2022 USATF San Diego Road Series Recap
Men’s Open Division
Post finish line bliss for Chris!
PRT welcomed Chris Moreland to the Men’s squad earlier this spring! Here’s Chris finishing the Carlsbad 5000 in May. It was the team’s 11th year running the iconic SoCal road race with PRT jerseys scattered across the leaderboards. As for the overall road series this past spring, PRT veteran Hunter Daniel led the PRT open men with strong finishes at the Navy Bay Bridge Run (6th), the Carlsbad 5000 (13th), and the Old Pros 10k (9th). Christopher Wernke tied Hunter in points with his highest finish coming at the Old Pros 10k (6th). But the highest finish isn’t always a measure of how well you feel about a race. Chris explains, “My best race of the road series would have to be the Carlsbad 5000. The course is competitive and has a fast finish. It was also nice to get a little redemption (and PR) after a not so great Boston.”
Hunter Daniel had a nice PR day at the Bay Bridge Run this past spring. He took 6th overall. Awesome race Hunter! Photo by IG: @chaserunssd
Team captain Kevin Sorrell bringing it home at the Navy Bay Bridge Run!
Chris Wernke with a big PR at SoCal’s iconic road race: the Carlsbad 5000!
Not far behind Chris in the standings was team captain Kevin Sorrell who raced the last 3 races of the series well. His top race was Navy Bay Bridge 4 mile run, where he finished 8th in his division. Overall, the men finished 3rd in this competitive category.
Men’s Masters Division
In the Men’s Masters Division, Kevin Johnson led the way for Prado Racing Team with 2 wins (Navy Bridge Run, Carlsbad 5000) and a 4th place finish at the San Diego Half Marathon. Edgar Diaz and Yari Fontebasso finished in 3rd and 5th places in the division as well. This earned the PRT Masters men the overall team title for the series.
Masters runner Kevin Johnson 1:19:08 at the San Diego Half Marathon! Nice work!
Yari Fontebasso hammering down 6th Avenue. Yari was 4th overall masters runner with a 1:19:02 working alongside Kevin! Well done!
In the Men’s 50+ division, Jens Lykke-Andersen finished in 4th place in the overall standings. He finished 3rd place at both the Kook 10K Run and the San Diego Half Marathon. Other division highlights were Andrew Block’s 3rd place at the Old Pros 10k, and Michael Stange’s 4th place finish there as well.
In the Men’s 60+ division, Peter Gerstoft led the way with a 2nd place finish at the San Diego Half Marathon. Combined with his 3rd place at the Kook Run and 4th place finish at the Navy Bay Bridge Run, Peter finished 4th place overall in the Men’s 60+ division.
Individually, Dick Robinson won the Carlsbad 5000 race in his only race of the series, running one of the fastest times in the nation for his age division.
Dick Robinson (right) smashed the Carlsbad 5000. He’s joined in this photo by his teammates post-race: Kevin Johnson, Edgar Diaz, Paul Wellman, and Jonathan Fenton.
Women’s Open Division:
Prado Racing Team won the Women’s Open Division team competition led by Anna Pappas and Erin Menefee who earned the top two spots in the series. Anna was the series champion and scored a perfect 300 points with convincing wins at the Cardiff Kook Run, the Carlsbad 5000, and the Old Pros 10k. Erin finished 2nd in the series with a win at the Navy Bay Bridge Run, 2nd place at the Old Pros 10k, and two 3rd placings at the Cardiff Kook Run and the Carlsbad 5000. Rounding out the top 10 individual places were Bridget Nolan and Karla Khalifa, finishing 8th and 10th respectively.
Bridget Nolan shared with us her thoughts on the spring road racing season. “My favorite race in the road series was the Cardiff Kook! I actually ended up running a PR! The course has a lovely downhill which I enjoyed on the way out. Even though I had to suffer on the uphill on the way back!
Women’s Masters Division:
Hilary Corno won the overall series with wins at the Kook Run and the Navy Bay Bridge Run, while adding a 2nd place finish at the San Diego Half Marathon to cement her series individual title. Amy Halseth won the 50-59 age division with a perfect score of 300. Although only your top 3 races count towards your series points, Amy won all 4 races she competed in (Kook Run, Navy Bay Bridge Run, Carlsbad 5000, and the Old Pros 10k).
PRT women, plus team veteran Hunter Daniel, team frosh Chris Moreland, and team captain Kevin Sorrell! “We were on the bridge, and now we are here.” Prado Racing Team at the 2022 Navy Bay Bridge Run. Photo by women’s team captain Amy Halseth via Instagram @amyhalseth
Hilary Corno won the overall series starting with this win at the Kook Run in February!
2022 DIRT DOG
16th Annual Wild Duck “Martha Walker” 5km
“It was fine day of racing to kick of this season” –Scott McEntee
In the first race of the Dirt Dog series, the Open Women, the Masters Men (40+), Masters Men (50+), and Masters Men (60+) all walked away with team wins at this race.
