Published: May 05, 2009 10:38 pm      

Rainy run

Course record nearly falls

ATHENS — Lance McDaniel got fine-tuned with plenty of running prior to Tuesday evening’s David S. Roth Memorial 5K in Athens. The result was a near-course-record.

The Concord University track athlete crossed the line with a time of 16:40 to win the 19th annual event that raises funds for the Roth Scholarship. The record of 16:37 is held by former Concordian Ryan Kent. “Maybe next year,” McDaniel said.

McDaniel said, “We had conference (championships) this past weekend. I raced three races there. I did a marathon relay, 7.6 miles there (in Wheeling), Sunday. So I figured I’d come out here, the last race before (summer) break, and just see what I could do.”

“I didn’t think it was going to be too difficult,” McDaniel said, “but it was. I had my teammates pushing me. They helped me get through it.”

Several members of the track team wore T-shirts representing their new running club at the First Church of God in Princeton. Youth pastor J.B. Hurt, who ran the race in 24:43, said the club is “a fun thing.”

They chose the Roth Run for their first race because “most of these are Concord students, so it seemed like a good one to break it out in,” Hurt said. One member, Concord alumnus Stephen Zeigler, said, “I didn’t train for this race. But I THOUGHT about training for this race.” He finished at 24:58.

Second-place finisher Robby Peters recorded a personal-best time of 16:42. “I really wanted to make it happen today,” he said.

The top woman finisher was another CU student, Lindsey DeVaughn of Parkersburg. She credited Concord alumna Erica Farmer with helping push her. “I used her as my challenge,” DeVaughn said. “She wanted to train together, so we just ran together.”

It was a longer than usual course for DeVaughn, a mid-distance runner. Race director Tom Davis, a biology professor at the university, suggested that she enter. She said she was “very surprised” to win the event.

Rain, which started sprinkling down about 5 minutes into the race, was no problem, she said. “I guess I was just used to it, because in Athens it rains all the time.”

Mitch Tuggle ran a 3.1-mile race for the first time. “It’s all in the mindset,” he said. “If you tell yourself you’re going to finish and do well, you can.” He finished second among males age 20-24, just behind mentor John Meadows.

“It was fun and it was for a good cause, too,” Tuggle said. “I had a blast.”

The first Roth Run director, retired professor Roger Sheppard, returned to Athens and competed Tuesday. “It’s been such a tradition for me to do this, and I run it whenever I can, to honor David Roth. It gives me a good reason to come back and visit with people.”

Roth, an English professor at Concord who died of cancer, and Sheppard were colleagues. Asked about the growth of the run and the scholarship fund, Sheppard said, “I think he’d be well pleased. As far as this college, now university, was concerned, it was a major part of his life.”

“School’s important,” McDaniel said. “You get a good education and ultimately you can find a good job. Scholarships are important. Whatever you can get, it’ll help you out. It helped me out.”

Elizabeth Roth, David Roth’s wife and an English professor at Concord herself, said, “I’m always grateful when people come out and support the Roth Run.

“Despite the rain, I think we had a nice turnout.”

Top finishers in the 5K walk were Mark Rooper (33:41) and Cassie Gillespie (40:42).

— Contact Tom Bone at tbone@bdtonline.com



19th Annual David S. Roth Memorial 5K

Males — Age 14 and under: Jason Weitzel 19:45, Vaughn Campbell 22:43, Joe Bisaha 24:04. Age 15-19: Robert Peters 16:42, Nick Lucento 16:56, Benji Hamer 17:41. Age 20-24: John Meadows 21:47, Mitch Tuggle 21:48, Brandon Massey 23:47. Age 25-29: Randy Horner 17:23, Michael Canterbury 21:37, Stephen Zeigler 24:58. Age 30-34: Nick Whited 17:38, J.B. Hurt 24:43, Steven Dowdy 26:18. Age 35-39: Paul Pennington 20:56, Mark Persinger 22:04, Michael Collins 24:06. Age 40-44: Billy Fox 21:27, Shawn Quillen 22:37, Kevin Throckmorton 23:17. Age 45-49: Todd Matson 20:35, Gary Anderson 22:16, Marshall Campbell 23:24. Age 50-59, Bill Warner 19:48, Lee Scruggs 21:40, Tom Kaylor 22:23. Age 60-69: Doc Craddock 22:39, Danny Keatley 22:40, Roger Sheppard 26:07.



Females — Age 14 and under: Sophie Klein 32:48, Martha Ball 32:57, Maya Klein 37:46. Age 15-19: Alex Cook 26:34, Tacy Pyles 31:12, Haley Augustson 32:49. Age 20-29: Erica Morgan 23:27, Moe Ishihara 24:43. Age 30-39: Jennifer Alvarez 26:39, Sandra Webb 32:03. Age 40-49: Sally Campbell 26:30, Marcella Porras 28:35, Karen Griffee 29:24. Age 50-59: Colleen Nunner 37:41.