Award Winners – 2015

GRAND PRIX OVERALL WINNERS

Women

1. Sage Norton
2. Shannon Matthews
3. Katelin Peropat
4. Cassy Crouse
5. Jenny Hallberg

Men

1. Eric Cameron
2. David Welch
3. Joe Basford
4. Steve Dobson
5. Chad Connors

GRAND PRIX AGE-GROUP WINNERS

Women

Under 13

1. Emma Strickland
2. Sola Beers Arthur

14-29

1. Kristen Dodd
2. Alisyn Henry
3. Meaghan Vance
4. Stacy Miller

30-39

1. Kelly Schultz
2. Katy Warehime
3. Crystal Tressler
4. Jan Harris
5. Allison Bierly

40-49

1. Ruth Taylor
2. Angie Burnette
3. Jill Cameron
4. Pam Geernaert *13 races
5. Joanne Hawelka

50-59

1. Lorraine Sullivan
2. Dinny Bedard
3. Harriet Langlois
4. Robin McConaughey
5. Lib Rood

60-69

1. Anne Light
2. Loretta Fahey
3. Margo Smith

70+

1. Dee Nelson

Men

Under 13

1. Owen Bubczyk

14-29

1. Javier Montenegro

30-39

1. Jason Lawrence
2. David Miller
3. Joshua Roane
4. Rick Albee

40-49

1. John Way
2. Mike Geisler
3. Victor Cretella
4. Billy Clem
5. Chris Beers- Arthur

50-59

1. Lou King
2. Neil Gager

60-69

1. Malcolm Senior
2. Timothy Morgan
3. Tim O’Keefe
4. Mike O’Grady
5. Bruce Attavian

70+

1. Art Gregory
2. John Clarke

GRAND PRIX QUALIFIERS

• Becky Boughn *13 races
• Nikki Martin
• Shawn Burns
• Heidi Novak
• Jennifer Sauter
• Mary Kay Morgan
• Casii Dodd
• Michelle Mitchell
• Risa Clem
• Christine Mosher
• Brenda Jacobs
• Karyn Spertzel
• Lori Marsh
• Susan Jensen

EQUALIZER SERIES

Women

1. Sage Norton
2. Katelin Peropat
3. Ruth Taylor

Men

1. Malcolm Senior
2. Steve Dobson
3. Tim Morgan

DECATHLON SERIES

Women

1. Dee Nelson
2. Ruth Taylor
3. Angie Burnette
4. Emma Strickland
5. Nina Connors
6. Catherine Badger
7. Lorraine Sullivan
8. Harriet Langlois
9. Cheryl Connors
10. Jamie Wisz

Men

1. Malcolm Senior
2. Victor Cretella
3. Stephan Dobson
4. Arthur Gregory
5. Timothy Morgan
6. John Way
7. James Moreland
8. Tim O’Keefe
9. Mike Geisler
10. Lou King

MD GRAND PRIX SERIES

• Ruth Taylor (2nd Overall)
• Steve Dobson (2nd in his age group)
• James Moreland (2nd in his age group)
• Bruce Attavian (1st in his age group)
• Art Gregory (1st in his age group)
• Dee Nelson (2nd in her age group)
• Karsten Brown (1st in his age group)
• Angie Burnette (3rd in her age group)
• John Way (1st in his age group)
• Malcolm Senior (1st in his age group)

MAJOR AWARDS

Rising Star Women – Shannon Matthews

New to the Steeplechasers in November 2014 this individual has made quite an impact on the club. Ranging in distances from the mile to the marathon, running times from 5:58 to 3:20 respectively, she is truly a force to be reckoned with. She is a hard worker, constantly striving for more, self-driven and often training alone as she juggles the schedules of her three young children.

She placed 2nd over in the Steeplechasers Grand Prix and 4th overall in the Equalizer Series, posting a 2nd place in her age group in the Frederick Half with a time of 1:32:30, a 3rd place overall finish in the Parkway Panda 5k with a time of 20:06, later in the summer she placed 2nd overall in the Women’s Distance Festival with a time of 20:04. Most notably she raced a 5:58 in the Market Street Mile then turned around the next day and completed the Parks Half Marathon in 1:33:40, fast enough for a 1st in her age group.