As Scott McEntee put it, “The 40+ and 50+ team had looked like sure winners. The surprise was the 60+ team win. It was fine day of racing to kick of this season.”
Charles McKeown, in his first race as a master’s runner, led the way for PRT with a 2nd place finish. Kevin Johnson, Jason Batterson, Alex Phipps, Jonathan Fenton, Yari Fontebasso, and Edgar Diaz finished in quick succession, where we had 7 PRT runners place in the top 10.
Jason Batterson says, “Wild Duck is always a favorite of mine. Dirt Dog season is the best, and everyone comes out for the start at Wild Duck. I get to see friends I haven't seen in months. This year it was especially fun to see the mass of PRT 40+ masters come through at 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13. I also really enjoy that I get to watch my son race XC in the same park. Guajome is a long way to go, but well worth it.”
On the Open Men’s side, Brett Olson led the way with Chris Wernke. Hunter Daniel, Kevin Sorrell, and Evan Reed making up the open squad to take 2nd place in the team competition.
The Open Women took the team competition here with a strong showing. Anna Pappas won for the 2nd year in a row, while Erin Menefee took 3rd. Madison Tanner finished in 4th, and Carrie Hinners rounded out the team score with a 10th place finish.
57th Balboa Park “Tom Bache” 4-miler
Unlike the Wild Duck 5k which had perfect weather, the Balboa 4 mile race was contested under extremely warm & humid conditions.
In the Masters 40+ division, Chuck McKeown, Alex Phipps, Jeff Tomaszewski and Kevin Johnson went 3-4-6-7 which was just enough to get the team win.
The Boom-Milestone team brought out the big guns for the 50+ race with Stephen Johnson and Robert Verhees going 1-2 and John Healy in 5th for the win. Marc Sosnowski, Andrew Block and Jens Lykke-Andersen went 4-7-8 which was good for 2nd place, which was just what the team needed from this race.
Dick Robinson, Scott McEntee and Rick Wade went 1-3-4 in the 60+ division, which locked down their 2nd win in that division.
Additionally, this was the first race of new teammates Jeff Tomaszewski and Rick Wade who both were able to make an immediate impact for the team.
On the women’s side, the open women were once again led by Anna Pappas, who defended her title from 2021 as Balboa 4 mile champion. Madison Tanner, Bridget Nolan, Lindsay Benster, and Carrie Hinners made up the squad for this race where they were able to finish 2nd place behind a strong showing from the San Diego Track Club.
The Open Men did not field a team for this race, but Hunter Daniel ran well as an individual representing PRT.
7th Annual Crazy 8's 5km
In the 7th Annual Crazy 8’s 5km race held in Rancho Bernardo, the men’s 60+ team walked away with the team win going 1-4-5 (Dick Robinson, Rick Wade and Scott McEntee), beating SDTC and the Jamul Toads.
In the 40’s team division, PRT placed second behind Boom Running. Boom went 1-2-4-9 (Glenn Racz, Okwaro Raura, Dan Lesser and Michael Clinch). PRT went 3-5-6-15 (Chuck McKeown, Jason Batterson, Alex Phipps and Paul Wellman. It was a similar story in the 50+ division. Boom went 1-2-6 (Stephen Johnson, John Healy and Brian Skiles). PRT went 5-7-9 (Andrew Block, Jens Lykke-Andersen and Jeff Creighton).
In the Open Race division, the PRT women once again won in convincing fashion, though the San Diego Track Club continues to close the gap. Anna Pappas won individually in 17:14. Erin Menefee was 2nd in 17:30. Madison Tanner was the 3rd scorer in 18:03, and Aundrea Koger rounded out the team scoring in 18:09. One other notable result was team captain Fiana Kumm made her return to racing with a very strong debut in the series at 18:54, which was 1st in her age group.
On the men’s side, Chris Wernke led the way as he continued his strong 2022 season with a 16:01, just missing the “16-minute barrier”. He was followed by teammates Andrew Wood (16:39), Hunter Daniel (17:03), Kevin Sorrell (17:29).
56th Balboa Boogie “Ursula Rains” 5km
Charles McKeown had been knocking on the door of a series win all season, and on October 1, he won the Balboa Boogie, his first individual title in the masters division. He led a master’s men sweep of the first 5 places (Kevin Johnson, Jason Batterson, Alex Phipps, and Andrew Corman) for the team win.
Dick Robinson won the 60+ age group decisively again, paving the way for a narrow one point 60+ team (Scott McEntee 6th & Rick Wade 7th) over the Jamul Toads.
The masters Women did not field a team this year, but Amy Halseth (20:38) won her division individually, with Celest Arambulo (21:22) coming in 3rd in her division.
