The Summer's Most Competitive 8K
Araya Haregot drove hundreds of miles to race in the Rockville Rotary Twilight 8K in Rockville July 19, but a wrong turn 100 meters from the finish nearly cost him the win. Approaching the final stretch of his finishing kick, the Ethiopian veered to his left in pursuit of the lead motorcycle exiting the course while startled spectators screamed at the runner to continue straight toward the floodlighted finish line.

Haregot's brief detour allowed second-place finisher Ben Cooke (wearing bib No. 1) to narrow the gap, but Hargot maintained a slight lead to break the tape in 23 minutes 45 seconds--only four seconds off the course record. Cooke finished three seconds back.

Haregot's furious finish left him undaunted. "I was strong and confident the whole way," said Haregot, 22, who traveled from Westchester, N.Y. "I knew I would win."

Haregot's countryman, Kassahun Kabiso, finished third in 24:04. "I tried to keep up with Araya but I could not," Kabiso said. "He was very strong."

Tatyana Maslova, 36, a prolific international marathoner from Moscow now living in Gaithersburg (photo left), ran 27:46 to add the Rockville title to her collection of local road racing wins; Maslova won the Lawyers Have Heart 10K in June.

Naoko Ishibe finished second in 27:51; she also finished second to Maslova--but was 19 seconds back--at Lawyers.

Leteyesus Berhe, 25, an Ethiopian living in Washington, ran 28:26 to finish fourth, one second and one place ahead of Casey Smith, 24, from Arlington.

Clear skies and relatively mild temperatures for mid-July made for numerous fine performances among the crowd of some 2,000 finishers in the Washington area's premier summer race hosted by the Montgomery County Road Runners.

James Madison University graduate David Spiller, 25, the top American at last spring's Cherry Blossom Ten Mile, took fourth in 24:07; Chris Banks, 25, from Alexandria and overall winner of the Lawyers 10K, was fifth in 24:10.

High school phenoms Will Knox, 18, from Cockeysville, finished 22nd overall in 26:06, and Ben Stern, 18, from Potomac, took 29th in 26:40.

Lee DiPietro, 45, came in seventh and won the masters race in 29:02. Vanessa Cox was second in 31:46.

Jim Hage, 45 (in a blur of motion, photo left), took first among the masters and 23rd overall in 26:15; Tim Schuler, 40, was second and two seconds back.

Kay Morrison, 77, was the oldest finisher in the race; but Morrison has young legs since she has been racing for only 12 years. "This was my first race back in 1991. I did okay tonight, but it's hard to see yourself getting so much slower," Morrison lamented.

True enough for every runner over 35, much less a septuagenarian. But Morrison's spirited dedication and persistence provide an example to runners throughout the pack.

Award Winners

MALE OPEN
    1     4 Araya Haregot         22 Washington DC      23:45#  350 
    2     1 Ben Cooke             26 Silver Spring MD   23:48   250 
    3    26 Kassahun Kabiso       20 Peekskille NJ      24:04   200 
    4     6 David Spiller         25 Harrisonburg VA    24:07   175 
    5     3 Chris Banks           25 Alexandria VA      24:10   150 
# Under USATF OPEN guideline    


FEMALE OPEN
    1   117 Tatyana Maslova       36 Gaithersburg AA    27:46#  350 
    2   101 Naoko Ishibe          34 Silver Spring MD   27:51#  250 
    3   104 Leteyesus Berhe       25 Washington DC      28:26   200 
    4  1931 Casey Smith           24 Arlington VA       28:27   175 
    5   105 Meghan Mclaughlin     28 Unknown AA         28:38   150 
# Under USATF OPEN guideline    


MALE MASTERS
    1    45 Jim Hage              45 Kensington MD      26:15*  150 
    2  1349 Timothy Schuler       40 Chambersburg PA    26:17    75 
    3  3148 Chuck Moeser          51 Sterling VA        26:48*   50 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline


FEMALE MASTERS
    1   145 Lee Dipietro          45 Towson MD          29:02*  150 
    2  1969 Vanessa Cox           41 Laurel MD          31:46    75 
    3  1419 Patricia Keating      41 Dayton MD          32:35    50 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline


MALE AGE GROUP:  1 - 19
    1   497 Will Knox             18 Cockeysville MD    26:06* 
    2    14 Ben Stern             18 Potomac MD         26:40  
    3   480 Zachary Vaslow        18 Bethesda MD        26:58  
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  1 - 19
    1   463 Emily Buzzell         17 Middletown MD      30:17* 
    2   115 Keira Carlstrom       18 Oakton VA          31:00* 
    3   492 Jessica Neal          18 Mitchellville MD   31:55  
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline


MALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 34
    1    21 Glen Mays             33 Washington DC      25:08  
    2    23 Sean Andrish          33 Leesburg VA        26:18  
    3    17 Jim Strand            33 Potomac MD         27:14  


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 34
    1   103 Cathy Pugsley         34 Annandale VA       28:39  
    2   113 Kristen Van Eron      31 Timonium MD        29:05  
    3   107 Susannah Kvasnicka    31 Great Falls VA     29:09  


MALE AGE GROUP:  35 - 39
    1    25 Nigusu Urgie          36 Washington DC      24:30* 
    2     9 Mark Gilmore          35 Columbia MD        25:36* 
    3     2 Darrell General       37 Cheverly MD        25:39* 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  35 - 39
    1   102 Alisa Harvey          37 Manassas VA        29:06* 
    2   114 Denise Knickman       35 Baltimore MD       30:11* 
    3  1274 Maria Kozloski        38 Washington DC      30:54  
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline


MALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 44
    1    42 Dave Berardi          42 Baltimore MD       26:52  
    2    41 Neville Anderson      41 Baltimore MD       27:08  
    3    40 Ted Poulos            41 Mclean VA          27:24  


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 44
    1  2073 Patti Stewart-Garbrec 41 Orange Park FL     32:56  
    2  1358 Laeticia Warring      40 Reston VA          34:18  
    3  1414 Sandy Blasey          41 Kensington MD      34:35  


MALE AGE GROUP:  45 - 49
    1    47 Dan Lawson            47 Gaithersburg MD    27:50  
    2    46 Peter Kirk            46 Rockville MD       28:45  
    3  1711 Paul Peterson         49 Bethesda MD        29:21  


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  45 - 49
    1  1687 Claudia Cortes        48 Sterling VA        32:37* 
    2   146 Gretchen Triantos     46 Rockville MD       32:46* 
    3  1661 Debbie Flynn          47 Gaithersburg MD    34:02  
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline


MALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 54
    1  1742 David Webster         50 Stevensville MD    29:57  
    2    53 Jay Jacob Wind        53 Arlington VA       30:39  
    3  1755 Richard Morgan        51 Silver Spring MD   30:43  


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 54
    1  1783 Karen Erb             52 Alexandria VA      37:19  
    2   301 Valerie Campbell      52 Silver Spring MD   38:07  
    3  1761 Peggy Davis           51 Falls Church VA    39:44  


MALE AGE GROUP:  55 - 59
    1    58 Patrick Griffith      58 Alexandria VA      30:18* 
    2  2233 Clifford Gaddy        57 Kensington MD      32:59  
    3  1863 Jim Noone             59 Fairfax VA         33:12  
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  55 - 59
    1   305 Alice Franks          55 Rockville MD       36:17* 
    2  1834 Linda Kearney         56 Oak Hill VA        37:25* 
    3  1849 Christine Craun       57 Bethesda MD        40:18* 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline


MALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 64
    1  1885 Lou Shapiro           61 Silver Spring MD   34:33  
    2   317 Stephen Forman        63 Mclean VA          34:36  
    3  1877 Matthew Hutmaker      61 Gaithersubrg MD    36:07  


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 64
    1  1882 Janet Newburgh        61 Rockville MD       47:03  
    2  1892 Lois Dicker           63 Wheaton MD         55:33  
    3  2224 Annette Ficker        64 Potomac MD         69:38  


MALE AGE GROUP:  65 - 69
    1  1908 Chan Robbins          66 Arlington VA       35:58* 
    2  1903 John Gluck            65 Alexandria VA      38:23  
    3  1905 Charles Ross          65 Virginia Beach VA  38:53  
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  65 - 69
    1   318 Jamie Wollard         65 Rockville MD       52:17  
    2  1914 Hiroko Y. Hunt        69 Reston VA          55:43  
    3  1911 Ling Cheung           68 Rockville MD       75:56  


MALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 74
    1  1916 Jack Mcmahon          72 Rockville MD       40:12  
    2  1915 Keith Olson           71 Silver Spring MD   42:06  
    3  1917 George Waxter         72 Frederick MD       43:54  


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 74


MALE AGE GROUP:  75 - 79
    1  1919 Nianxiang Xie         76 Rockville MD       45:01* 
    2  2389 Harry Bratt           75 Bethesda MD        48:03* 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  75 - 79
    1   177 Kay Morrison          77 Potomac MD         57:54* 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline

See complete results of the race.

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