Open Women
Twenty-four women under the age of 35 managed to meet the extraordinarily tough time standard in this group and earn rankings during the summer period. Thirty-three-year-old Naoko Ishibe (photo at left) finds herself back on top of the rankings this period, a place she earned by beating Cathy Pugsley at the Rockville Rotary Twilight 8K in a time of 28:06, to finish the women's race in second place. Ishibe's fastest race, however, was a 16:54 finish at the Run for Recovery 5K.

Annandale's Pugsley was nipping at Ishibe's heels at the Rockville race, and she isn't far behind in these rankings either. Pugsley's best race was a 27:14 at the Paul Thurston 5 Miler. She also won the Leesburg 10K in 36:13, making for a very impressive summer.

Young Heather Hanscom, who at age 24 has another decade in this division, has worked her way into the third slot this summer, a crown she earns with an overall win at the Lawyers Have Heart 10K, and a second place finish in 17:13 at the Kentlands 5K, where she cemented her third place spot in the rankings by beating Kristin Pierce-Barry, our fourth ranked runner. Pierce- Barry was seven seconds behind Hanscom at the Kentlands race; however, this was also her fastest performance of the season. Pierce-Barry also won the MCRRC Run for Roses with a time of 17:34.

Finally, Casey Smith of Arlington takes the final berth in the top five of the open division, largely in recognition of her age group win and top 50 finish at the Rock 'n' Roll Hall Half Marathon, running 1:20:00 (6:06/mile pace). Smith also finished fifth, behind Ishibe and Pugsley, at the Rockville race, proving her worthiness of a place in the elite top five women in this division.

Pl	Name    	Hometown
  1	Naoko Ishibe	Silver Spring, MD
  2	Cathy Pugsley	Annandale, VA
  3	Heather Hanscom	Alexandria, VA
  4	Kristin Barry Pierce  Arlington, VA
  5	Casey Smith	Arlington, VA
  6	Marjan Huizing	Montgomery Village, MD
  7	Lauren Burawski	Wilmington, DE
  8	Lisa Thomas	Alexandria, VA
  9	Lindsay Van Alstine  Midland Park, NJ
 10	Elizabeth Scanlon  Alexandria, VA
 11	Denise Knickman	Baltimore, MD
 12	Susannah Kvasnick  Great Falls, VA
 13	Lory Gray	Manassas, VA
 14	Hilary Cairns	Washington, DC
 15	Jenny Ledford	Quantico, VA
 16	Julie Seymour	Virginia Beach, VA
 17	Mary Davison	Chesapeake, VA
 18	Sherry Esposito	Westminster, MD
 19	Bethany Van Alstine  Midland Park, NJ
 20	Kerrie Bowes	Columbia, MD
 21	Vicki Lang	Columbia, MD
 22	Erin Chlumsky	Fallston, MD
 23	Sonia Curcio	Ellicott City, MD
 24	Heather Kitching  Baltimore, MD

Women 35 - 39
Photo at left: Julie Thienel of Columbia is 7th in the submasters division

The women's 35-39 division is always a small yet powerful group. Patty Fulton of Silver Spring leads the group this summer with a very impressive resume. She finished in the top 100 at the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon, with a time of 1:24:30, to win the 35-39 age division there. She also finished second at the Lawyers Have Heart 10K, and sixth at the Twilight 8K, beating out both Maria Kozloski and Alisa Harvey both times. Harvey and Kozloski did battle twice at big races, with Kozloski winning both times, so she is our third ranked runner, and Harvey must settle for fourth place.

Sneaking in between Fulton and Kozloski in these rankings, however, is Virginia Beach's Kendall Tata, who grabs her runner- up honors as the result of an age group victory over Kozloski at the Rock 'n' Roll Race, where she crossed the line in 1:30:05, just 17 seconds ahead of Kozloski. Tata also ran 40:25 at the AllTell 10K where she won her age group by nearly two minutes

Finally, rounding out the top five is another strong runner from the Charlottesville area, Nicola Ratcliffe, who had her best race at the CTC Women's Four Miler, where she ran 24:17, making her the next fastest woman in this group, after the top four. Ratcliffe backed this performance up with a 19:36 at the Fairview 5K for her second time of the summer.