In the open race, the PRT women took 2nd place as a team led by Aundrea Koger (18:53), Jessica Clar (19:29), Lindsay Benster (19:52), Erica Schoeller (20:02).
Carrera De Los Muertos 4-Mile
Next up in the series was the inaugural Carrera De Los Muertos 4 miler held at Chollas Lake. Charles McKeown defended his individual title at this race running 22:38 over the reigning series champion Okwaro Raura. ), PRT won in the masters division with Jason Batterson finishing 3rd (23:50), Yari Fontebasso 6th (24:25), and former team captain Dan Seidel finishing 9th (25:13). Another former team captain Derek Bradley 10th (25:14) made his solid return back to racing here as well. Lots of fantastic leadership in this race. It was like a TED talk.
The PRT Open Women once again reigned supreme in this race with a near full squad. Anna Pappas took home her 4th individual title of the season (23:57). She was followed by Erin Menefee (24:49), Aundrea Koger (25:30), Fiana Kumm (25:40), Kelsie Pearson (25:56), Madison Tanner (26:46), Lily Seynaeve (26:55), Nicole Jaffke (27:04), Carrie Hinners (27:11), Lindsay Benster (28:07).
The PRT open men took a nice 2nd place win in the team competition. The team was led by Derrick Lloyd (22:18). He was joined by Anthony Malatesta (22:51), Brett Olson (23:39), Hunter Daniel (23:39), Evan Reed (24:20), and Nick Scarpello (26:05).
1st Annual JK 8K
In another first, the JK 8K was introduced to the dirt dog series (replacing the Cuayamaca 6K). Kevin Johnson led the way for the master’s men with an individual 2nd place finish (28:35). Andrew Corman (29:47) & Chris Moreland (30:08) joined him, but we were one runner shy of a team to score.
Amy Halseth (34:02) won her age division and she was followed by her teammate Celest Arambulo (34:45) who was 2nd individually in her division.
Chris Wernke returned to racing and leading PRT in the open men’s division with his 10th place (26:07). Evan Reed (29:03) and Kevin Sorrell (30:23) rounded out the representation for PRT in this race.
USATF San Diego Cross Country Championship
As these things usually go, it all comes down to the championship. This year’s San Diego – Imperial USATF Association 2022 Open and Masters Cross Country Championship was held at Tecolote Shores in East Mission Bay Park. The course is nearly all run on grass, with a few minor sidewalk crossings. This year, the course was not muddy and was in fairly decent shape. Several runners were able to run faster than in year’s past. One of those who took advantage of the conditions was Chris Wernke who led the open men’s squad in 12th (27:21). The squad of Hunter Daniel (29:40), Evan Reed (29:41), Nicholas Scarpello (29:59), Brett Olson (31:50), Kevin Sorrell (32:02) finished 4th in the series.
In the men’s master’s race, PRT would come up on the short end of a very tightly contested race between PRT (19 points) and Boom Running (17 points) in this “lowest points wins” affair.
Charles McKeown once again led the way for PRT finishing in 2nd (28:03). The team of Jason Batterson (29:01), Alex Phipps (29:28), Kevin Johnson (29:33), Edgar Diaz (30:31), Yari Fontebasso (30:39), and Andrew Corman (30:51) finished in 2nd
The 50+ division was very competitive this year. Representing PRT in the division were Jens Lykke-Andersen (32:35), Jeff Creighton (32:41), Marc Sosnowski (32:48), Andrew Block (32:48) who were able to take 2nd place as a team.
Dick Robinson remained undefeated all year in his age division (60+) and put the stamp on a great season with a win here (32:29). His 500 series points was perfect. He joined with Scott McEntee (36:30) and Peter Gerstoft (39:27) to a second place team showing in the 60+ division.
In another competitive team competition, the open women’s division was up for grabs as both PRT and SDTC Elite both had claims to the title of Dirt Dog Champion. But, there could only be one. The score had to be settled on the course in a battle for the ages. Whereas the master’s men lost a close battle with the Boom Running team, the open women won a very close race against SDTC Elite.
As had happened all year, Anna Pappas once again led the team with a win and overall series title (22:18). She finished with a perfect 500 score in terms of points, a feat worthy of mention. Coming in 3rd and 4th was Erin Menefee (23:22) & Aundrea Koger (23:51). Kelsie Pearson would finish 8th (24:12) and Madison Tanner (24:14) represented the 4th scorer in the team competition which would prove pivotal as it came down to just 3 points in the end. Teammates Lily Seynaeve (24:20), Carrie Hinners (25:07), Erica Schoeller (25:21), Lindsay Benster (25:48) all came through with brilliant race performances on this championship day.
In the masters division, Amy Halseth won her age division having gone undefeated in that category also finishing with a perfect 500 points. It’s lonely at the top so Celest Arambulo joined her on the podium finishing in 2nd place in the series with 451 series points.
Another fantastic season in the books… chapter 2023 is coming up next! Stay tuned…