BAA’s Harvey, Hocking Cop USATF-NE 10K Titles

Shelburne Falls, MA, Saturday, August 14‰ÛÓBrian Harvey, 23,
of Allston, won his second straight USATF-NE Championship in 31:55 while
counterpart Lesley Hocking emerged from a spirited duel with Sara Donahue of
the Greater Boston TC to win by 4-seconds in 37:34.

 As always, Crittendon Hill was key in separating the
potential winners from the pack.

Medical student Kevin Jillson, 23, and Mt. Washington
runner-up Erik Blake (CT) were at the fore of a large group, hitting the mile
in 4:56.

 Hocking and Donahue reached the mile in 5:50 with 2009
runner-up Emily Bryans, 43, of the Willow St. AC (NY) following 4-seconds later
along with the GBTC’s Anna Kovak and several others.

 At the base of Crittendon, Harvey surged ahead. “That was
absolutely not planned,” Harvey would later relate. “It was absolutely Eric’s
plan, he’s the mountain man, but he said later the fast early miles sapped
him.”

 Blake and the Willow St. AC’s Chuck Terry maintained the 2-3
positions but Crittendon is a killer ‰ÛÓ Terry would place 22nd in 34:07 and
early leader Jillson would manage 13th in 33:25.

 At the crest of Crittendon, Harvey had a 20-second lead on
Blake and Terry. “I ran the hill mile in 6:08, people are telling me that’s
good,” laughed Harvey.

 Hocking and Donahue had a bit of separation from Bryans on
the hill. “They were still close, I could see them but once they went over the
crest and headed downhill they pulled away,” commented Bryans. “I passed this
one girl in a red shirt (GBTC’s Novick, age 21) about three-quarters of the way
up and she looked young, so in the back of my mind I thought I’d be seeing her
again.”

The rest of the race was a solo venture for Harvey, while
Blake would press on for 4th (32:45) with Nate Krah, 24 (unattached) third in
32:38 and Matt Ely 3rd in 32:38. The GBTC’s Dan Smith placed 5th in 32:53.

With Harvey, Blake and Ely wearing the Unicorn, the BAA won
the USATF-NE men’s title with Central Mass edging Whirlaway by 1 tick (2:48:31
to 2:48:32). “You can quote me, it’s a game of seconds,” commented Whirlway
coach Dave Kazanjian.

Donahue would get a “teeny bit” ahead of Hocking in the 5th
mile but it was short-lived. “She moved past on the next downhill, she was
awesome on the downhills,” said Donahue who arrived 4 ticks behind Hocking in
37:38.

Bryans would post up third in 38:22 and Willow St. would win
the Masters & Seniors titles (non-USATF-NE) while placing 2nd to Greater
Boston overall‰ÛÓled by Novick in 39:03. Oregon’s Renee Knapp placed 4th in
39:19. Meaghan Mathews-Hegarty, 28, was 5th in 39:23.

After finally getting by Kent Lemme and then Wayne Levy,
Hopewell, NY’s Mike Slinsky thought he had the Masters title after finishing in
34:59. “I figured those were the two best guys around over 40. I guess it turns
out they’re the best two that I know of,” said Slinsky after learning that Gate
City Strider Triad member Joe Donnelly had run 34:34.

“I needed another half-mile of downhill,” joked the GMAA’s
Norm Larson, 54, after placing 7-seconds behind Whirlaway Senior Superman,
Craig Fram. Whirlaway’s Nancy Corsaro took female Senior honors in 43:46.

“I hate that hill,” noted Veteran winner Gordon McFarland,
62, of the Cambridge Sports Union. Gordon nonetheless won his div. easily in
41:36 while counterpart Carol L’Esperance copped divisional honors in 52:01.

Irascible Harry Carter of the BAA won 70+ honors (of course)
in 48:26. Can you believe the Fairhaven Flyer, Joe Fernandez, ran 44:31 here in
his 70s? BOF veteran Anny Stockman, 78 (NY) won yet another 70-79 title in
1:08:29.

The first fellow called to the podium by Race Director Mike
McCusker was localite Ray Willis of Charlmont, 81 years of age, who ran 11:58
per (and that’s factoring in Crittendon) to finish in 1:14:17.

So that’s it, it’s across the Iron Bridge to the Buckland side
and the West End Pub, hard by the Bridge of Flowers, before we have the
chauffeur drive us home so we can get up at 5:00 am tomorrow and head south for
the Falmouth Road Race. ‰ÛÓBob Fitzgerald   Team Results       Age Groups     Full Results