She raced to a PR in the marathon this past fall in Freedom’s Run, she was the 2nd female and raced to a finish time of 3:20:02. To her credit she has two individual wins, Dog Days 8k in 33:52 and Cold Turkey 10k on Thanksgiving.

This individual is a tremendous asset to the Steeplechasers Racing Team; quiet and unassuming, strong and fierce, truly a seasoned runner and racer. 2016 is sure to be a great year for our 2015 Rising Star, Shannon Matthews.

Rising Star Men – David Miller

In his first full year of running, our Men’s Rising Star completed several road and obstacle course races; finishing a Spartan Race Trifecta, several half marathons, a marathon, and 50Ks.

He decided early in the year that he wanted to run the Catoctin 50k, after crewing for the last 2 years. He started trail running early and quickly increased his mileage.  He ran the Frederick half, and a trail half in the spring… then he devoted most of his running on trails.  He ran the Catoctin 50k, finishing in just over 8 hrs.  A few weeks later, the Maryland Heat 50k, and then a few weeks after that, 6 loops of Rick’s Run.  He also managed to run his first marathon, running the Marine Corps Marathon in 4:45:21. 

After completing a marathon and several 50Ks, he decided to keep his mileage up, by training for the Stone Mill 50 miler!  So he ran another 50K (a training run) to train for it!

Several of these runs were Grand Prix races. He ran strong and fast, earning enough points to place in the top 5 of his age group, males 30-39! 

For a new runner, his accomplishments are plenty, and quite impressive!  Congratulations David Miller!

Most Improved Women – Katy Warehime

This award recipient was a college runner and has had a great running career.  Since joining the club she has shown that her strong competitive days are not over.  This person has shown great improvement in her half marathon from a 2:08 at Freedoms to a 1:51 finish 6 weeks later.  But where she really excels is in the shorter races.  She had a strong showing at the decathlon with some speedy races such as a 6:22 1500 meter race, and a 37 second 200 meters.  She attacked the Women’s Distance Festival 5K circuit like a pro –racing consistently under 23 minute races in Frederick, Columbia, and Westminster.  Her fall running ended with a 56: 29 10K at the Freedoms Run in October.  This runner will have a new set of goals and challenges for 2016 as she gets ready to begin the ultra-marathon of motherhood and the joys of chasing around twins.  This year’s Most Improved runner is Katy Warehime  

Most Improved Men – Jason Lawrence

Our most improved male took strides forward in both race times and distance from 2014 to 2015. There were four races on his 2015 race calendar which he also ran in 2014. In each of these races, he made dramatic improvements to his time.

The most impressive was dropping his time in the Rescue Mission 10 miler from 1:26:55 to 1:14:36. He also took over 11 minutes off his Frederick Half Marathon time, coming in at 1:38:39 in the second leg of the Nut Job series.

He improved by 39 seconds in the world famous Run for the Pie and by 1 minute and 42 seconds in the Run for Recovery 5k, posting a 20:03.

On the year our most improved runner set PR’s in the 5k, 10k, 10 mile and half marathon. After all these accomplishments, he took the next step and made the move to the full marathon distance where he completed the Marine Corps Marathon in 3:51:17.

We are sure many more PR’s are in the cards for our 2015 Most Improved Runner, Jason Lawrence.

Iron Woman – Lisa Johnston

Your Iron Woman of the year for 2015 doubled the number of 100 mile races she completed in 2015 as compared to 2014. Along the way she had 2 monkeys she had to get off her back, previous DNFs at both Eastern States 100 and Oil Creek 100. She started the year with three impressive finishes at Elizabeth’s Furnace 50K, Hat Run 50K and Bull Run Run 50 Miler. She then completed the C&O Canal 100 and MMT 100 within three weeks of each other. At the C&O Canal 100 she struggled through cold rain and sleet to finish first female with a 100-mile PR of 21:38. Three weeks later she was at it again making the transition from the very flat C&O Canal course to the rocky, mountainous MMT 100. After finishing MMT 100 she ran the Catoctin 50K as a warmup before tackling the intimidating Eastern States 100 course and getting that monkey off her back. She loves the heat but even she will say that it was “HOT” that day. If you ask her how the Eastern States 100 course was the first thing you will hear is “it’s not 100 miles, it is 108 miles”. The next monkey was Oil Creek 100. After a strong start she started to fade due to lack of nutrition. As any good spouse would do, her husband jumped in to pace her through the cold night. He did this wearing regular street cloths, jeans with long johns. Don’t let anyone ever tell you they need expense running cloths. This finished her 100-mile season but she still had the JFK 50 to do and she couldn’t just run it slow. Her coach, Mike Spinnler, had high expectations and she was able to deliver. She finished 14th women overall and 3rd Masters female. Her very impressive year was recognized by Ultra Running magazine whose current issue lists her as one of the top female 100 mile finishers for 2015. Your 2015 Iron Woman of the year, Lisa Johnston.

