Kiwanis All-Comers community track meet draws a crowd

Published 11:40 am Saturday, July 11, 2015

There may be a new hand signaling the start, but the spirit of fun and community remained the same Monday at the first Kiwanis All-Comers community track meet of the summer.

Helmed by new head coordinator Paul Benton, a running coach at Woodward and Bainbridge High School, the free All-Comers meets will be held at 6:30 p.m. every Monday evening at the BHS track through Aug. 10.

Initiated by running coach Jim Whiting, the beloved community tradition features races of various distances, from 50 to 400 meters as well as a mile-long event, which are conducted in heats according to gender and age — from 3 through adults.

Times are tracked and tabulated by student volunteers from the BHS cross country team, and then disseminated via email.

Whiting, who began the event 20 years ago shortly after he and his family relocated to Bainbridge, stepped down as the coordinator after last summer to pursue personal projects, travel and spend more time with his family.

Though an obviously much-loved community tradition, Benton said there was not a long list of volunteers willing to fill the founder’s running shoes and take over the program.

He decided to, he said, because it is an important summertime tradition on the island and one that needs to continue.

Benton plans to keep the event much as it was, making few changes. He has, however, simplified the list of individual events and intends to move from one to the next in an efficient way, ensuring the younger participants don’t “get too antsy while waiting for the ‘Go!’”

He has, he said, discontinued the 80-meter event due to lack of participation. The meet now boasts the following events: The jogger’s mile, a 4×100 relay and a 60-, 100-, 200- and 400-meter run for each age and gender group.

In the jogger’s mile event, runners predict their mile time and then run (without watches) with the winner being the one who most accurately predicted their time.

Benton also said he intends to get more older runners involved, teenagers and adults, as Whiting had envisioned.

Originally, he said, Whiting had intended the event to be for high school runners getting ready for the cross country season, college runners trying to stay in shape during the summer and adults who would be interested in their mile time.

It instead, and quite unexpectedly, drew a large crowd of younger runners and families looking to get active together, eventually becoming one of the most popular summertime traditions on Bainbridge.

Now, with the help of more BHS student volunteers, Benton said he hopes to get more teenagers and parents to attend the meets as well — and actually get out on the track when they get there.

The year’s first meet earlier this week was dominated by 7-year-old Madison Stevens, who won her heat in all five running events.

Tess Longoria and Ellie Murray each won three events as well.

Calvin Moe won both the 100 and the 60-meter hurdles, then ran on the winning 4×100 relay team.

The fastest race of the day was run by Wyatt Longley, who dramatically edged out his high school friend James Payne in the 400-meter event, 53.6 to 54.5.

ALL-COMERS JULY 6 RESULTS

60 METERS

Girls 3 & under: Ines Rufo-Hill 16.6, Rosa Rufo-Hill, Liviana Catinger.

Girls 4: Lauren Roger 19.3, Arabella Ollivier, Emma Ferebee.

Girls 5: Darya Dennon 16.3, Catrina Godfrey, Magda Rufo-Hill.

Girls 7: Madison Stevens 11:1, Kaitlyn Davis, Olyvia Shepard.

Girls 8: Tess Longoria 10.7, Cadence Godey, Willa Skydor.

Girls 9: Emma Kilby and Chloe Lightle 10.4, Julia White.

Girls 10: Ellie Murray 10.1, Haddie Henry, Leila Dugan.

Boys 3 & under: Owen Haizlip 15.6, Owie Ausmeier, Luke Frazer.

Boys 4: Porter Crandull 15.1, Clyde Evans, Brady Treyve.

Boys 5: Calvin Roberson 13.7, Dylan Vonfeldt, Lincoln Moe.

Boys 6: Cole Haizlip 11.2, Shep Horwitz.

Boys 7: Julian Rogers 11.1, Henry Rose; Corbin Mephan.

Boys 8: Nashton Eyrich 10.7, Logan Ferebee, Milo Haizlip.

Boys 9: Graham Goll 10.4.

Boys 10: AJ Stevens 9.6, Calvin Moe, Finn Archbold.

100 METERS

Girls 3 & under: Liviana Gatinger 43.2, Morgan Shutske.

Girls 4: Emma Ferebee 24.6, Lauren Roger, Arabella Ollivier.

Girls 5: Darya Dennon 20.7, Catrina Godfrey, Magda Rufo-Hill.

Girls 7: Madison Stevens 18.6, Kaitlyn Davis, Elsa Wetzler.

