The Cupertino Courier

Dunlap wins Great Race title

Cupertino's Abdella runs to a third in K-Bell Classic

By Dick Sparrer

It was a great race for Bobbie Palmer...great in more ways than one.

The event was the annual Great Race from Saratoga to Los Gatos, and Palmer ran a great race, covering the 3.8-mile distance in 19:33 to edge rival Kendrick Sealy by just a second.

The 26-year-old Palmer outsprinted Sealy to the finish gate. Both runners averaged 4.53 a mile, and they were close together heading into the final stretch. But Palmer pulled out the win, with the 30-year-old Sealy finishing a close second at 19:34.

Ben Turman, last year's Great Race winner, ended up hot on the heels of the two leaders, finishing third in 19:49. He had run an impressive 18:25 to win the race a year ago.

Eric Ollila of Sunnyvale finished fourth overall in 19:52, with Jimmy Clarke of Santa Cruz fifth in 20:05.

Mike Donahue of Los Gatos romped to sixth place in 20:10.

Barbara Acosta defended her title in the women's division, finishing well ahead of the field in 21:57.

The 40-year-old Acosta, who won the Great Race in 21:03 a year ago, finished almost a minute ahead of her nearest rival and ended up 35th overall in the race field.

Susan Dahm of Los Gatos ran a solid second in 22:49, with Kristin Jacobs of Los Gatos third in 23:01.

Linda Gill of San Anselmo was fourth in 23:14, with Louise Kobin of San Jose fifth in 23:24, Jackie McCleary of Los Gatos sixth in 23:41, Robin Cannon seventh in 23:44, Michelle Deasy of San Francisco eighth in 23:47, Julie Rohloff of Los Gatos ninth in 23:53 and Janet Thomas of Sunnyvale 10th in 24:12.

But Palmer and Acosta weren't the only winners in the annual Great Race. There were also a number of runners who romped to individual titles in age-group competition.

Palmer was the men's 19-29 age-group winner, with Turman second and Ollila third. Sealy cruised to the title in the men's 30-39 class.

Saratoga's Bernie Lahde, Jim Reitz of Livermore, Karl Misner of San Jose and Ken Nash of San Jose were other individual men's champions in the race.

Lahde took the men's 40-49 title in 21:32. In the men's 50-59 division, Reitz was first in 22:58, with Fabio Hernandez of Sunnyvale second in 23:21 and Joe Hurtado of Sunnyvale sixth.

Misner was the winner in the men's 60-69 division. Nash rambled to a win in the men's 70-95 division in 32:49. Glenn Sievert of Cupertino was second with Glen Holtby of Cupertino seventh.

Acosta coasted to a win in the women's 40-49 age division. Sumner was second, with Rohner third. Dahm was an easy winner in the women's 19-29 division.

Jacobs romped to a win in the 30-39 class. McCleary, Rohloff, Thomas, Nast, Smith, and Vidovich were other local runners among the top finishers in the division.

Great Race veterans Judi Shade of Los Gatos, Diane Bromstead of San Jose and Joy Johnson of San Jose were other division winners.

Shade was first in the women's 50-59 division in 26.55. Jutta McCormick of Cupertino was second. Bromstead took the women's 60-69 title in 34:25.

In the women's 70-95 age group, Johnson was an easy winner in 33:50.

In youth divisions, Steven Garza of San Jose and Celeste Dunlap of Cupertino each ran to titles in the 14-18 age division.

Garza took the boys' race in 21:11. Patrick Rhodes (Cupertino) was eighth.

Dunlap won the girls' race in 26:59, with Sarah High (Los Gatos) second.

Matt Bordoni of Los Gatos ran to a win in the boys' 6-13 age division, and Anne Richards of San Jose was the girls' 6-13 champ.

Abdella third

In local high school track action last weekend, Nuru Abdella starred for Cupertino in the 14th annual K-Bell Classic held on the track at Los Gatos High.

Abdella romped to a third-place finish in the two-mile in 9:52.75 for the Pioneers.

The meet is co-sponsored each spring by Bellarmine and the West San Jose Kiwanis Club.

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