Photo at left: Jane Wikman of Germantown, MD is ranked 14th in the submasters division

Pl	Name    	Hometown
  1	Patty Fulton	Silver Spring, MD
  2	Kendall Tata	Virginia Beach, VA
  3	Maria Kozloski	Washington, DC
  4	Alisa Harvey	Manassas, VA
  5	Nicola Ratcliffe  Crozet, VA
  6	Monica Grillo	Arlington, VA
  7	Julie Thienel	Columbia, MD
  8	Jean Marie Bantz  Afton, VA
  9	Maureen Hall	LaVale, MD
 10	Robyn Humphrey	Ellicott City, MD
 11	Phillippa Wellborn  Potomac, MD
 12	Tanya Stanciu	Charlottesville, VA
 13	Margaret Flowers  Sparks, MD
 14	Jane Wikman	Germantown, MD

Women 40 - 44
Photo at left: Columbia's Deborah Barnett, 11th among women 40 - 44

Towson's Lee DiPietro had three very fast times this summer, and, as a result, we have awarded her the top place among the masters runners. At the Rockville Twilight 8K, one of the most popular and important races of the ranking period, DiPietro finished just outside the top ten in 12th place with a time of 30:38. This, however, was not her fastest race; she ran an incredible 17:58 at the GBMC Father's Day 5K and a 22:15 at the Dundalk Heritage 6K, which was a hotbed of masters women that included Pat Wilkerson and Gloria Santarpia, our fifth and sixth ranked runners.

Jill Hargis of Annapolis, who is no stranger to the upper echelon of these rankings, is our runner-up this summer, a place she earns by being faster than the competition. Hargis had her best race at the Father's Day 10K, where she ran 39:22. She also won the Annapolis Women's Distance Festival 5K in 19:09, and was second in her age group at the Annapolis Ten Miler, finishing that course in 1:07:28.

Laura Freix of Centreville is our third place finisher this summer, turning in her best showing at the Kentlands 5K, where she ran 19:05. At the Lawyers Have Heart 10K, she ran strong to finish in 40:15.

Fourth, fifth, and sixth place were all decided on the basis of head-to-head competition. At the big race, the Annapolis Ten Miler, Jeanne Grillo beat Pat Wilkerson, so she grabs the fourth slot. Santarpia and Wilkerson went head to head three times, with Santarpia winning twice: at the Bun Run 5K and the Run for Recovery 5K, so Santarpia gets the fifth slot. At the Dudalk race, however, Wilkerson beat Santarpia, so she then slides nicely into the sixth slot, just behind Santarpia and her nine qualifying times.

Pl	Name              	Hometown
  1	Lee DiPietro      	Towson, MD
  2	Jill Hargis      	Annapolis, MD
  3	Laura Freix       	Centreville, VA
  4	Jeanne Grillo     	Potomac, MD
  5	Gloria Santarpia        Odenton, MD
  6	Pat Wilkerson     	Columbia, MD
  7	Maria Spinnler   	Hagerstown, MD
  8	Debi Bernardes    	King George, VA
  9	Brenda Averette  	Midlothian, VA
 10	Marjorie Boyd    	Annapolis, MD
 11	Deborah Barnett 	Columbia, MD
 12	Carole Rosasco    	Arnold, MD
 13	Julie Caprio     	Columbia, VA
 14	Sherry Volk      	Williamsburg, VA
 15	Robin Goodwin     	Timonium, MD
 16	Sheri Segal       	Virginia Beach, VA
 17	Margarita Doreste       Newport News, VA
 18	Jennifer Lundeen        Port Republic, MD
 19	Sarah Buckheit    	Reston, VA 
 20	Bernadette Flynn        Fairfax, VA
 21	Dorothy Beckett 	Columbia, MD
 22	Wendy Ponvert     	Bethesda, MD
 23	Ellen Jones       	Fredericksburg, VA
 24	Tracy Benny      	Baltimore, MD

Women 45 - 49
The women's 45-49 division was fairly large this summer, with 22 runners earning the required minimum two qualifying times to be included in these rankings. The top three women in this group also waged some exciting head-to-head competition. At the Rockville Rotary Twilight 8K, Rockville's Gretchen Triantos ran 30:56, to hold off Germantown's Linda Wack, who ran 33:07, to finish just ahead of Falls Church's Betty Blank, who completed the course in 33:36. Triantos also beat Wack at the Riley's Rumble Half Marathon, and she beat Blank for a second time at the Kentlands 5K. This clearly makes Triantos queen of the 45-49 division; however, Wack and Blank sit in second and third place, ready to ascend to the top spot.

