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SUSQUEHANNA RIVER RUNNERS CLUB RUNNER’S $5 DOLLAR 5K |
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A Wish Comes True for Skwierz by Tony Pszeniczny Runners from as far away as Mechanicsburg, Taylor, and Honesdale gathered Saturday night at the Misericordia University outdoor track and field complex to run in the final leg of the Susquehanna River Runners Club's three summer $5 5K races. Little did they know it, but they would also be participating in a race led wire to wire by SRRC president and racing team member Jeff Skwierz who celebrated his birthday by flashing to victory in a time of 16:53. Skwierz recorded his victory after doing a short workout prior to the race. The race for second place was neck and neck from the earliest stages as SRRC racing team members Nick Wadas and John Martino duked it out with neither looking to have an advantage on this night. It wasn't until the later stages that John Martino seemingly broke Wadas' will and began to pull away. However, drawing from deep reserves heretofore unknown to this witness, on the last lap Wadas narrowed the gap and eventually outkicked Martino and snatched second place by a single second. Fourth and fifth places were also hotly contested from the beginning as Kyle Suponcic and Jason Kennedy ran near each other for almost the entire race. Only towards the end did Suponcic begin to pull away, eventually taking fourth. Kennedy came in fifth, ten seconds adrift. Sixth place overall went to a local high schooler, Carson Kosloski. Second male high schooler was Rai-Shawn Rinaldi who rounded out the top ten. Ali Schappert who is a member of the SRRC racing team, was top female and seventh overall, and finished a second less than a minute ahead of Kelsey Cameron who finished ninth overall. Victoria Kwok, another high schooler, was third female. SRRC treasurer and racing team member Mike Kinney was top masters finisher in eighth place overall. He was followed in the masters division by club member Joe Skwierz and out-of-town runner Brad Westhafer. Club member Rich Chase planned to race one mile and finished in a time of 7:21. John Westhafer is recovering from injury and finished two miles of the 5K distance. Warmup and race music was provided by club member, Frank Redmond, who also announced the race, adding to the excitement.
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