Saturday, August 8, 2009, at Gypsy Hill Park

Race Highlights:

Saturday morning’s fourth annual Dog Days 5K in Gypsy Hill Park featured two very different races—one dominated from the start by a superior athlete and another contested tightly until the final stages by three evenly matched ones.

Danny Fink, 46— a former area distance running standout and national-class biathelete who now resides in Morgantown, WV— tore away from the men’s field in the first 400 meters of the race and won easily in 17:13. Fink noted that his winning time for the 3.1-mile event was “very slow” but that parked cars as well as traffic in the park probably made the course run a bit “longer” than it does when the park is closed to vehicles. “You really couldn’t run the tight tangents around the corners in the park the way you can during the 4th of July race here” noted Fink. “My guess is that is slowed the times for all of us a little,” said the men’s champion. The men’s silver medalist was Fort Defiance senior Andrew Phillips, 18, who was 1:06 behind Fink in 18:19. The men’s bronze medalist was J. Anthony Alentado, 31, of Harrisonburg, in 18:32.

In contrast, the women’s race was hotly contested for the first 1.8 miles. With just one full lap of the park remaining, the three women’s medalists were running virtually side-by-side, but it was Tasha Harner, 25, of Verona who surged away in the final mile of the race to claim the crown with a winning time of 22:28. The women’s runner-up, Krista Pruitt, 45, of Mount Sidney, finished just 20 seconds behind the champion in 22:48. Bronze medalist Michelle Dennhardt, 43, of Stuarts Draft, was 13 seconds behind Pruitt in 23:01.

A total of 67 runners completed the race. Although the event concluded the Blue Ridge Road Runners’ 5K spring and summer race series in the park, a cross country race for elementary-age children will be held by the group on the morning of Saturday, October 24. Contact the Blue Ridge Road Runners at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for details and entry information for that children-only event.

OVERALL CHAMPIONS:

Danny Fink— 17:13

Tasha Harner— 22:28

NOTE: The overall champions received special awards and therefore are not included in the age division competition.

Complete Age Division Results

Girls 11-14 Results

1 Wilson, Emily 23:49

2 Perkins, Caroline 23:52

Women 19-29 Results

1 Gailliez, Michelle 23:26

2 Ariosa, Maude 23:50

3 Harman, Jenny 26:27

4 Smith, Chrissy 29:31

5 Johnson, Erin 34:25

Women 30-36 Results

1 Kline, Niki 23:17

2 Baker, Laura 29:43

3 Siple, Emily 30:32

Women 37-45 Results

1 Pruitt, Krista 22:48

2 Dennhardt, Michelle 23:01

3 Otteni, Stephanie 24:28

4 Gauerke, Kelly 26:30

5 Keatts, Ami 31:28

6 Hizer, Lisa 34:53

7 Wise, Jennifer 35:44

Women 46-55 Results

1 McCracken, Anieta 28:26

2 Harris, Sherri 32:48

3 Ciszek, Cheryl 35:54

Women 56 & up Results

1 Miner, Andi 27:43

2 Welder, Krista 37:58

Boys 10 & Under Results

1 Siemers, Calvin 26:29

Boys 11-14 Results

1 Capuano, Ricky 19:42

2 Capuano, Joey 23:11

3 Pierce, Nicholas 25:14

4 Brown, Matt 30:54

Boys 15-18 Results

1 Phillips, Andrew 18:19

2 Pierce, Mark 19:00

3 Pruitt, Charlie 19:10

4 Barlow, Zachary 19:13

5 Anhold, Chris 19:55

6 Boeckman, Calin 20:22

7 Griffin, Brandon 20:43

Men 19-29 Results

1 Paxton, Wayne 23:48

2 Fairchild, Charlie 34:25

Men 30-36 Results

1 Alentado, J. Anthony 18:32

2 Tinkham, Cory 21:19

3 Payne, Truman 27:19

4 Baker, Tim 29:04

5 Bohart, Curt 30:09

6 Brown, Tim 30:52

Men 37-45 Results

1 Rudmin, Joseph 18:42

2 Russell, Mark 20:35

3 Atkins, Jimmy 22:09

4 Anchors, Scott 22:20

5 Keatts, Michael 23:07

6 Hite, Patrick 24:10

7 Hylton, Jeff 24:12

8 Weller, Robert 26:18

9 Siemers, Troy 26:29

10 Capuano, Matt 28:58

Men 46-55 Results

1 Hawkins, Chuck 19:59

2 Michael, Gary 20:39

3 Welliver, Sean 22:48

4 Wright, Ray 24:13

5 Harris, Kevin 25:03

6 Trainum, David 26:58

Men 56 & up Results

1 Bussard, Jr., H.G. 20:56

2 Gillies, George 24:23

3 Gorsica, III, John 26:36

4 Proctor, Butch 29:14

5 Allen, Jay 29:15

6 Welder, Paul 30:01

7 Atkins, Sr., James 35:16