The PRT Men’s Masters team added some new faces this year. Justin Turner and Randy Ray joined existing 40+ team members Jamaal Ryan, Jason Batterson, Kevin Zimmer, Mike Stange and Paul Wellman. For the 50+ team, Dick Robinson proved to be a valuable mid-season addition to the existing team of Andrew Block, Jeff Creighton, Jens Lykke-Andersen, Marc Sosnowski and Patrick Lanoiselee. The 60+ team saw the return of Greg Wagner, Scott McEntee and Thom Hunt.
PRT Men’s’ Masters – Jens Lykke-Andersen, Scott McEntee, Dick Robinson, Marc Sosnowski, Patrick Lanoiselee, Jeff Creighton, Randy Ray, Paul Wellman, Jamaal Ryan and Kevin Zimmer. Missing from photo are Andrew Block, Greg Wagner, Jason Batterson, Justin Turner, Mick Stange and Thom Hunt
The season started off well with both the 40+ and 50+ teams winning at the Wild Duck, the first race of the series. Individually, Kevin Zimmer took 1st place in the 50+ division, while Jason Batterson, Jeff Creighton and Scott McEntee took 2nd place in their respective divisions.
The 40+ team followed up with wins at the Bake at the Lake, the Crazy 8’s and the Cuyamaca College races. Jason Batterson led the team winning the Masters’ division at the latter three races.
The 50+ team swept all six of the races leading up to the Dirt Dog championship race. Along the way, Jeff Creighton took 1st place in the 50+ division at both the Bake at the Lake and the Crazy 8’s race.
USATF Masters 5K XC Championship Race
The USATF Masters 5K XC National Championship race was run in conjunction with the Balboa Boogie 5K which was moved to Tecolote Shores this year. For the PRT Masters’ runners, this was a race within a race. The race was an official Dirt Dog race with normal team and individual scoring considerations for San Diego-Imperial association runners. It was also a National Championship race which drew runners from across the country to the race.
PRT mustered enough runners to field 40+ and 60+ teams to qualify for scoring in both races. The 50+ team mustered enough team members to score for the Dirt Dog race, but was one short to score for the National race.
Jason Batterson, Jamaal Ryan, Justin Turner, Mike Stange and Randy Ray ran strong races earning a 4th place finish for the 40+ team in the National competition and a 2nd place for the Dirt Dog scoring.
Jeff Creighton, Marc Sosnowski and Patrick Lanoiselee led the 50+ team to a win in the 50+ Dirt Dog race. Kevin Zimmer, who ran down with the 40+ team for the Dirt Dog race, took 1st place in the National race for the 55+ division. The 50+ team would have taken 1st in the National race if any one of our injured runners had been able to toe the line.
PRT entered a 60+ team for the first time all season. The team of Thom Hunt, Scott McEntee and Greg Wagner took second place in both the National race and the Dirt Dog race.
Dirt Dog Championship Race
Both the 40+ and 50+ teams entered the Championship race with a chance to claim division titles. Additionally, Jason Batterson was in good position to win the 40+ series title. A number of other team members were in contention for winning prize checks based on their overall performance.
Jason led all PRT Masters’ runners with a time of 27:56, finishing in second place which was all he needed to claim the Dirt Dog series championship. Jamaal Ryan was next to cross the line, finishing in 29:24 and claiming 4th place in the series. Justin Turner and Kevin Zimmer finished neck and neck, both with a time of 30:06 to complete the scoring for the 40+ team. Kevin, who was running down with the 40+ team, claimed 1st place in the race for the 50+ division.
Jason Batterson accepting the Dirt Dog trophy for his Dirt Dog season win
At this point, PRT had finished with 20 points. Boom Running was standing at 8 points with one runner still needing to finish. Boom’s fourth scorer crossed the line 34 seconds later, finishing 8th and giving boom a score of 16 and claiming the title. PRT’s 40+ team claimed second place for the series.
Due to a rash of injuries, the 50+ team was barely able to field the minimum of three required to score for the race. Marc Sosnowski was the first team member to cross the line with a time of 31:48. Jeff Creighton overcame a tumble to finish close behind in 31:58. Dick Robinson, a mid-season recruit, finished in 33:08, earning the 50+ team a win for the race and sealing the overall Dirt Dog series win for the fifth consecutive year. Individually, Jeff, Marc and Kevin all earned series checks for their 2nd, 4th and 5th place finishes in the overall series.
PRT Men’s 50+ Team, from left to right, Dick Robinson, Jens Lykke-Anderson, Patrick Lanoiselee, Marc Sosnowski, and Jeff Creighton; along with Race Director Paul Greer
PRT was unable to muster a 60+ team for the race, but Scott McEntee finished 4th in the 60+ division with a time of 34:53, which was good enough to take 3rd place for the overall series.
Iron Dogs
Jason Batterson and Scott McEntee showed off some old man strength and resilience by securing the coveted Iron Dog honors for competing in each and every single Dirt Dog Cross Country Series race throughout the 2019 season! Congratulations to these guys, and to the entire Masters Men’s squad on a fine season.