Rohloff runs to Dammit win
Blanco the first finisher overall
By Dick Sparrer
Julie Rohloff is no stranger to the trails and rugged terrain that make up the course for the tough Los Gatos Dammit Run.
The Los Gatos runner has competed in the grueling 5-mile run off and on for the better part of the last 10 years.
But never was she better than she was last weekend. Because it was Rohloff who finished nearly a minute and half ahead of her nearest rival on her way to a first-place finish in the women's division.
Gary Blanco of Chico and Los Gatos' Rohloff were the two overall winners in the 27th running of the Dammit.
Blanco was the top finisher overall, stopping the watch at 27:50.21 to figure as the first finisher. He outsprinted Brian Harrington down the final stretch on the Los Gatos track to win the men's title.
Rohloff was less than six minutes behind Blanco. Her time of 33:50.02 was good enough for the women's title, as she finished well ahead of runner-up Laura Quirke (35:15.15).
Rohloff returned to the Dammit course where she finished second overall in 1995 and third in 1991. It was her first Dammit attempt since a sixth-place finish in 1997.
Rohloff was one of 12 female winners in the Dammit Run, a list that also included Dammit veterans Debbie Follmar and Judi Shade.
Follmar, from Saratoga, is a Dammit regular, and finished seventh overall in 37:09.12 to easily win the title in the women's 45-49 age division.
But Follmar, a consistent top 10 finisher throughout the 1990s with a finish as high as fifth in 1992, had to run a little faster this year--because her daughter Alicia was hot on her heels.
Alicia Follmar finished just under four minutes behind her mom to wind up 32nd overall in the field of 395 female finishers. The 13-year-old ran away from the field in the 13-and-under girls race, winning by more 11 minutes. It was her second straight win in the division. She had finished third in the age group in 1998.
Shade joined Rohloff and the Follmar mother-daughter team with an outstanding finish at the 27th Dammit.
Another Dammit veteran, Shade finished first by almost 11 minutes in the women's 55-59 age group. But even more impressive than that, the 55-year-old from San Jose was ninth overall in 37:53.89, figuring as the top 50-plus finisher in the top 50 in either men's or women's competition.
Other women's age group winners included Lisa Kelly, open division winner in 37:03.91; Rosalinda Castanedo, high school winner in 37:04.40; Kim Hammett, 30-34 age group winner in 36:02.83; Athena Philippides, 40-44 winner in 37:34.61; Sandy Sanchez, 50-54 winner in 40:10.16; Sandra Vaurs, 60-64 winner in 48:41.24; Barbara Robben, 65-69 winner in 56:28.44; and Joy Johnson, 70 and over winner in 57:42.92.
Blanco was the overall winner, outrunning Harrington and Tyson Sacco (28:07.12) to the finish line. Blanco, 32, was also the winner in the men's 30-34 age group and Harrington was tops in the men's open division.
Eddie Alaniz ran 28:28.49 to take the boys high school title and 12-year-old Kyle Cronin ran 41:45.62 to win the boys 13-and-under crown.
Other men's age group winners included Christian Wagner, 35-39 winner in 28:38.10; Jim Christensen, 40-44 winner in 31:32.49; Dan Anderson, 45-49 winner in 31:21.56; Greg Burke, 50-54 winner in 34:48.30; Steve Lorenz, 55-59 winner in 36:09.37; John Peterson, 60-64 winner in 41:22.28; Jerome Lewis, 65-69 winner in 41:14.59; Dennis Egley, 70-and-over winner in 58:48.12; and Sean Melchianda, heavyweight winner in 36:03.38.
The oldest finisher in the Dammit field was 84-year-old Tony Marshall, who ran 1:06.38.55, and the youngest finisher was 9-year-old Chris Bitter, who clocked in at 46:45.90.
Julie Rohloff of Los Gatos hits the finish line as the women's Dammit champ.
Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Top 20 Overall Finishers
1-- Gary Blanco, 27:50.21; 2-Brian Harrington, 27:56.52; 3-Tyson Sacco, 28:07.12; 4-Matt Pitts, 28:13.06; 5-Brian Sivitz, 28:24.64; 6-Eddie Alaniz, 28:28.49; 7-Christian Wagner, 28:38.10; 8-Brian Cullum, 28:55.18; 9-Alex Daniels, 29:13.09; 10-Juma Sultan, 29:22.81; 11-D.J. Eezydik, 29:28.63; 12-Predater Stylez, 29:36.81; 13-Jeff Hongo, 29:47.42; 14-Brian Lavelle, 29:50.11; 15-Jim Angelopoulos, 29:53.95; 16-Michael Mathews, 30:13.62; 17-Chris O'Neal, 30:14.83; 18-Steven Lopez, 30:25.76; 19-Jonathan Kimura, 30:49.98; 20-Ryan Jensen, 31:01.46.
Top 20 Female Finishers
1-Julie Rohloff, 33:50.02; 2-Laura Quirke, 35:15.15; 3-Kim Hammett, 36:02.83; 4-Mary Jane Vidovich, 36:44.30; 5-Lisa Kelly, 37:03.91; 6-Rosalinda Castanedo, 37:04.40; 7-Debbie Follmar, 37:09.12; 8-Athena Philippides, 37:34.61; 9-Judi Shade, 37:53.89; 10-Dawn Wells, 38:14.60; 11-Ann Elam, 38:34.97; 12-Abigail Galloway, 38:38.27; 13-Cathy Sabsay, 38:39.86; 14-Dina Farage, 38:42.72; 15-Adrianna Morici, 38:54.80; 16-Emily Rettner, 38:55.79; 17-Rachael Rettner, 39:00.51; 18-Jen Garcia, 39:22.37; 19-Marti Menz, 39:27.76; 20-Lynn Sestak, 39:32.43.
