Dash for the cash

MAT-SU -- Not even a second separated Jerry Ross from Will Kimball in the annual Curtis Menard II Memorial 5-kilometer on Saturday. More importantly for Ross, he and his race counterpart were separated by $500.

Ross slipped by Kimball during the final strides of the race to win the Menard Memorial, the state championship and a $1,000 prize. Kimball finished just .23 seconds shy of Ross and earned $500 for his second-place finish.

"For about the last quarter-mile I think both of us thought we could win," Ross said.

As Ross and Kimball raced down toward the end of the course on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway, the pair ran within arms length of one another. As the duo passed the Church of the Nazarene en route to the finish line Kimball held a slight lead -- a lead no longer than a full stride. And as the course hit its final length, Ross hit a full sprint and nudged just past Kimball in front of the finish line.

"At about three miles, Will really put the gas on," Ross said. "I just kept accelerating. I put everything I had left in."

Ross, a 28-year-old teacher at Service High School, and Kimball, a 41-year-old teacher at West High School, stayed well ahead of a pack of runners that broke into several pieces with about a mile remaining in the 3.1-mile race.

Ross finished with a time of 15 minutes, 10.31 seconds, while Kimball was clocked at 15:10.54. Sam Hill, of Anchorage, finished at 15:29.04 to claim third place and the $250 prize.

Najeeby Quinn had a more relaxed run to the finish line, finishing nearly a minute ahead of second-place Kikkan Randall to claim the women's title and a $1,000 prize.

Quinn, a Menard Memorial rookie, said she ran side-by-side with another runner for the first 500 meters, but was able to establish a cushion after about a mile.

The third annual Menard Run is an event organized to honor the memory of a local orthodontist and avid participant in the running community, who died in a plane crash in 2001. Following the 2003 race organizers teamed with USA Track and Field to officially make the 5-K a state championship and offer a purse for the top three runners in the women's and men's race.

See results on page A13.