Iron Man – Jim Treece

Your Iron Man for 2015’s love for running and his positive outlook has inspired many to run distances longer than they ever imagined in their wildest expectations. Despite all of the time he puts in training, he always has time to help out other runners looking to break into the world of ultra-running.  His never say die attitude has pushed him through some of the toughest moments imaginable; rain, heat, cold, sleet, near single digit wind chills. Anyone who has had the pleasure of running with him will tell you the same, you never hear a negative word coming from him. If you do get the chance to run with him, be forewarned, he has never shied away from a high mileage training run and there is no such thing as starting too early in the morning.

He started 2015 off with a 6:37 at the PHUNT 50K in Elkton, Maryland. He followed that with a 6:24 at the Seneca Greenway Trail 50K. He then pulled off a streak of five races that would make even the most hard core ultra-runners shake their head in amazement. He started with the flat C&O Canal 100-mile race in April followed three weeks later by the rocky, mountainous MMT 100-mile race in May. Unintimidated by what is considered one of the toughest 100 mile runs around, he took on Eastern States in August and followed that up with the Oil Creek 100 in October. He ended the year the way he started the streak, on a flat course in Daytona, Florida, running the inaugural Daytona 100. That’s an unbelievable 5 100-mile races in one year, truly legitimizing his selection as your Iron man for 2015, Jim Treece.

Junior Runner of the Year Girls – Emma Strickland

Our Junior Runner of the Year for girls may be small in stature, but she is a force to reckon with.  She has shown considerable talent in everything from the track to 10 mile road races, and trails.  At just 13 years old she is dominating the competition with her strongest performances in the 800, 400 & 200m.  She achieved over 80% age grade in each of those distances.  Her times are blazing with a 2:35 800, 29 second 200 and 65 second 400 in the decathlon series.  Her phenomenal times landed her in 4th place overall for the decathlon series, despite only running 7 of the 10 races.  Her success continued throughout the Summer and Fall Grand Prix Series.  She had exceptional performances in the Market Street Mile with a time of 6:07 and the Waddle Wattle in 35:52.  Both had an age grade of over 73%.  These performances helped secure 1st place in her age group and 10th place overall.  Beyond the Steeplechasers she is a National level competitor, competing in several district, regional and national AAU competitions, competing in the Pentathlon, cross country, and several track distances.  Most recently she

competed in the AAU cross country national meet, running the 4k race in 16:51.  We’re really looking forward to seeing this young runner continue to fly.  Congratulations Emma Strickland!

Junior Runner of the Year Boys – Owen Bubczyk

Our boys Junior runner of the year is showing all the signs of becoming a future superstar.  He has great versatility from fast times on the track to 10 miles on the road; even getting a trail race under his belt in 2015.  Where he really shined in 2015 was on the track, particularly in the 800 & 1500 m.  He clocked a 2:46 800 and 5:37 1500, giving him an age grade of over 68% for those two distances.  At the Mission 10 Miler, a distance most 13 year olds never run, let alone race, he finished in 1:19:27. His 5 mile performances in Grand Prix races Forest of Needwood and Waddle Wattle helped him score a perfect 50 points for his age group and 11th place overall. In March he ran the Forest of Needwood in 36:37 and improved his 5 mile time at the Waddle Wattle with a 35:40.  This talented young runner is just getting started and we look forward to watching him continue to improve in the coming year.  Congratulations Owen Bubczyk.  

