Northpinellas: Teats, Maguire enjoy strong start

The West Florida Y Runners Club's fall cross country season started Saturday at Seminole Lake Park where last year's winners, Tony Teats and Judy Maguire, were back to defend their titles in the 23rd annual Warhoop Sprint 5K.

Without maximum efforts, both came away with impressive wins.

Teats registered a time of 15:29, a minute and 36 seconds ahead of runner-up Jeff Delie. "This is a unique cross country course with the stream that you have to run through and some grass surface," Teats said.

"I was looking for a first-mile time a little faster than 5:04, but -- then again -- I wasn't expecting to deal with rollerbladers out there on the asphalt trails," he said. "I just tried to run an even pace and get in a good speed workout."

Teats, 25, who ran for Morehead State in Kentucky, covered 2 miles in 10:05 and 3 in 14:57 as he prepares for the Oct. 7 Chicago Marathon. The 2000 Hops Marathon winner has been training 110 miles a week, usually at a 6:30 per mile pace.

Delie said Teats was so far ahead, even at Mile 1, that he couldn't see him through the winding trails.

Maguire, 42, winner of last year's Gulf Beaches Marathon, took off boldly from the starting line. She crossed the infamous creek at about the 800-meter mark in third place, with only Teats and Delie ahead of her.

"I do that every year because I don't want to get caught up in traffic in the water; I want to get it over with," Maguire said. "I was pleased with my time of 18:30 on this course, but I'll be looking for a sub-18-minute time at the Race For The Cure (at The Pier) on the 22nd."

Last year, Maguire finished second in the Race for The Cure in 17:50, three seconds behind 2000 Olympic Trials veteran Cathy Vasto of Jacksonville.

Overall in the Warhoop Sprint, Maguire placed eighth in a strong field. Tom Adamich of South Pasadena took the bronze medal position in 17:02. He was followed by Dave Meri (17:51), Victor Yeager (17:59), Terry Fluke (18:05) and Mike Weiss (18:25).

WARHOOP NOTES: Melissa Kotchman, 13, an eighth-grader at Indian Rocks Christian, captured second in the women's division with a time of 19:45.

She passed Donna Nesslar of Largo with 50 meters to go just before ascending the finish-line hill. Karen Alexeev, Gulfport, took fourth in 22:12 to win the 45-49 age division.

Kotchman's performance was a personal 5K record despite the inherent slowness of the course.

The No. 1 high school girl in the area, Kotchman was coming off a victory in a 12-team meet the prior weekend. She clocked in at 19:35 for 3 miles at Walsingham Park.

This weekend, it's a bigger challenge for Kotchman. She will run in the USF Invitational in Tampa on the course where this year's state meet will be held.

Kotchman's coach at Indian Rocks Christian, Chris Williams, brought about 15 runners to the Seminole Lake Park event.

The winner of the men's 70-and-over division, Larry Nordquist, founded the county's first race 23 years ago. He directed the event for many years as a founding member of the WFYRC and later became the official greeter costumed as an Indian chief.

In recent years, that role has been filled by Mack Grier of Seminole. This year, he brought along his wife, Irma, fully costumed in Indian attire.

Jim Sheridan served as director again this year.

YOUTH FRONT: Kotchman will be a runner to watch and appreciate the next five years on the high school and road scene.

And there are two other 13-year-olds on the horizon, if they already haven't arrived.

One is St. Petersburg's James O'Berry, an eighth-grade honor student at Baypointe Middle School who finished ninth at Seminole Lake Park in 18:40 -- one place behind Maguire.

O'Berry participated in an international People-to-People program in Austrailia this summer, winning gold medals in the 600- and 1,000-meter events on the track in the 12-13 division.

In the 5K, which included runners 18 and under, he finished fifth in 17:30.

The third 13-year-old of note is Steven Bell of Land O'Lakes.

He finished fifth (17:59) in Sunday's Grand Prix series event at Al Lopez Park and was the overall series winner in the male division. Bell will attend Land O'Lakes High School next fall.

Kyle Groh's time of 23:01 didn't earn him a top-3 award in the 14-and-under division in the Run For the Gold 5K at Al Lopez Park, but it made the 6-year-old a youngster on the rise.

Groh finished 55th in the field of 132 runners. His next event will be the Race for the Cure on Sept. 22. His best 5K time is 22:46.

A resident of St. Petersburg, Groh is the son of Conrad and Cathy Groh. He's a first-grader at St. Patrick's School in Tampa and the quarterback on the undefeated South Tampa Titans in the flag football Pop Warner League.

Kyle Groh's sister, Lauren, 13, competes in local races and does well. At Al Lopez Park, she won her division in 26:49.

GOLD 5K NOTES: David Joyce, 31, of Tampa finished first at Al Lopez Park in 16:58, using the event as a tune-up for the Nov. 4 New York City Marathon.

Joyce said losing 5-8 pounds the past six weeks has helped his speed. He did that by cutting back on sugar products and butter.

Figy Rivas of St. Petersburg was the runner-up in 17:31.

Clearwater's Vicki Stum took women's honors in the series for the second straight time, leading all the way in 18:33. She said her goal in the Race for the Cure is to break 18:30.

Terri Sullivan of Tarpon Springs claimed the overall women's title, having won the 60-64 class in each event to accumulate the maximum points.

Seminole's Joe Costas bid goodbye to the 45-49 group with a victory in 18:38.

THIS JUST IN: Largo's Barbara Frye-Krier successfully completed her fifth 100-mile event of the year last weekend just outside Salt Lake City. In the hilly and rugged Wasatch 100, she was timed in 28 hours, 48 minutes and 49 seconds for third place among women and 30th overall among 184 starters -- 109 of whom finished. The elevation ranged from 5,000-10,000 feet and the temperature a cold 28-50 degrees.

"Never again," Frye-Krier said with regard to this particular 100-miler.

Her final 100-mile event is Sept. 29, the Angeles Crest in California.

FINISH LINES: Jeff Delie is one of six area runners ranked first in their age division in the 5K state-wide by Florida Running magzine, which uses selected certified races through July.

A 2:33 marathoner, Delie moves into the 45-49 group Sept. 27.

The other top-ranked runners are: Christa Benton, 14-19; Maguire, 40-44; Joe Burgasser, 60-64; Jim Larson, 65-69; and Al Treichel, 70-74.

Kotchman's 19:22 in last March's Unicorn Gallop in Largo put her in second place among girls 10-14 by a mere second.

USF graduate Gavin Sloane, who has a 5K best of 14:22, is considering a run in the Race for the Cure. However, that mark was set some 10 years ago and he runs just 10-20 miles a week for fitness.

Sloane, 34, ran the 1994 Boston Marathon in 2:20:27 for 28th place. He was the fourth American finisher.

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