Sports

By Don Lyons - May 31, 2007

Oak Bluffs Memorial Day 5K

Sunday couldn't have been a nicer morning for the 14th annual Oak Bluffs Memorial Day road race. The 340 athletes who completed the 5K were all but unanimous in their enthusiastic appreciation of the near perfect conditions.

The best finishing time, 16:42, belonged to 30-year-old Matthew Hyde of Vineyard Haven. Matthew was 14 seconds faster than Jason Bialka, 28, of Boston, who was second at 16:56, but 50 seconds behind last year's winner, Kevin Gray, then 28, from Roslindale.

The rest of Sunday's top ten were: (3) Josiah Black, 38, Wellesley, 18:38 (4) Josh Muller, 27, Arlington, 18:55 (5) Steven Eick, 43, New York City, 19:03 (6) Leo Lauer, 36, New York City, 19:08 (7) Paul Vertefeuille, 42, Tisbury, 19:10 (8) David Diriwachter, 37, Tisbury, 19:31 (9) Todd Christy, 42, Chilmark, 19:36 (10) Steve Stanley, 39, Windham, N.H., 19:49.

The best time by a female runner was 19:59 by Julia Knittel of New York, a minute off last year's best, 20:59, by Susan Branch of Scarsdale. Julia was 13th overall, four seconds behind Dana Gaines of Edgartown.

Winners in the several age/gender categories.

Male 1-12 (1) Patrick Garrett, 12, Oak Bluffs, 23:46 (2) Shane Olson, 11, Natick, 23:57 (3) Peter Badenhausen, Glen Ridge, N.J., 25:21 (4) Ryan Harper, 11, Southwick, 25:29 (5) John Breen, 10, Edgartown, 26:26.

Female 1-12: (1) Tayla Kuehne, 12, Edgartown, 25:25 (2) Julia Barron, 11, Braintree, 25:30 (3) Lindsay Mahoney, 9, Braintree, 27:02 (4) Megan Mountzoures, 12, Wellesley, 30:39 (5) Helen Keyes, 11, Los Angeles, Cal., 31:40.

Male 13-19: (1) Stephen McKenna, 16, Lexington, 20:03 (2) Jake McCauley, 14, Darien, Conn., 20:50 (3) Andrew Maroni, 18, Athol, 21:27 (4) Brian Mahoney, Braintree, 24:24 (5) Cameron Elk, 15, Edgartown, 24:29.

Female 13-19 (1) Ceili Brennan, 15, Westwood, 23:41 (2) Erin Tormey, Princeton Jct., N.J., 27:02 (3) Megan Dryer, 14, West Tisbury, 27:17 (4) Allison Silva, 18, Tisbury, 27:26 (5) Julie Hutchinson, 14, Glen Ridge, N.J., 27:37.

Male 20-29 (1) Jason Bialka, 28, Boston, 16:56 (2) Josh Muller, 27, Arlington, 18:55 (3) Dave Ulrich, 28, Cambridge, 20:23 (4) Garrett Law, 29, Los Angeles, Cal., 23:47 (5) John Roriz, 26, Oak Bluffs, 24:04.

Female 20-29 (1) Bonnie Kingsbury, 28, Tisbury, 21:05 (2) Devon Smith, 29, Oak Bluffs, 21:31 (3) Katrina Delgadillo, 25, Tisbury, 21:54 (4) Amanda Glazier, 23, Tisbury, 21:02 (5) Amy Levine, 21, Ho Ho Kus, N.J., 22:16.

Male 30-39 (1) Matthew Hyde, 30, Tisbury, 16:42 (2) Josiah Black, 38, Wellesley, 18:38 (3) Leon Lauer, 36, New York, N.Y., 19:08 (4) David Diriwachter, 37, Tisbury, 19:31 (5) Steve Stanley, 39, Windham, N.H., 19:49.

Female 30-39 (1) Julia Knittel, 32, New York N.Y.,19:59 (2) Cindy Burt, 30, Shelton, Conn., 20:01 (3) Sarah Cox, 30, Dover, N.H., 21:39 (4) Wendi Sylvia, 38, East Greenwich, R.I., 21:46 (5) Darcie Siciliano, 36, New York, N.Y.