Sharon White of Langley AFB is our fourth ranked woman in this division, a place she earns largely on the strength of her 20:36 run at the Yorktown Freedom Run 5K, to beat strong age group competition from Ellie Murphy and Carol Talley. Talley, however, beat both White and Murphy at the Williamsburg Women's Distance Festival, so she earns the fifth slot, and Murphy is our sixth place finisher. We chose to award fourth place to White rather than Talley, because White's best time was faster than Talley's best time.

Pl	Name    	Hometown
  1	Gretchen Triantos  Rockville, MD
  2 	Linda Wack	Germantown, MD
  3	Betty Blank	Falls Church, VA
  4	Sharon White	Langley AFB, VA
  5	Carol Talley	Toano, VA
  6	Ellie Murphy	Baltimore, MD
  7	Mary Siemann	Frostburg, MD
  8	Laura Roman	Baltimore, MD
  9	Carolyn Showalter  Maugansville, MD
 10	Colleen Russell	Severn, MD
 11	Linell Smith	Baltimore, MD
 12	Katherine Daragan  Wheaton, MD
 13	Jean Lauzon	Spotsylvania, VA
 14	Liza Recto	Lexington Park
 15	Carol Encarnacion  Germantown, MD
 16	Ellie Bustin	Yorktown, VA
 17	Cynthia Braak	Bethesda, MD
 18	Bonnie Legro	Baltimore, MD
 19	Lili Wang	Gaithersburg, MD
 20	Mary Beth Marshall	
 21	Mary Lang	Pasadena, MD
 22	Suanne Shocket	Manassas, VA

Women 50 - 54
Winchester's Sandra Adams is no stranger to the top of the rankings pile, and this summer was no exception. Adams only had two qualifying times; however, she is simply far and away the fastest woman over 50 to be included in these rankings. Even at age 52, Adams is still turning in top-ten finishes with times that would qualify her to be ranked with women more than 15 years her junior. Adams's fastest race this summer was a seventh place finish at the Leesburg 10K, where she ran 43:09, more than 2 minutes faster than any other runner's 10K equivalent time. At the Capital One Toucan 10K, she ran slightly slower, turning in a 43:58, still good enough for fifth place overall.

Jeanne Kruger-Williams participated in this age division for the last time this summer, and earned the runner-up slot. Her best race before her birthday was a 45:24 at the AllTell 10K, fast enough to make her our second place finisher this summer.

Third place belongs to Karen Erb of Alexandria, who earned the slot by beating out Deb Gebhardt at the all-important Annapolis Ten Miler. Gebhardt must therefore settle for fourth place. Erb's 1:16:04 showing on the always hot and hilly course in Annapolis was just shy of a minute ahead of Gebhardt's pace; however, both were season best times for the women. Erb also ran the Rockville Rotary Twilight 8K, while Gebhardt was on hand at the Lawyers Have Heart 10K.

Finally, rounding out the top five women in this division is Falls Church's Peggy Davis, who turned in her best time at the Leesburg 10K, where she finished in 46:40. She also ran 38:27 at the Rockville Rotary race for her second qualifying time.

