2019 Shannon Trail Series #2 review/finale preview

We had a successful (If I do say so myself) Trail Series Race #2 this weekend in the San Angelo State Park. We had 132 runners between the 5k and 12k series and the weather was absolutely perfect for trail running. Granted, for those of us not running, we had to huddle around the propane heaters and bundle up.

We went out a few weeks on our normal SARL Tuesday night run to start marking the course. We quickly realized that this year's course would have to be different than last year's.

Kent threw a rock in, water was ankle deep (All photos are from Jammie Preiser unless otherwise noted)

So, we had to start looking for a new route.

...now what?

maybe over there?

I guess this year we'd have to be a bit creative with the course.

we ended up not even going this way

As race day got closer, we tried a few different times to mark/measure the course. Once, we were thwarted by strong winds. Kent and Ross ended up marking most of the course during the day (with some help from Jon).

making sure it's visible (photo credit: Jon Preiser)

A few views from the course:

for sure go the correct way (photo credit: Daniela De La Cerda)

the bench was back this year

(photo credit: Jon Preiser)

We did the SoCo bib party then a few of the SARL board members were crazy enough to camp out the night before. (No, I wasn't one of them, I don't have nearly the right gear for anything under 50 degrees)

we even got Mila to come help out

(photo credit: Cliff De La Cerda)

Jammie and I were both able to wrangle some of our students to volunteer with us and we had a good 316 TRS contingent at the race.

And, I made it to the Team RWB picture on time! (Ally specifically came to get me cuz she knows I get bummed that I miss it)

(photo credit: Brenda Batista Tyler)

We had 132 racers between the two distances (5k and 12k) and they had to take off in opposite directions. I know there were a few falls out there but I think only one person came close to getting lost. Luckily we saw her heading off in the wrong direction and Super Dennis was able to track her down. Due to the nature of trails, we knew that the 5k would be a little long but we weren't quite sure about the 12k. Yes, the whole course had been marked and run, but not in one shot. According to Kent, it was "somewhere between 7 and 8 miles." So, 12k... give or take a k.
As with the last race, we awarded the top 3 male and female finishers of each distance and everyone earned points towards those coveted series places (yes, I'll get to the breakdown of that shortly).

5k third and first, Adrian and Xavier

nope, not posed at all

12k ladies second and third Kathryn and Lucie

12k top 3 Blake, Austin, and Tyler

5k top 3 Monica, Vanessa, and Celeste

One more picture that I HAVE to get in here before going to the breakdown:

"it's not a trail run unless there's a little blood"- Kent Fish. These are Kathryn Staha's knees, she took 2nd in the 12k

How the scoring system works

Just as in team cross country, the amount of points a person receives is based directly on their overall finishing place. If they come in 45th, they get 45 points. Hence, the lower the score, the better. In order for someone to make up points, they need to beat someone by at least that many places. If a runner is three points behind someone, they would have to come in four places ahead of them to move past them. In the event of a tie, the lowest composite time is the tiebreaker.

Short Series breakdown

Overall

Xavier Gomez has been the winner of both races with Marcelo Barraza coming in second both times. They're looking good right now but will have to finish well to maintain their spots.

2x champ Xavier

I had a hard time calling out Marcelo's bib number because he was moving so fast

The real race might be for third place overall between Matt Garcia and last year's series champ Adrian Rodriguez. They have flip flopped third and fourth over the two races (meaning they both have 7 points) but Matt holds a 53 second lead. Whoever wins the last race, takes home the overall bronze. This will obviously have big implications in their age groups as well.

Adrian holding off Matt for the close finish

On the ladies' side, the podium has been the same in each race with Celesete Lozano winning, Vanessa Saavedra in second and Monica Minzenmayer in third. Melanie Baucom has also been fourth in both races and is just three points behind Monica.

0-19

Jamison Jurado looks like he will be a repeat winner this year as he is in fifth overall with 11 points. Cole Warren is sitting in second with 34 points, 15 in front of Tony Velasquez. Those three young men will likely finish in that order unless some craziness happens.

There's some good competition on the ladies' side as just one point separates first place Lia Lozano and second place Tatum Reeves. Ariel Schmidt is the only 0-19 female to do both races, so she has a great shot of ending up with the gold.

20-29

The 20-29 men's division is the age group I'm most looking forward to. Right now, the aforementioned Adrian Rodriguez is firmly in first with an eye on jumping into the top three overall. Team RWB member Tjay Sughrue also has a pretty good hold on second, 20 points behind Adrian. After that, it gets interesting. In third and fourth are my students Ben Morris and Tripp Hutson with 84 and 88 points. However, Ben will not be here for the last race and I am unsure if Tripp will be there. That puts Zach Daniel (113 points) and James Avampato (120 points) in position to take home a medal.

Ben Morris finishing sixth overall

The ladies have Vanessa Rodriguez, who finished second last year, with a good lead. She is only 11 points out of third place overall. Second place belongs to Caitlyn Howarth only eight points in front of last year's overall champ Alex Rodriguez. Assuming they all show up, that should be 1-2-3.

Alex Rodriguez finishing up

30-39

The men's 30-39 is the most competitive (as usual) with Carlos Cruz, last year's long course 20-29 second place, in the lead. Cody Guins finished in third last year but is second this year, only one point ahead of Victoriano Aguirre and his awesome mustache.