Male 40-49 (1) Steven Eick, 43, New York, N.Y., 19:03 (2) Paul Vertefeuille, 42, Tisbury, 19:10 (3) Todd Christy, 42, Chilmark, 19:36 (4) Dana Gaines, 49, Edgartown, 19:55 (5) Stephan Hartman, 42, New York, N.Y., 20:42.

Female 40-49: (1) Susan Branche, 49, Scarsdale, 20:25 (2) Robin Breen, 43, Edgartown, 21:40 (3) Marylee Schroeder, 43, West Tisbury, 22:29 (4) Erica Cahill, 41, Acton, 23:40 (5) Beth Sawyer, 41, Edgartown, 24:27.

Male 50-59 (1) Steven Katz, 56, West Tisbury, 20:33 (2) Wayne Guyther, 50, Tisbury, 21:48 (3) Larry Lewis, 53, Scotia, N.Y., 21:52 (4) David Farrell, 57, Barrington, R.I., 22:19 (5) Jaime Leon, 55, Tisbury, 22:22.

Female 50-59 (1) Diana Skaggs, 53, Middleton, R.I., 24:05 (2) Robin Gottsman, 51, Ho Ho Kus, N.J., 26:38 (3) Jean Cushing, 50, Marion, 28:09 (4) Jane Holler, 57, Milford, Conn., 29:21 (5) Deborah Stoker, 54, Dover, 29:27.

Male 60-69 (1) Robert Knight, 63, Hopkinton, N.H., 20:24 (2) Jim Austin, 64, East Wareham, 21:42 (3) John Flannery, 60, Edgartown, 23:53 (4) Rob Doyle, 63, Tisbury, 23:56, (5) Bill Cooper, 64, Mattapoisett, 24:05.

Female 60-69 (1) Phyllis Kugler, 60, West Tisbury, 24:59 (2) Elizabeth Buff, 64, Far Hills, N.J., 28:33 (3) Joan Eville, 63, Oak Bluffs, 32:50 (4) Margaret Yates, 63, Falmouth, 37:13 (5) Carolyn Bird, 67, Falmouth, 37:25.

Male 70 plus (1) Bob Yates, 70, Falmouth, 34:50 (2) Edmund Stibitz, 81, Edgartown, 36:22.

Female 70 plus (1) Doris Beatty, 72, Falmouth, 35:47.

Fun run won

Forty-five youngsters ran the fun run mile, none faster than 10-year-old Jeremy Tagler Alley of Vineyard Haven who completed the distance in 5:58.

Gretchen Cahill, 10, of Acton was second in 6:55. Then came (3) Brian O'Callaghan, 9, Quincy, 7:02 (4) Alley Furlong, 12, South Glastonbury, Conn., 7:29 (5) Brett Medeiros, 7, New Bedford, 7:32 (6) Sarah Rehak, 10, Topsfield, 7:37 (7) Ginny Black, 10, 7:51 (8) Jessica Chabot, 1, Sharon, 7:55 (9) Adam Ryder, 12, Acton, 8:00 and (10) Ben Stockman, 12, Darien, Conn.

Eighty walkers competed in the 5K, with 12-year-old Jaime Matson of East Hartford, Conn., pacing the field at 28:39.

The top ten Vineyarders were: (5) Margery Ablon, 58, West Tisbury, 33:05 (7) Bruce Minna, 60, Edgartown, 38:21 (11) Susan McCarthy, 52, Edgartown, 42:33 (12) Donna Joyce, 65, Oak Bluffs, 42:34 (19) Clara Kisko, 55, Edgartown, 43:15 (20) Sam Feldman, 77 Chilmark, 43:20 (29) Samantha Ablon, 25, West Tisbury, 45:29 (31) Neil Maciel, 52, Tisbury, 45:37 (32) Alice Robinson, 52, 45:38 and (38) Katherine Davey, 42, Oak Bluffs, 48:02.