Pl	Name    	Hometown
  1	Sandra Adams	Winchester, VA
  2	Jeanne Kruger Williams	Norfolk, VA
  3	Karen Erb	Alexndria, VA
  4	Deb Gebhardt	Adelphi, MD
  5	Peggy Davis 	Falls Church, VA
  6	Ann Rose	Frostburg, MD
  7	Maria Shields	Crofton, MD
  8	Lynn McAteer	
  9	Esther Buchser	Abingdon, MD
 10	BJ Derring	Virginia Beach, VA
 11	Leslie Stanfield  Reston, VA
 12	Donna Harper	
 13	Alice Franks	Rockville, MD
 14	Joanne D'Agiostino	
 15	Linda Rose	Baltimore, MD
 16	Marilyn Bevans	Baltimore, MD
 17	Christy St. Clair  Glen Arm, MD
 18	Jane Godfrey	Takoma Park, MD,
 19	Lynn Salvo	McLean, VA
 20	Sandra Crockett	Baltimore, MD
 21	Joyce Michaels	Ridgely, WV
 22	Cathie Rosenfeld  Olney, MD

Women 55 - 59
Jeanne Kruger-Williams of Norfolk enters her new age bracket right on top, grabbing the top slot on the strength of an age- group win at the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon, where she held a 7:40 pace to cruise across the finish line in 1:40:37, ahead of strong local age group competition from BJ King, who is our third ranked runner this summer.

Between Kruger-Williams and King we find Danalee Henkart, who earned her runner-up position when she beat BJ King at the Father's Day 10K by 59 seconds, crossing the line in 46:54. To back that performance up, Henkart ran 22:59 at the Annapolis Women's Distance Festival 5K.

Fourth place in this group belongs to Betty Brothers, who battled it out in head to head competition with Suzanne Gibson at the Norfolk Women's Distance Festival, to capture the fourth slot by beating Gibson across the line by 38 seconds. Brothers's fastest time, however, was a 23:48 at the YMCA Independence Day 5K. Gibson, to her credit, ran a very fast 23:38 at the East Coast Surfing Championship 5K, yet this was not enough to outdo Brothers's head-to-head triumph.

Pl	Name    	Hometown
  1	Jeanne Kruger Williams	Norfolk, VA
  2	Danalee Henkart	Annapolis, MD
  3	BJ King 	Crofton, MD
  4	Betty Brothers	Virginia Beach, VA
  5	Suzanne Gibson	Murfreesboro, NC
  6	Andrea Hess	Midlothian, VA
  7	Catherine Van Brocklin	Gaithersburg, MD
  8	Dee Nelson	Gaithersburg, MD
  9	Mary Ellen Gonyea  Alexandria, VA
 10	Mary Kuta	Rockville, MD
 11	Barbara Ivey	Hampton, VA
 12	Judy Gilbert	Stevenson, MD
 13	Julie Trapp	Silver Spring, MD

Women 60 - 64
At age 60, Sharon Dolan of Gaithersburg is showing no signs of slowing down. Dolan had the five fastest times turned in by a woman in this division this summer. Consider these statistics--a top 20 finish in the women's division of the Kentlands 5K (21:01), top ten finishes at the MCRRC Run for the Roses, the Capital Crescent 5K, and Sue Wen's 4 Miler. And, if that isn't enough to convince someone that she should own the number one ranking this summer, she was also in the top 50 women at the Twilight 8K.

A southern runner, Joan Coven of Williamsburg, is our second place finisher this summer. Aside from Dolan, she had the next four fastest times run during the ranking period. Though she didn't run head to head with any other ranked women, she turned in very impressive times. At the Williamsburg Women's Distance Festival 5K, she ran 22:57, and at the Coast Guard Day 5K, 22:58 for her best two showings of the summer months.

Lis Villadsen made several speedy trips up the hills found in her running region around Charlottesville. At the CTC Women's 4 Miler, she had her best race, running 34:11. Her second best race was a 26:38 at the Fairview 5K. This was enough to earn her the third place slot in these rankings.

Fourth and fifth place in this division were decided on the final weekend of the ranking period, when Elizabeth Schwartz of Laurel, MD and Betty Munden of Norfolk, VA went head to head at the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon. Schwartz came out less than 25 seconds ahead of Munden, finishing the course in 2:09:56, to Munden's 2:10:19; however, this is enough to give her the fourth slot, and make Munden settle for fifth.