Grand Master Runner of the Year Women – Loretta Fahey

Our 2015 Womens Grand Master Runner of the Year winner has shown talent in multiple distances, but where she really shines is the 10k thru half marathon. He best age grade race for the year was in the Across The Bay 10 k in 1:04:17, at 65.8%. She also had a comparable time in the Pikes Peak 10k in Montgomery county. She raced the Rock n Roll Half Brooklyn in 2:21:26, which gave her 3rd pace in her division, a considerable achievement in a field of over 13,000 runners. She was 9th overall in the equalizer series, and at 66 years old, she is the only women over 60 to crack the top 15 in that series. Not only is she racing well, she is racing a lot. According to our records, she logged over 20 races in 2015, consistently placing in the top 2 in her age group. We would like to congratulate our 2015 Womens Grand Master Winner…Loretta Fahey.

Grand Master Runner of the Year Men – Tim O’Keefe

Our Grand Master Runner of the Year shines as a true ambassador of the club, in both racing and volunteerism.

Participating in nine decathlon events, he finished 8th overall in the summer track series and he finished 3rd in the ultra-competitive 60-69 year old Grand Prix division, completing 8 races of the schedule.

Throughout the Decathlon, he consistently posted age graded times over 70%, highlighted by a 73% AG 2:53 in the 800 meter.

In the Grand Prix series, he shined in the 5k events, always posting times around the 23 minute mark which breaks the 70% AG.

Venturing outside of the area, he took to the Pittsburgh circuit, taking 4th place age group honors in the Steelers 5k in a season best 22:07 and winning his age group in the Mario Lemieux Foundation Penguins 6.6k in 30.20.

In addition to his excellent race performances, he is always willing to give his time to the club and shows sincere interest in the accomplishments of other runners, as witnessed this and every year with his recognition of decathlon winners.

This year’s grand master runner of the year…Tim O’Keefe.

Master Runner of the Year Women – Ruth Taylor

Our Master runner of the year is a force to be reckoned with in all distances. From an incredible 5:53 in the Westminster Main Street Mile, for an impressive 81.58% age grade, to an age group award in her first ever 50 miler, Ruth Taylor is a strong competitor. Ruth has shown herself to be skilled on the track, winning 2nd place in a competitive Summer decathlon series. All that speed work helped her nail overall awards or 1st place age group awards in multiple 5k’s, including 1st place overall in the Christmas Caper 5k last month. Ruth not only has the speed, but also the endurance to run marathons and ultras. She completed the Shamrock Marathon, NYC Marathon, Capon Valley 50k, and Stone Mill 50 miler, along with winning 2nd place in her age group at the hilly New Hampshire Marathon in a speedy 3:35. Ruth won first place in the 40-49 age group for the Steeplechasers Grand Prix, and third overall in the Equalizer series. On top of that, she won 2nd overall in the Maryland RRCA Grand Prix series. 

Ruth certainly has a long list of race accomplishments, but some of her biggest contributions to Frederick Steeplechasers can’t be measured in numbers. As a co-chair on the Social Committee, and someone who always encourages other runners, she is an invaluable member to our club and the entire running community. Congratulations on another great year, Ruth Taylor.

Masters Runner of the Year Men – Chris VanSant

New to the Steeplechasers this runner took the scene by storm.  He displays a true passion for the sport and is always striving for improvement. He is speedy across the board consistently posting age grade results in the 70s from the 5k to the marathon.

He had an 18 second PR in the 5k and a 6 minute PR in the marathon, running 18:27 and 3:19:22 respectively. The 3:19 was good enough for his first Boston Qualifier! He ran a 1:29:13 half-marathon at the Bachman Valley Half in September, giving him a 2nd place age group finish. He kept his PR streak alive this fall running a 38:13 in the Across the Bay 10k. He rounded out his season with a 9th place finish at Waddle Wattle posting a 31:39 for 5 miles.

Always looking for faster runner to train with in order to improve himself, a hard worker and self-motivated. I suspect we will see many great results for him in 2016. He has been a great addition to the Racing Team and the club. Your Masters Runner of the Year for 2015 is Chris VanSant.