Girls 8: Tess Longoria 18.2, Cadence Godfrey, Karina Dennon.

Girls 9: Chloe Lightle 17.8, Emma Kilby, Julia White.

Girls 10: Ellie Murray 17.2, Leila Dugan, Brighton Whittlesey.

Girls 12: Audrey Nelson 16.4, Cate Gleason, Grace Smith.

Boys 3 & under: Owie Ausmeier 28.0, Owen Haizlip, Luke Fraizer.

Boys 4: Porter Crandull 26.7, Charlie Rose, Clyde Evans.

Boys 5: William Pancholi 22.1, Calvin Roberson, Dylan Vonfeldt.

Boys 6: Howard Howlett 18.2, Cole Haizlip, Shep Horwitz.

Boys 7: Henry Rose 18.0, Julian Roger, Corbin Mephan.

Boys 8: Nashton Eyrich 17.8, Monte Horwitz, Milo Haizlip.

Boys 9: Rown Schick 16.9, Owen Bernstein, Payton McPhail.

Boys 10 & 11: Calvin Moe 15.7, AJ Stevens, Joey Olmstead.

60-METER HURDLES

Girls 3 & under: Ines Rufo-Hill 37.4, Liviana Gatinger, Morgan Shutske.

Girls 4: Lauren Rogers 17.1, Arabella Ollivier, Emma Ferebee.

Girls 5: Catrina Godfrey 13.7, Magda Rufo-Hill, Abigail Rose; 2nd Heat: Sarah Whiting 17.2, Evelyn Shutske, Camden Brown.

Girls 7: Madison Stevens 12.1, Kaitlyn Davis, Elsa Wetzler.

Girls 8: Tess Longoria 11.5, Cadence Godfrey, Willa Sydor.

Girls 9: Chloe Lightle 11.6, Emma Kilby, Julia White.

Girls 10: Ellie Murray 11.32 Leila Dugan, Brighton Whittlesey.

Girls 12: Cate Gleason & Audrey Nelson 10.5.

Boys 3 & under: Owen Haizlip 24.0, Luke Frazer.

Boys 4: Brady Treyve 19.8, Porter Crandull, Owie Ausmeier.

Boys 5: Shep Horwitz & Cole Haizlip 12.2, Zach Ausmeier; 2nd Heat: Howard Howlett 12.3, Callan Ferebee, Milo Kilby.

Boys 7: Henry Rose 11.0, Julian Roger, Corbin Mephan.

Boys 8: Milo Haizlip 11.1, Logan Ferebee, Monte Horwitz.

Boys 9: Rowan Schick 10.1, Owen Bernstein, Payton McPhail.

Boys 10 & 11: Calvin Moe 9.8, AJ Stevens.

200 METERS

Age 4 & under: Emma Ferebee 57.2, Arabella Ollivier 61.4, Owie Ausmeier 61.8.

Age 5: William Pancholi 46.2, Catrina Godfrey 48.7, Calvin Roberson 51.7.

Age 6: Howard Howlett 40.4, Callan Ferebee & Shep Horwitz 41.9, Milo Kilby & Gray Longoria 43.8.

Age 7: Madison Stevens 39.1, Kaitlyn Davis 42.9, Elsa Wetzler 47.6.

Age 8: Milo Haizlip & Monte Horwitz 38.1, Logan Ferebee 81.6.

Age 9 & 10: AJ Stevens 35.3, Griffin Shepard 36.0, Payton McPhail 40.9.

400 METERS

Girls Open: Madison Stevens 1:36.7, Kaitlyn Davis 1:41.1 Margaret Caul 2:10.Boys 15 & under: Henry Rose 1:32.7, Howard Howlett 1:33.7.

Mens Open: Wyatt Longley 53.6, James Payne 54.5.

4X100 RELAY

Family & kids: Calvin Moe, Tommy Smith, Grace Smith, Syna Stinsen 1:11.7; AJ Stevens, Joey Olmstead, Finn Archbold, Payton McPhail 1:13.0; Howard Howlett, Kaitlin Davis, Soren Saye, Shep Horwitz 1:17.6.

Young adults: Kiera Knoll, Sarah Maynard, Emily Feeney, Emily Maynard (Bainbridge Island Cross Country) 62.5.

JOGGER’S MILE

(Closest to predicted time)

Steve Goll (+2 seconds), Sarah Auerbach (-18 seconds) and Sarah Sydor (- 25 seconds).