Havelock Run and USATF Qualifier
June 9, 2012 was one of the best days in LRC Racing history. For the first time, LRC Racing entered a men’s team into the Havelock Charity Run 10k and the team did not disappoint. The team went 2, 3, 4 and 6, with all four men running faster than the 2011 winner. Neil Wolford continued his tear on the road racing circuit by finishing in a time of 33:01. Not far behind was Eric Noel and Mike Rathje, who ran 33:24 and 33:34, respectively. It’s also important to note that Eric’s time qualified in him the USATF Club Track and Field National’s meet this summer. Tom Nichols finished out the scorers with a time of 33:48. In the end, the LRC team defeated Team Nebraska’s team by over 3 minutes! Other notable 10k performances by LRC men include Ryan Regnier running 35:36 (12th), Tom Woods running 35:43 (14th) in his first inaugural race and Ryan Osberg finishing in a time of 37:07 (20th). All three runners met the minimum standard in the race.
For the women’s 10k, LRC Racing went first and second with Hannah Kinberg (1st) and Frankie Petersen (2nd) running 38:09 and 38:28, respectively, in their first inaugural races. In addition, both times were good enough to qualify for the USATF Club Track and Field National meet as well.
In the 3k, LRC Racing continued to dominate the race as Logan Watley (1st) and Mike Herz (3rd) ran 8:55 and 9:20, respectively. In addition, Erica Hamik took first in her first inaugural race running a time of 10:09. Amber Brandenburger ran a minimum standard by finishing 2nd in the women’s race with a time of 10:51. In summary, LRC Racing dominated the field by taking first in 3 of 4 races and by taking 8 of 12 “money spots” (1st-3rd).
Two days after Havelock (June 12th), Brian Wandzilak hosted a USATF sanctioned track meet at Southwest High School. Events included throws, hurdles and distance events. As part of being a sanctioned meet, field events as well as hand timed events 800 and further could be used as a qualifier for this summer’s USATF Club Track and Field National’s meet in Omaha. Although already qualified for the meet in hammer, Derek Frese threw qualifying marks in the discus (48.75m), shot (14.84m) and hammer (57.60m). Elliott Bulling also threw a qualifying distance in the discus (46.25m). In the 110 hurdles, Kevin Janata made the trek from Howells, NE to run a handheld hurdles time of 15.13 (without blocks). Although this time cannot be used as a qualifier, Kevin will represent LRC T&F in the track meet. The other notable race was the men’s 3,000m run. Neil Wolford ran a blistering time of 8:52.94 to take first place out of nine runners. Neil’s time will qualify him for the 5k in this summer’s meet.
Look forward to the next posting of “Recent News” that will discuss the USATF Club Track and Field National’s meet in more depth!