Saturday, July 4, 2009, at Gypsy Hill Park

Race Highlights:

With temperatures in the upper 50’s making running a bit more comfortable than usual for an Independence Day morning, 190 finishers completed the two-and-one-third laps of Gypsy Hill Park in Saturday’s 10th annual Firecracker 5K. Competitors ranged in age from 70-year-old Henry Wood to 4-year-old Logan Mayhew, and several award winners came from outside Virginia.

Matt Bailey, a 21-year-old George Mason University junior from Weyers Cave, won his third consecutive Firecracker men’s title and his fourth in the last five years. Bailey’s winning time of 16:22 was 35 seconds off the Gypsy Hill Park 5K course record of 15:47 he established a year while winning the Dog Days 5K. “It was tough to maintain a fast pace all by myself,” said the former Fort Defiance distance star, noting that a his record time was set with current GMU teammate Alex Ott finishing within a second of his winning time. Silver medalist Aaron Patterson, 29, was 56 seconds behind Bailey in 17:18, while Turner Ashby High School junior Matt Denlinger, 15, was the men’s bronze medalist in 17:36.

On the women’s side, Charlotte Vigeant of Basking Ridge, New Jersey, 32, covered the 3.1-mile course in 21:07. “There were a lot of quick men out there today,” noted Vigeant who led the women’s field from the opening gun, placing 35th overall and relying exclusively on competition from the male finishers around her during the race. Courtney Moyer, 18, of Staunton was the silver medalist in 22:16, while Michelle Dennhardt of Stuarts Draft, 43, was the bronze medalist in 22:28.

All-time Gypsy Hill Park records fell in three of age divisions as Hanna Willard of Raleigh, North Carolina (10 & under) and Niki Kline of Swoope (30-36) lowered the best marks for their female age groups, and H.G. Bussard, Jr. of Deerfield established a new record in the men’s 56 & up age division. The first-place finishers in each division received trophies, and the second- and third-place finishers received medals.

The Blue Ridge Road Runner’s final 5K event of the summer will be the “Dog Days 5K” set for 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, August 8th, also in Gypsy Hill Park. Contact the Blue Ridge Road Runners at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for entry information.

OVERALL CHAMPIONS:

Matt Bailey— 16:22

Charlotte Vigeant— 21:07

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

Complete Age Division Results

Girls 10 & Under Results

1 Willard, Hanna 24:04.00

2 Denlinger, Lydia 26:52.00

Girls 11-14 Results

1 Alexander, Allison 22:45.00

2 Wade, Cameron 24:20.00

3 Stenzel, Shellby 27:27.00

4 Witherow, Noelle 27:36.00

5 Lightner, Anna 27:47.00

6 Robertson, Kayla 27:55.00

7 Swisher, Sierra 27:58.00

8 Rizzo, Kable K. 28:22.00

9 Ward, Laura 28:41.00

10 Fuller, Madison 29:09.00

11 Pettit, Brigid 31:54.00

12 Savage, Samantha 32:35.00

Girls 15-18 Results

1 Moyer, Courtney 22:16.00

2 McPherson, Charlotte 25:13.00

3 Alexander, Rachel 25:54.00

4 Goodloe, Elizabeth 25:59.00

5 Alexander, Morgan 27:01.00

6 Shuttle, Anna 29:05.00

7 Harris, Callie 36:41.00

Women 19-29 Results

1 Mancuso, Stefani 23:28.00

2 Swisher, Laura 25:11.00

3 Landes, Megan 26:09.00

4 Harris, Jordan 26:43.00

5 Hanger, Jenny 28:18.00

6 Carpenter, Crystal 28:51.00

7 Johnson, Erin 33:28.00

8 Temple, Stephanie 33:55.00

9 McDonald, Amber 34:00.00

10 Philp, Carly 34:41.00

11 Arehart, Tina 34:50.00

12 Mulcahy, Elizabeth 42:27.00

13 Roberts, Bonnie 46:40.00

Women 30-36 Results

1 Kline, Niki 23:11.00

2 Drumheller, Rachel 24:11.00

3 O'Connor, Claire 24:41.00

4 Comisford, Jessica 27:02.00

5 Thomas, Mary Clay 27:46.00

6 Weigley, Christy 28:27.00

7 Pyle, Lori 28:36.00

8 Alger, Leslie 29:21.00

9 Campbell, Amanda 29:25.00

10 Cunningham, Tina 30:08.00

11 Schooley, Therese 30:13.00

12 Adams, Andrea 30:54.00

13 Richter, Jill 31:22.00

14 Shiflett, Rebecca 31:52.00

15 Weglian, Emily 34:22.00

Women 37-45 Results

1 Dennhardt, Michelle 22:28.00

2 Rizzo, Kable B. 22:41.00

3 Pruitt, Krista 23:03.00

4 Otteni, Stephanie 23:50.00

5 Long, Cynthia 24:25.00

6 Smith, Donna 25:28.00

7 Stenzel, Tammy 25:46.00

8 Fuller, Andrea 25:47.00

9 Willard, Ann 26:07.00

10 Gauerke, Kelly 26:33.00

11 Trainum, Bess 27:12.00

12 Kelley, Shay 27:19.00

13 Armstrong, Susan 27:28.00

14 Fuller, Kerry 29:10.00

15 Lightner, Sara 29:17.00

16 Stanley, Kathryn 29:45.00

17 McNemar, Janita 30:19.00

18 Pettit, Ann 31:02.00

19 Keats, Ami 31:45.00

20 Bishop, Tara 31:48.00

21 Yurish, Denise 34:39.00

Women 46-55 Results

1 Harris, Sherri 31:11.00

2 Koplin, Nancy 31:20.00

3 Goodloe, Luanne 32:36.00

4 Harris, Evelyn 32:41.00

Women 56 & up Results

1 Welder, Krista 37:31.00

Boys 10 & Under Results

1 Yurish, Collin 24:29.00

2 Yurish, Cooper 24:29.00

3 Lightner, Alex 25:32.00

4 Siemers, Calvin 25:56.00

5 Stenzel, Kyle 27:26.00

6 Savage, Matthew 30:11.00

7 Fuller, Davis 30:36.00

8 Mayhew, Logan 46:04.00

Boys 11-14 Results

1 Pruitt, Charlie 19:38.00

2 Phillips, Mark 19:51.00

3 Campbell, Zachary 19:51.00

4 Denlinger, John 21:31.00

5 Harris, John Michael 21:57.00

6 Rizzo, Robert 22:21.00

7 Capuano, Joey 23:34.00

8 Willard, Troy 25:25.00

9 Wade, Derek 31:12.00

10 Harlow, Bailey 32:49.00

Boys 15-18 Results

1 Denlinger, Matthew 17:36.00

2 Waltz, Joseph 17:40.00

3 Little, Joe 18:27.00

4 Phillips, Andrew 19:15.00

5 Stewart, Caleb 19:56.00

6 Griffin, Brandon 20:15.00

7 Davis, Sam 20:50.00

8 Byerly, Dalton 20:51.00

9 Whitfield, Matthew 20:51.00

10 Huffman, James 22:34.00

11 Austin, Jared 23:25.00

12 Willard, Luke 24:16.00

13 Harner, Dillon 24:28.00

14 Flint, Matthew 30:10.00

Men 19-29 Results

1 Patterson, Aaron 17:18.00

2 Arey, Brandon 17:45.00

3 Jones, Mike 19:01.00

4 Larramore, Ken 20:20.00

5 Wing, Sean 21:38.00

6 Philp, Jerry 31:06.00

Men 30-36 Results

1 Cook, Taulsa 18:10.00

2 Tinkham, Cory 21:00.00

3 Utter, Brian 21:53.00

4 Masthanden, John 22:22.00

5 Richard, Joshua 25:05.00

6 Adams, Kirk 25:49.00

7 Brooks, Thomas 26:37.00

8 Bouwhuizen, Paul 26:37.00

9 Smith, Tim 27:26.00

10 Campbell, Brian 29:25.00

11 Edwards, Dennis 30:58.00

12 Payne, Michael 31:17.00

13 Schooley, Chris 32:34.00

Men 37-45 Results

1 Campbell, Courtney 18:07.00

2 Geigel, John 19:07.00

3 Farley, Ben 19:18.00

4 Siemers, Troy 19:28.00

5 Kiracofe, Jeff 19:42.00

6 Pritchett, Eric 19:49.00

7 Moore, Chris 20:12.00

8 Ott, Tom 20:31.00

9 Otteni, Jack 20:50.00

10 Russell, Mark 21:19.00

11 Buchanan, Ricky 21:26.00

12 Fisher, Joe 21:52.00

13 Bowers, Rod 22:33.00

14 Atkins, Jimmy 22:50.00

15 Wagoner, John 22:58.00

16 Welliver, Sean 22:59.00

17 Fuller, John 23:15.00

18 Zwecker, Rudy 23:38.00

19 Keats, Michael 23:45.00

20 Willard, Ronnie 23:48.00

21 Joyce, Dan 24:00.00

22 Meeks, David 24:30.00

23 Swemba, Don 24:44.00

24 Wade, Matt 24:56.00

25 Robertson, Rob 25:01.00

26 Hite, Patrick 25:11.00

27 Kearney, Andy 25:52.00

28 Hylton, Jeff 26:04.00

29 Stratton, Chip 26:36.00

30 Fitzgerald, William 26:44.00

31 Clardy, Mike 27:49.00

32 Stenzel, Rob 28:13.00

33 Capuano, Matt 29:55.00

34 Humphreys, Mark 30:08.00

35 McDonald, Ron 30:30.00

36 Fuller, Geoff 30:36.00

Men 46-55 Results

1 Denlinger, Dwight 19:15.00

2 Hawkins, Chuck 19:44.00

3 Riley, Doug 19:55.00

4 Daugherty, Mark 20:25.00

5 Hughes, Tom 20:43.00

6 Michael, Gary 20:53.00

7 Sowers, William 22:48.00

8 Lightner, Paul 22:49.00

9 Metcalfe, Mark 23:09.00

10 Kelliher, Ed 23:51.00

11 Laser, Swen 24:09.00

12 Gauerke, Spike 24:10.00

13 Wright, Ray 24:35.00

14 Harris, Kevin 24:39.00

15 Kelliher, Robert 25:10.00

16 Gunther, Robert 25:45.00

17 Byerly, Thomas 26:42.00

18 Trainum, David 26:45.00

19 Temple, Joe 29:04.00

20 Zoller, John 32:02.00

Men 56 & up Results

1 Bussard, Jr., H.G. 20:41.00

2 Allen, Jay 23:29.00

3 Drumheller, Charlie 24:50.00

4 Gorsica, III, John 26:08.00

5 Root, Stan 26:55.00

6 Welder, Paul 29:27.00

7 Roger, Robert 31:44.00

8 Wood, Henry 32:17.00