Runner of the Year Women – Sage Norton

Our runner of the year had an incredible year. Already one of the top regional runners, Sage Norton pushed herself even harder in 2015 to achieve PR’s across the board. A few notable accomplishments are her first place finishes in the Mission 10 Miler, Parkway Panda 5k, Rockville 10k, and the Steeplechasers Run for the Pie 10k, where she was also the first female to win overall in the race’s history. Sage finished second at the Frederick Half Marathon with a PR of 1:20, and first in her age group at the Richmond Half, which was completed during a tough 80 mile training week. 

While she has put up impressive times in shorter distances, Sage’s focus this year has been the marathon. Her determination paid off with a huge 8 minute PR at Grandma’s Marathon in a blazing time of 2:46. She continued her training to run 2:47 at California International Marathon. Both proving she is a top level marathoner.

Sage not only won the Frederick Steeplechasers Grand Prix series with a perfect score, she also dominated the Equalizer series. She is a club officer and served as the racing chair in its 2015 inaugural year. Sage is an inspirational role model to us all as she continually sets goals at a high level and works hard to achieve them. We look forward to seeing what she has planned next…Our 2015 Runner of the Year, Sage Norton.

Runner of the Year Men – Eric Cameron

Our male runner of the year took on all distances in 2015, from 200 meters to 50 miles. His year was highlighted by completing three marathons, getting progressively faster in each one. He took on Rock n Roll DC in March, posting a 3:21 and followed that up by taking 5 minutes off his time just a month later in the Gettysburg North – South Marathon, coming in at 3:16. This impressive marathon provided as a nice tune up race for the Frederick Half Marathon, which he completed the following Sunday in 1:28:18.

His summer racing got started with a solid 1:07 in the Baltimore 10 miler. He was able to use 5 of the decathlon series event to continue improving his speed in preparation for fall his races. His summer racing concluded with the everso-challenging Run For The Pie, where he got an early pie selection by finishing 3rd place overall in an impressive 41:34.

In what turned out to be a very rewarding fall race schedule, our runner of the year dropped over 2 minutes from his spring 10 mile time completing the Army 10 mile course in 1:05. Then he improved his marathon time by 7 minutes from Gettysburg race, finishing the Baltimore marathon in a Boston Qualifying 3:09:49.

To round out what was an incredibly impressive 2015 race calendar; our runner of the year took on the Stone Mill 50 miler in November, where he cruised to a 45th place finish in 9:24.

In addition to this busy race and training schedule, in mid-August, our runner of the year broke out his plaid vest and knickers and took to the Frederick streets on his high wheel bike. The Clustered Spires High Wheel Race was his first of the sort and after just a year of practice finished in 1st place – quite an impressive feat.

Congratulations to our 2015 Runner of the Year…Eric Cameron.

Anderer Award – Scott Meredith

The Anderer Award for outstanding volunteer effort to the club was named for Ken Anderer who had picked up the duty of conducting finish line timing for club races.  Ken picked up this duty after years of membership in the club, and he hung on to the responsibility for over 15 years.  Given that the revenue generated from finish line timing made up about half of the club’s annual operating revenue, that was a huge contribution to make for that long a period of time.  

Back then, the club did timing services for about 15 events a year, and we were very grateful to have someone like Ken who would coordinate with the race directors and bring the equipment to every event and conduct the finish line timing.  He would do it without even knowing who else was going to show up to help.  Then, about 6 years ago, Ken decided to move out west.  He gave his notice and then turned over the finish line equipment to the Club President who was Mark Lawrence.

Mark had so much respect for the work Ken had done so diligently for all those years that he proposed renaming the award that was given to the club’s outstanding volunteer each year from the Lewis Award to the Anderer Award that we now present.

Since that time, we have more than doubled the number of events we support annually, and we’ve added the service of marking courses in addition to doing the finish lines.  This means that for events that we provide both course marking and finish lines, we need volunteers who are willing to be out there at least 90 minutes before the event starts and then take another 90 minutes after it’s over to complete the results and un-mark the course.  

