, 17, 40th nationally among junior girls.

Sylvan took the lead at 15 with a birdie. Jensen fought back with birdies on 16 and 18 to no avail. Sylvan matched her on both, including a 25-footer on the final hole.

"Overall, it was a good learning experience for me," Jensen said Wednesday from Washington. "I wish I could have gone a little further in the tournament because I played well."

Jensen's next match is even bigger. She qualified for the U.S. Women's Amateur, Aug. 6-12 in Carmel, Ind.

- Practice partner Andrea Messer missed the cut to 64 players at Washington, as did Seminole's Meghan Chapman. Messer was coming off a strong finish (77-74-72-223) at the Betsy Rawls Girls Championship in Pennsylvania.

U.S. JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP: Zach Sobel, an incoming junior at Palm Harbor University, shot 79-73-152 on Monday and Tuesday at the 60th annual championship in Augusta, Mo., missing the cut for a playoff for the final match-play slot by a stroke. Sobel qualified at the University of Florida course late last month.

In Missouri, eight boys tied at 151 for the 64th slot for match play among the opening field of 156 qualifiers. Seung Noh, 16, of South Korea captured medalist honors, shooting a final-round 4-under 67 to go with his opening 69 for 136. Noh is his country's youngest national amateur champ, winning the title at 14.

FLORIDA JUNIOR TOUR: Nick Buccina, 17, of Tarpon Springs found himself in a playoff at Lake Jovita in Dade City last weekend after shooting 71-72 for 1-under 143. Buccina, who attends East Lake High, overcame a two-stroke deficit in the final round to tie Brazil's Roberto Paciornick. In the playoff, they went par, birdie, par on the first three playoff holes. Then Buccina closed with birdie on a par-3 hole to win. Dunedin's Justin Foster finished third (74-71-145).

Other high Pinellas finishers include Chad Fleming and Michael Baskovich, 151; John Valenty and Mike Myregaard, 157; and Devin Hernandez, 162.

CGA: Seven-under 65 won for both the regular and senior divisions at Monday's better-ball match at East Lake Woodslands North course.

Odessa's Jeff Neugebauer and Dick Clemens won the regular division. And Mike Sanderson of Homosassa teamed with Larry Vander Bie to win the senior group by six strokes over Mitch Bentley and Jim Fannin. In net scoring, Bobby Jolley and Jim Montali teamed for 61. Peter Thompson crafted the shot of the day, a hole-out on the par-3 16th.

Last week at Bardmoor, Charlie Jarvis' 79 held up for the win with Joe Cilluffo taking net honors with 67. In the senior division, Tom Bremer was at 74, a stroke better than Bill Higgins. Frank Chotechuang captured net honors at 64 and Barbara Miller took the women's division with net 73.

[Last modified July 28, 2007, 21:05:18]