Sunnyvale's Jerome Lewis accepts his medal after winning the men's 60-64 title in the Los Gatos Dammit Run.
By DICK SPARRER
Kendrick Sealy found himself in a sprint to the finish line when he won the Los Gatos Dammit Run a year ago.
But it was much different this year.
Oh, Sealy won another Dammit title. But there was no sprint to the tape--this year, he was running alone.
Sealy stopped the watch at 28:04.90 to win the rugged 5-mile run, finishing over a minute ahead of his nearest rival.
Last year it was much different. Sealy and Sunnyvale's Russell Hill were close together when they entered the track stadium at Los Gatos High to make the final lap to the finish line.
Sealy edged Hill by just 10 seconds to finish first, and only 32 seconds separated the top five finishers in the competitive field.
In the 23rd running of the Dammit, though, the 29-year-old Sealy was in charge. He ran alone into the stadium, and he had already passed through the finish gate before runner-up Gilbert Munoz even reached the track.
Munoz ended up second overall in 29:18.94 with Patrick Fear third in 29:31.95, James Cardoza fourth in 29:55.85 and Rob Nast fifth in 30:10.02.
Rounding out the top 10 men were 19-year-old Dave McDonough of Cupertino, sixth in 30:25.18; Sean Millar, seventh in 30:58.73; Nick Piellusch, eighth in 31:07.41; Bill Rice, ninth in 31:08.62; and victory Cortes, 10th in 31:11.20.
As impressive as Sealy was in the men's division, so were Christine Kennedy and Susie Blake in the women's class.
The 41-year-old Kennedy held off Blake to win the women's division title, finishing just over 25 seconds ahead of the runner-up.
Kennedy finished first among the Dammit women in 32:25.35 with Blake second in 32:51.22.
Longtime Dammit competitor Julie Rohloff of Los Gatos was an impressive third in 34:08.55.
Lewis wins title
Dirk Rohloff ran in the top 25 overall, but he was No. 1 in the men's 40-44 age group. The Dammit vet finished in 32:16.01 to nail 24th overall and first in his division. Brian Conroy was second with Dan Johnson third.
Nast ended up fifth overall, but was first in the men's 30-34 class with Karl Malmsheimer second.
Jermone Lewis of Sunnyvale won the men's 60-64 age division in 39:43.05 with Floyd Okada second and Barry Southard third, and Bill Wallace was first in the men's 70-and-over class in 48:13.92 with Howard Powers second and Bud Roberts third.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, August 28, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.