To put this in perspective, when Ken Anderer did finish lines, it was about 2 hours of volunteer effort for about 15 events a year. Now the duty can require up to 4 hours of effort and we do it twice as often.  For several years, this effort was carried-on by Mark Lawrence with consistent help from long time club members such as Dwyane Late, Tim O’Keefe, Anne Light, Peggy and George Waxter who were all very regular finish line helpers.  But in recent years, we’ve had an influx of many newer members that have pitched-in and helped to share and spread the load.   But while getting new helping hands is great, finding people who are willing to take charge of the overall responsibility for providing the timing support for a race has been a much harder commodity to find. . . that is until this year.

This year’s Anderer Award winner not only was there to help with 20 finish lines and mark a dozen courses, but he additionally proved himself to be a reliable and extremely competent replacement for Mark on several occasions as he took charge and orchestrated the race support for successful events such as the Sneakers for Scholars 5K, the Run for Shelter, the Princess & Pirate 5K, the Race for School Choice, and the Wattle Waddle.  His calm and competent leadership has added significantly to the Club’s race support committee, so tonight we want to recognize and thank him in the hope he will continue playing the role of great club member, contributor and leader; and will inspire others to help as well.  Please show your appreciation for the efforts of this year’s Anderer Award Winner:  SCOTT MEREDITH 

President’s Award – Brent Ayer

The FSRC President’s Award was established in 2010 as an award “Given to a person whose contribution to running may have transcended the boundaries of the club by having made an exceptional contribution through the years to the running community at large (in other words, think ‘lifetime achievement award’)”

As the sitting president I have the distinct honor and privilege of choosing a recipient of this year’s President’s Award.

There is no one I can think of more deserving than Brent Ayer.

Brent was “discovered” working as a managerial trainee in Woolco at the 7^th street shopping center, by Beverly Byron, wife of US Representative Goodloe Byron. Beverly and Goodloe, both runners, had heard from members of the Frederick County Commission on Physical Fitness, chaired by Beverly, that Brent was a bright, articulate young man, and also a runner.

Brent started in Goodloe’s office, working his way up to Field Representative. Sadly, Brent was running with Goodloe on the C&O Canal when Goodloe passed away, despite the CPR Brent tried to apply.

Brent went on to work for Goodloe’s wife Beverly who ran for and was elected to Goodloe’s seat. In all, Brent spent 30 years in Congress, moving up to be Chief of Staff for Beverly and then for several other Representatives over the years.

While in Congress, Brent was part of the team which wrote legislation on the Appalachian Trail, American Discovery Trail, and Rails to Trails. He promoted running and fitness for congressional Members and their staff through running programs on the Hill, and brought several participants with him to run the Boston Marathon.

After leaving Congress, Brent spent 12 years as Head Coach for Track & Field and Cross Country at Hood College. In the first 16 months of his tenure, participation rose from 8 to 25 athletes, eventually reaching 60, which made his program the largest athletic program under a single coach at the school. While he was coaching, 90 Hood College Track & Field and Cross Country Student-Athletes were chosen All-Conference.  190 Student-Athletes had been chosen Academic All-Conference.

Brett Shelley, who has the unenviable job of trying to fill Brent’s shoes at Hood, said Brent sets up every runner for success on and off the track. Brett considers Brent a mentor, and he is not alone. I, too, am glad to know Brent is always available when advice is needed, and have taken advantage of that on more than one occasion.

Brent had running talent in addition to professional talent. He held several records in his high school and his colleges for distances of 1 mile, 2 miles, 3 miles, 6 miles and marathon. He was a true steeplechaser, winning Eastern Regional Masters Champion in 1998 and USATF Masters All America in 1999 and 2001 for the 3000m steeplechase.

Brent covered over 110,000 miles over 30 years of training as a competitive distance runner.

Brent’s time was not just spent running and working. He was and continues to be an avid volunteer for running organizations.

Over the years, Brent used his spare time giving back to the community. Brent was

• Distance Coach for Frederick Striders Track and Field Club
• Treasurer, President and is currently serving on the Board of Directors for FSRC
• Treasurer, Secretary, Eastern Director and National President for our parent organization, RRCA

The awards Brent has achieved over the years are more numerous than we have time to discuss.

I talked with several folks along the way to learn more about Brent, and there was one common theme. Each had some story to tell about their association with him, but each would say, “Brent tells it better”.

Brent – please come up and receive this token, along with our sincere appreciation for all you have done, and all you continue to do for the running community. Maybe you can share one of those stories you tell so well.