Jann Jann Jurado, third last year, is just 11 points behind Victoriano.

On the ladies' side, we have yet another Jurado in the mix and Jennifer leads the group. Dionnie Hoelsken is 17 points back in second and Jammie Preiser, who supplies most of the pics for these race reports, is in third. Jammie will need to run well as Jessica Perry and Lainey Ward are both within six points of her.

Jammie had to sprint to the finish after a strong challenge from Sophia Flores

40-49

Melanie Baucom lead the women's division but Kathleen Scott (51 points) is only 10 points behind. Berrangere Tharp (60 points) rounds out the medals and stood with me a while at the finish line cheering people on. She said that it's been a while since she's been out on the trails and is enjoying her comeback.

There are only two men running this year so last years second place winner Bob Biggers leads with Gerald Jost 25 points back in second.

50-59

The male division is another very competitive one. Wendell Baucom, second last year, leads with 29 points. Neal McSpedden is only 10 points behind. Greg Larson is third with 73 points, but Dennis Hayes, third last year, is only 3 behind.

Deloras Shubert is picking up where she left off last year by leading. Bertha Terrazas is 10 points behind and Sharon Simmons is just 16 points behind her. All three women should be able to place if they finish the last race.

60+

Terry Shaner, who went back and forth with me on the long course last year while finishing second, dropped to the short course this year. He leads the way as last year's winner Wendell Wheaton in second with 62 points. James Meador is just 13 points back.

Kimberly Atkins is your leader with 93 points. Beth Sindorf has 119 points but Lisette Alverio is right behind her with 126.

Long Course (10k, 12k, 15k)

Overall

Tyler Ferguson has won the first two races and is the favorite to win the whole series. Stephen Shields and Blake Snider (2nd in 40-49 last year) are tied at six points but Stephen is roughly three minutes ahead. Just behind him with 10 and 12 points are David Warren and Taylor Harrison.

Lisa Warechowski, last year's 50-59 champ is a double overall winner but there is competition behind her. Daniela Munoz (31 points) and bloody-kneed Kathryn Staha (34 points) are only 3 points apart. Right behind them are Lucie Jenkins (41 points) are Rocio Cruz (42 points).

0-19

Austin Stone and Dani Jenkins are our only under 20 runners. Austin, whose parents told us about his struggles with Crohn's disease, came in second in the 12k and we hope to see him back for the 15k.

Austin Stone led the way for much of the race

20-29

20-29 year old men pack the top of the standings, with four of them in the top eight overall. Taylor Harrison, last year's winner, is leading again. Another of my students, Kelvin Ngo has the tie breaker over Dillon Smith for second place. However, Kelvin, like Ben, likely won't be here for the last race of the series. That means last year's 15-29 5k series champ, Augustine Mendoza has a good chance of getting the bronze.

Kelvin is now a real trail runner, having fallen down, busting his knee, and still finishing strong

Rocio Cruz, third place last year, is leading this year and JUST outside the top three overall. Hot on her heels is Kaitlynn LeBrasseur, just 10 points back with 52. There's another close competition for third where Emily Hughes has 84 points but Maria Ochoa is just one point back. Maria didn't show at the first race, so she has a good shot at taking that bronze.

30-39

The men's 30-39 division was bound to have a lot of turnover this year as no one from last year's top five are running this year. Including the two race directors. That's not to say that there's a bunch of slow pokes this year, however. Group leader David Warren is fourth overall with 10 points. Team RWB chapter captain Lenny Christo continues a strong 12 months in second with 15 points. That places him in striking distance of first place. Third place is Mason McClintock, who rocketed up the leaderboards after improving 20 places between the first and second race. Roman Rocha was third in the 15k last year but is 14 points back of Mason this year.

For the women, Lucie Jenkins is fourth overall and has a pretty good lead on the division. There's a close race for second as Jaime Scott has 57 points and Ashley McClintock has 60. Katy George is just behind her with 65 points.

Super Smiley Ashley

40-49

Lance Overstreet has a decent lead with 25 points but there is plenty still to be decided behind him. Heath Stiles (48 points), Charles Hodges (51 points), Kelly Koenig (52 points), and Duane Limbaugh (55 points) are all battling for the other medals.

Lucia led the series to this point last year also, but fell sick and ended up in 3rd. There's room for movement in the division as Jennifer Limbaugh has 72 points, Rachel Campbell (former SARL treasurer) has 77, and Maria Cahill has 86.

50-59

Lynn Zaruba has recovered from the injury he suffered in race #2 last year to lead so far this year. Jimmy Aguero is in second with 65 points but there's a lot going on behind him. Brad Ewing has 68 points, Warren Conway has 69, Petey Lozano has 71, and Scott Hooten has 85.

On the lady's side, Lisa Warechowski is the overall leader. That leaves Robbie Wilson (85) and Tammy Brown (107) as the other two runners.

We should have a "best beard" medal for Lynn too

60+

Kent Fish again leads this year. I mean, he DOES mark the course so he's got an unfair advantage. Lloyd Lavender is the other 60+ gentleman. Susan Terry was second in 50-59 last year and is our only 60+ female runner.

And, that's it. That's how the divisions are shaping up with one race left for the series. Good luck to all the runners! If you'd still like to register for race #3, you can here. I hope to see you there!