Local Sports

Hospital run a huge hit

Photos

Highlands Today
Published: November 6, 2012

SEBRING - There was a solid turnout for Sunday's Bill Jarrett Ford 5K/10K at Florida Hospital. The event was part of Florida Hospital's Heartland Division Gala, which serves as a fundraiser for the hospital's campuses in Highlands and Hardee counties.

The 10k was a new addition this year and 63 brave souls—including title sponsor Bill Jarrett—ventured out over the longer course. Michael Quigley won the male division with a time of 38:59.9 and Regan Davenport captured the female division with a time of 47:22.9.

Matthew Schult, who won last year's 5K event appeared to be on the way to winning the 10K, as he held a good-sized lead at the halfway point, but didn't cross the finish line unto a minute-and-a-half after Quigley. It turned out he had a pretty good reason for not finishing higher, as he stopped to tend to an injured runner.

"That was a really great thing for Matthew to do," said Chet Brojek, who handled the timing duties with the Central Florida Striders' new chip system. "You have to take care of your runners."

Schult still managed a solid second-place finish with a time of 40:28.7, while Sebring cross country runner Jose Andrew Rivera put in some practice for Saturday's regional meet and placed third overall with a time of 41:34.5.

Ester Devora Calacat was second overall on the female side with a time of 47:54.4 and Reese Jones was third in 49:05.5.

Sebring boys cross country coach Renee Marin Gomez ran away with the 5K, crossing the finish line in a solid time of 16:42.5, while Michelle Delaney placed first on the female side with a mark of 24:09.2.

Amanda Webb placed a close second overall in the female group with a time of 24:09.4, while Ann Glinski was third with a time of 24:48.6.

Greg Rawlings placed second on the male side with a solid time of 19:20 and Sean Brown placed third in 20:35.6.

There were official 213 finishers in the 5K, making the combined entry list almost identical to last year's event, which was the largest ever, although it is likely there were more competitors this year, as not all runners went through the necessary steps to get their timing chips.

Brojek said there were people trying to register several minutes before the races were set to start, which simply can't be done with the information required by the chip system. He said that there will now be a cutoff of 30 minutes before an event starts and he was urging people to register as early as possible for this year's Turkey Trot, for which he was expecting nearly 500 competitors. Fifty-five people have already registered for the run, which will take place Thanksgiving morning.

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