The Staten Island Runner


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Staten Island Athletic Club's
3 Mile Fun Run

December 23, 2000

Dave Panza fully earned his first fun run win in two years, braving 15-degree temperatures and sub-zero wind chills to post an impressive winning time of 18:28. Anyone who endured the frigid weather on Saturday can attest to the breathing problems, slippery course conditions and various frozen body parts (those who heard Bobby Orazem's story at the SIAC Triple Crown Dinner know what I mean). Even Ruth Fairbrother's dog Fido ran the race wearing a sweater. Despite the conditions, Panza came to race and led wire to wire, passing the mile mark in 5:54 and the two mile mark in 12:07 enroute to his victory. The grind of the race was apparent as Panza was in a bit of distress after crossing the line, but quickly recovered. Panza'a only challenge came from last week's winner Dave Down who hung within 10 seconds of him at the mile mark, but fell off the pace soon thereafter, finishing a distant second in 19:56. Down, however, gets the Green Bay Packers Fan Appreciation Award for completing the race in running shorts and a T-shirt.

Dave Amaresena, a fast-improving Sophomore from New Dorp High School, waltzed through an easy 20:17 training run for third place. Should Amaresena continue his development, look for him to post a sub-17-minute fun run in the near future and to be right in the mix for the Island High School XC Championship in the next 2 years. Fun run regulars Sean Gatling (20:49) and Dan Pettigrew (20:58) rounded out the top five.

A pair of teenagers prevailed on the women's side as eighteen-year-old Rashidat Oayokun won handily in a solid time of 23:04, outdistancing the field by over a minute and a half. Sixteen-year-old Sophia Jackson took second place for the second consecutive week in 24:35, one second slower than she ran last week. See what happens when you slack off. Both deserve credit, as do all of this week's runners, for running strong despite the nasty cold.

The contingent from St. Peter's High School took the unofficial team title (if there were actually a team title to unofficially take). I'll give second place to SIAC despite a rare Saturday morning Richmond Rocket invasion. It's great to see so many different running groups come together in good spirit for the weekly race. The results below are missing quite a few hearty soles, who finished the race but didn't sign the sheet (well, the ink in the pens did freeze up after a while). It's a shame, because on a day like Saturday, everybody deserves recognition for a job well done.

Steve Lauria

Place	Last Name	First Name	Time	Pace	Sex
1	Panza		Dave		0:18:28	0:06:09	M
2	Down		Dave		0:19:56	0:06:39	M
3	Amaresena	Dave		0:20:17	0:06:46	M
4	Gatling		Sean		0:20:49	0:06:56	M
5	Pettigrew	Dan		0:20:58	0:06:59	M
6	Hall		Scott		0:21:31	0:07:10	M
7	Pickell		Ken		0:21:32	0:07:11	M
8	Wright		Bernard		0:22:09	0:07:23	M
9	Berg		Justin		0:22:44	0:07:35	M
10	DelPrete	Dom		0:22:52	0:07:37	M
11	Lilley		John		0:23:02	0:07:41	M
12	Oayokun		Rashidat	0:23:04	0:07:41	F
13	Hart		Jason		0:23:51	0:07:57	M
14	Polchinski	Robert		0:24:22	0:08:07	M
15	Rigolini	Fred		0:24:29	0:08:10	M
16	Hibert		Bill		0:24:33	0:08:11	M
17	Jackson		Sophia		0:24:35	0:08:12	F
18	Forster		Paul		0:24:38	0:08:13	M
19	Petersen	Gary		0:24:50	0:08:17	M
20	Ruberto		Stephen		0:25:17	0:08:26	M
21	Fairbrother	Ruth		0:26:43	0:08:54	F
22	Garone		Mike		0:26:50	0:08:57	M
23	Ruberto		Richard		0:28:03	0:09:21	M
24	Garone		Marie		0:35:04	0:11:41	F