Memorial Day road race draws large crowd

By Aubrey Gibavic

Thursday was hot, Friday was humid, but by the time Sunday rolled around the thick air had cleared out and the weather was perfect for running. My aunt Gail and I joined nearly 500 other runners and walkers for the Oak Bluffs Memorial Day Road Race, a scenic 5K jaunt that started at Ocean Park and took a picturesque route up and around East Chop.

Race director Roger Wey said this was one of the largest races he has overseen, but the 14th annual race went off without a hitch. We signed up a day early, so our fee was $15, and we scored candy red tee-shirts, while race-day registration was $20. All the money went to support Hospice of Martha's Vineyard.

My aunt and I ran a similar 5K in Oak Bluffs last Thanksgiving morning, when it was rainy, cold, and generally miserable. So we were eager to give an Oak Bluffs race another go with better weather.

The event kicked off at 10:30 am when 45 people - mostly kids - participated in a 1-mile fun run. The 3.1-mile road race began a half hour later, when runners gathered next to Ocean Park on Lake Avenue. The elite, seasoned runners huddled near the front, but you could find us with the more casual runners in the back. We mingled among locals and weekend visitors, mothers with strollers, and even struck a brief friendship with an off-Island couple that was dragging their chubby 6- and 12-year-old dogs along.

Surprised by the gun-less start, we quickly joined the swarm of red-shirted runners down Lake Avenue past Our Market, up and along New York Avenue, then onto East Chop Drive. Runners took in the sweeping panorama of Nantucket Sound, and quickly grabbed cups of water offered at the various stations.

I ran a half-marathon last fall and plan to run a second this autumn, but my pace keeps me - happily - near the back of the pack. This is where I witnessed a group of middle-aged women, who, in order to keep each other motivated going up Telegraph Hill, were commenting on one another's derrières. My aunt, who had fallen about a minute behind me, said the faint panting from the aged dogs lapping at her heels kept her moving.

I was impressed that at each cross street there was an Oak Bluffs police or fire official stationed to block traffic, so the runners could take up the entire expanse of the road.

Just after the three-mile marker I saw the finish line, but it took a race volunteer to tell me "you can walk now!" to realize that I had officially finished. The whole scene was chaotic, with Mr. Wey ushering in finishers with a bullhorn, and volunteers snapping up identification numbers while handing out ribbons.

I finished in 32:14 - respectable, but not impressive - but felt like I could have run a second race on the spot. I had just met up with my parents when Gail was spotted coming around the bend. She came in at 33:46.

The last runner finished in just under an hour. Runners were treated to cold bottles of water, bananas, and orange slices, courtesy of Hospice.

My parents got a kick out of watching the first wave of runners cross the finish line. Young and old reached the end together, some crossed with a smile on their face and others looked like the exertion was too much for their bodies to handle. My dad said one man waited just until crossing the finish line to regurgitate what looked like florescent Gatorade. My mom, too busy snapping pictures, was sorry she missed the spectacle.

After cooling down, I congratulated my fellow Times staffer Eleni Collins for beating me by a good six minutes, and my family toured the Oak Bluffs harborfront shops and restaurants. We hope to be back again next year.

The top ten finishers, all men, were led by Islander Matthew Hyde, who finished in 16:42, nearly 50 seconds slower than last year's winning time.

OB uber alles

The Oak Bluffs school baseball and softball teams made it look easy, claiming the Island interscholastic championship trophies on their own field Tuesday and Wednesday.

Ben Ciciora started on the mound for the Blazers, Tuesday, and pitched four scoreless innings for the win. Relief pitchers Kevin Gallaghan and Will Stewart took their turns on he mound and kept Tisbury's bats silent.

Ciciora stroked home runs in the 2nd and 4th. Final score: O.B. 14, Tisbury 0.

The next day. Emily Williston's left-handed servings held Tisbury in check as she and her teammates were piling up 19 runs, 12 in the bottom of the second, to Tisbury's six.

Emily Williston was the second lefty to leave the Tigers blue.

Kevin Gallaghan, just beats Michael Montanile's tag at third in the Blazers nine-run first.

Southpaw Ben Ciciora tamed the Tigers on both sides of the plate, with shutout pitching and two home runs.

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