Pl	Name    	Hometown
  1	Sharon Dolan 	Gaithersburg, MD
  2	Joan Coven	Williamsburg, VA
  3	Lis Villadsen	Charlottesville, VA
  4	Elizabeth Schwartz  Laurel, MD
  5	Betty Munden	Norfolk, VA
  6	Yolanda Perez	Takoma Park, MD
  7	Jill Mottus	Baltimore, MD
  8	Arlowene Garland  Warsaw, VA
  9	Kathy Price	Berlin, MD
 10	Janet Newburgh	Rockville, MD
 11	Linda Simpson	

Women 65 - 69
Tami Graf had six of the fastest 10K equivalent times run this summer by women over 65, so it should come as no surprise that she is our top finisher in these rankings. Her fastest race was a 53:49 at the Father's Day 10K, however she beat out age group competition at the Lawyers Have Heart 10K, where she ran across the line in 54:52 and the Leesburg 10K, where she covered the course in 57:03.

Nancy Patron raced around the Williamsburg area, fast enough to garner the runner-up slot in this division. Patron had three qualifying times, including a 57:41 at the Williamsburg Jaycee's 10K. Our third slot is captured by Potomac's Angela Craighead, who ran 2:17:50 to take runner-up age-group honors at the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon, held Labor Day weekend in Virginia Beach. Craighead's second qualifying time was a 47:31 at the Rockville Rotary Twilight 8K.

(Note: Angela Craighead should have been ranked first in the spring rankings, but was inadvertently omitted due to a missing result for one of her races. We regret the error. Editor)

Fourth in this division belongs to Nancy Fraser of Charlottesville, who had her best race at the CTC-sponsored Women's 4 Miler. Her backup time was a 29:03 at the Fairview 5K. Finally, the last slot in the top five goes to Betty Dameron, who finished behind Graf at the Lawyers Have Heart race, for her best show of the summer, crossing the line in 59:47.

Pl	Name    	Hometown
1	Tami Graf	Lusby, MD
2	Nancy Patron	Williamsburg, VA
3	Angela Craighead  Potomac, MD
4	Nancy Fraser	Charlottesville, VA
5	Betty Dameron	Fredericksburg, VA
6	Marjorie Lane	Reston, VA
7	Zoe Yannakakis	Sparks, MD

Women 70 - 74
The women's 70-74 division seems to grow with each year, and this ranking period, six women earned slots in the summer rankings. Yvonne Aasen ran 29:41 at the St. Agnes Labor Day 5K, to earn the fastest time run by a woman in this division during the summer months. As a result of this performance, which she backs up with three more qualifying times, she earns the top slot in this division.

Lee Glassco of McLean was the group's most prolific runner, turning in five qualifying times. Her fastest race was a 1:10:50 at the Capitol One Toucan10K, a strong enough showing to earn her runner-up honors in this division.

Helen Schley, at age 74, is still running strong, placing third this summer with two qualifying times. Schley ran the MCRRC Run for the Roses in 36:05 and the Frederick Memorial Hospital 5 Miler in 1:00:52.

Rounding out the top five are Baltimore's Jane Clemmens and Reston's Terry Hamilton. Clemmens had her best race at the Stonleigh Stampede, where she ran 37:45, while Hamilton's best outing this summer was a 41:36 at the RRCA Women's Distance Festival.

Pl	Name    	Hometown
1	Yvonne Aasen	Severna Park, MD
2	Lee Glassco	McLean, VA
3	Helen Schley	Myersville, MD
4	Jane Clemmens	Baltimore, MD
5	Terry Hamilton	Reston, VA
6	Martha Trimmer	Grasonville, MD

Women 75 & Over
Two women braved the heat of a Washington summer to earn their required two qualifying times this ranking period. Leading the charge is Rockville's Kay Morrison, who had an impressive six qualifying times, with her fastest showing being a 1:06:28 at the Father's Day 10K. Morrison does not shy away from the tough courses either, as she turned in a 1:53:17 at the Annapolis Ten Miler; nor does she avoid the big races, turning up at both the Kentlands 5K and the Rockville Rotary Twilight 8K. Our second finisher in this division is Wheaton's Mildred Lieder, who had two qualifying times--a 40:35 at the Capital Crescent 5K and a 41:16 at the MCRRC Run for the Roses.

Pl	Name    	Hometown
1	Kay Morrison	Rockville, MD
2	Mildred Lieder	Wheaton, MD

See the Men's Summer 2002 WRR Runner Rankings