Top Finishers By Age Group
Men's Open
1-Harrington; 2-Sacco; 3-Pitts; 4-Sivitz; 5-Cullum.
Women's Open
1-Kelly; 2-Farage; 3-Stephanie Grace, 40:56.30; 4-Shannon Gleeson, 41:34.19; 5-Amy Moran, 41:37.33.
Boys' 13-and-under
1-Kyle Cronin (12), 41:45.62; 2-Bobby Montalvo III (12), 41:50.24; 3-Chris Bitter (9), 46:45.90; 4-Marco Costa (12), 50:05.17; 5-Matthew Sojka (11), 56:29.26.
Girls' 13-and-under
1-Alicia Follmar (13), 40:58.33; 2-Katrina Anderson (13), 51:58.37; 3-Parris Hodges (13), 52:52.80; 4-Rachel Mendez (13), 52:53.46; 5-Kimberly Smith (12), 55:11.322.
High school boys
1-Alaniz; 2-O'Neal; 3-Jensen; 4-Jonathan Luna, 37:00.94; 5-Anthony Camargo, 39:04.53.
High school girls
1-Castanedo; 2-Galloway; 3-Morici; 4-E. Rettner; 5-R. Rettner.
Men's 30-34
1-Blanco; 2-Mathews; 3-Lopez; 4-John Gossett, 31:31.56; 5-Mike Hurlston, 32:52.90.
Women's 30-34
1-Hammett; 2-Sabsay; 3-Garcia; 4-Cynthia Horning, 40:05.27; 5-Sharon Ready, 40:16.97.
Men's 35-39
1-Wagner; 2-Hongo; 3-Angelopoulos; 4-Jim Elan, 31:13.16; 5-Rob Newman, 32:20.99.
Women's 35-39
1-Rohloff; 2-Quirke; 3-Vidovich; 4-Wells; 5-Elam.
Men's 40-44
1-Jim Christensen, 31:32.49; 2-Andrew Ferguson, 32:07.97; 3-Brian Conroy, 33:42.44; 4-Michael Clark, 33:54.53; 5-Edward Meehan, 33:57.33.
Women's 40-44
1-Philippides; 2-Sestak; 3-Christy Cowley, 39:49.56; 4-Genevieve Cleveland, 39:57.47; 5-Judy Knauf, 40:34.66.
Men's 45-49
1-Dan Anderson, 31:21.56; 2-Martin Robinson, 36:37.71; 3-Ron Williams, 36:49.57; 4-Steve Moore, 37:01.55; 5-Raymond Umeda, 37:36.21.
Women's 45-49
1-Follmar; 2-Menz, 39:27.76; 3-Deb Ufelverton, 44:13.48; 4-Nancy Walker, 44:59.51; 5-Donna Beaupre, 46:44.47.
Men's 50-54
1-Greg Burke, 34:48.30; 2-Bo Bockantin, 36:07.72; 3-Alan Clark, 36:26.89; 4-Tom Azevedo, 37:16.60; 5-Doug Brown, 37:40.88.
Women's 50-54
1-Sandy Sanchez, 40:10.16; 2-Fran Charters, 44:13.70; 3-Tina Rade, 46:08.82; 4-Christina Brownson, 48:44.37; 5-Darlene Graham, 51:02.12.
Men's 55-59
1-Steve Lorenz, 36:09.37; 2-Doug Pederson, 36:09.86; 3-Alex Vago, 40:09.50; 4-Phil Darnall, 40:25.65; 5-David Cowley, 40:33.89.
Women's 55-59
1-Shade; 2-Elaine Smith, 48:52.50; 3-Suzanne Kaiser, 51:57.16; 4-Connie Sullivan, 52:43.24; 5-Sharon Mraz, 54:20.85.
Men's 60-64
1-John Peterson, 41:22.28; 2-Bill Comport, 42:02.43; 3-Richard Konrad, 44:34.08; 4-Edwin Schultze, 44:46.55; 5-Bill Eilers, 46:21.57.
Women's 60-64
1-Sandra Vaurs, 48:41.24; 2-Joan Masui, 53:49.54; 3-Joyce Friedlander, 1:00:07.75; 4-Gerri Lysne, 1:00:54.88; 5-Rosemary Avila, 1:01.57.61.
Men's 65-69
1-Jerome Lewis, 41:14.59; 2-Ephraim Romesberg, 46:36.56; 3-Robert Meyer, 46:53.70; 4-Donald Masui, 58:46.96; 5-Thomas Schaefer, 1:01:55.47.
Women's 65-69
1-Barbara Robben, 56:28.44.
Men's 70-and-over
1-Dennis Egley, 58:48.12; 2-Cal Morris, 59:20.58; 3-Keith Johnsgard, 59:52.87; 4-Jack Friedlander, 1:00:39.34; 5-Jesse Nunez, 1:02:10.63.
Women's 70-and-over
1-Joy Johnson, 57:42.92; 2-Etta Palmer, 1:08:41.91.
Men's heavyweight
1-Sean Melchianda, 36:03.38; 2-Michale Riordan, 36:04.10; 3-Dan Luster, 40:30.27; 4-Tom Nast, 44:01.78; 5-Tony Howard, 46:34.31.
Los Gatos, California Since 1881
The leaders of the Dammit pack (l-r) Tyson Sacco, Eddie Alaniz, Gary Blanco and Brian Sivitz race down the dusty trail in the tough 5-mile run. Blanco (in sun glasses) was the overall winner.
