Egelus, Bialka post Bill Mitchell 5k wins

June 12, 2007

By MATT TUNSETH/Frontiersman

PALMER - A half mile from the finish line in Sunday's Bill Moss Fun Run, race leader Rory Egelus didn't know where to go. Luckily for the former Palmer High standout, current Colony coach Mark Strabel was willing to give directions.

Egelus beat Strabel by 14 seconds to take home first place in the annual Colony Days run, thanks in part to some on-course directions from the second-place runner.

&#8220I gotta thank him for that,” Egelus said following the race.

As the runners retraced their path back to the starting line at the Mat-Su Borough building, Egelus got confused as to which street to take. Running blind, he called back to Strabel, who was a hundred yards back.

At this point, Strabel could have sent Egelus off course and taken the race for himself. But he said that thought never entered his mind.

&#8220I wanted to be fair about it,” Strabel said.

The duo had run neck-and-neck through most of the race until Egelus began pulling away at the halfway point. Egelus said he began his finishing kick a bit early because of his course miscalculation.

&#8220I had just enough left to finish I guess,” he said.

Just over 100 runners and walkers turned out for the race, which was held under bright sunny skies that many racers said they were unprepared for.

&#8220It was hot,” Egelus said shortly after grabbing a cup of water at the finish line.

Women's winner Katie Bialka, who just completed her freshman year at Palmer High, also had to overcome some self-imposed difficulties on her way to victory. Bialka, 14, said she and her mother thought the race was at 8 a.m. instead of 11, so she skipped breakfast on her way to the starting line.

&#8220All I had was a frappuccino and a bagel,” Bialka said.

Despite running on an empty stomach, Bialka was still able to complete the course in 20 minutes, 51.61 seconds, good enough to win both the 14-and-under age division and the overall title by almost 45 seconds over Jessica Gross.

&#8220I'm happy,” Bialka said before heading off to find something to eat.

Alaska Attorney General Talis Colberg of Palmer also competed in the race, placing 35th overall and third in the men's 40-49 age division. Following the race, Colberg said his friend David Holladay didn't exactly make for the best running partner.

&#8220It was hot and he was on my tail the whole way, so it wasn't very pleasant,” Colberg joked.

Holladay said he would have rather been in front of Colberg, but said he had no chance against the active AG, who tries to run three miles a day every other day.

&#8220He's a natural,” Holladay said.

Holladay said Colberg is a borderline fanatic about his fitness regimen.

&#8220He moves his treadmill into the committee rooms,” Holladay said.

Colberg, however, downplayed the claim.

&#8220There's no truth to that,” he said.

In addition to the 5-kilometer event, a 1,600-meter run was also held for younger runners. For boys 14 and under, Tracen Knopp won the race with a time of 6 minutes, 10 seconds, 41 seconds ahead of Dawson Knopp.

In the girls' race, River Richards blazed her way to a 7 minute, 14 second win. Haley Hanson was second in 8:09.

Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth@frontiersman.com

2007 Colony Days Bill Mitchell Fun Run

June 10

Palmer

(By Age Group)

WOMEN

14 and under:

1. Bialka, Katie, 20:51.61; 2. Sutherland, Julianna, 22:47.94; 3. Powell, Kelsey, 26:29.49; 4. Lundt, Morgan, 26:45.67.

15-19:

1. Gross, Jessica, 21:36.27; 2. King, Kristen, 22:52.42; 3. Welch, Ashlen, 24:02.25; 4. Hoffman, Rachel, 24:04.34; 5. Flores, Stephanie, 24:17.43; 6. Wilber, Kiersten, 26:22.07; 7. Sutherland, Melanie, 29:57.80; 8. Fait, Abby, 31:33.99.

20-29:

1. Minnick, Alina, 25:26.25; 2. Hill, Guinevere, 25:59.24; 3. Smayda, Lauren, 28:26.53; 4. Herr, Stephanie, 30:17.38; 5. Kramer, Crystal, 32:37.19; 6. Nunley, Crystal, 32:37.65.

30-39: 1. Kincaid, Alisa, 21:43.21; 2. Haltman, Andrea, 25:10.32; 3. Leutwyler, Yvonne, 25:50.45; 4. Senden, Leslie, 28:22.18; 5. Marshall, Janna, 30:17.65; 6. Dolman, Lori, 31:35.80; 7. Hauschka, Bonnie, 37:54.61; 8.

Booher, Heather, 39:15.86.

40-49: 1. Richards, Michelle, 21:54.29; 2. King, Clare, 28:07.63; 3. Jenkins, Tami, 30:17.08; 4. Keene, Shannon, 48:27.65; 5. Lamont, Sara, 48:27.91.

50-59: 1. Buskirk, Jane, 24:07.54; 2. Ford, Donna, 26:01.78; 3. Hills, Meg, 28:14.32; 4. Robinson, Kim, 32:36.19; 5. Robinson, Rena, 34:16.80; 6. Powell, Jean, 34:19.74; 7. Kolivosky, Melinda, 36:28.80; 8. Walsh, Darleen, 37:39.95; 9. Smayda, Lisa, 40:07.98.

60+: 1. Mathews, Betty, 47:58.47.

MEN

14 and under:

1. Knopp, Schyler, 19:37.73; 2. Reimer, Alex, 20:48.00; 3. LaFrance, Piers, 20:58.02; 4. Meyerhofer, Abe, 21:24.95; 5. King, Brandon,

22:53.31; 6. Maxwell, Caleb, 25:03.99; 7. Lynn, James, 28:39.20.

15-19:

1. Smith, Kevin, 17:44.91; 2. Ford, Jeff, 17:45.40; 3. Ashland, Christopher, 18:57.45; 4. Hanson, Michael, 22:43.26; 5. Briceland, Ben,

24:04.79; 6. Minnick, Tucker, 25:27.12.

20-29:

1. Egelus, Rory, 17:22.15; 2. Strabel, Mark, 17:36.53; 3. Egelus, Pat, 18:47.33; 4. Rubeo, Mike, 25:30.27; 5. Lugh, Chad, 27:08.00.

30-39: 1. Johnston, David, 18:09.98; 2. Booher, John, 18:36.04; 3. Kastar, Philip, 20:02.55; 4. Senden, Ty, 22:56.56; 5. Dassow, Tony, 23:30.61; 6. Silberberg, Aron, 26:23.53; 7. Cordle, Domenic, 27:55.16.

40-49:

1. Knopp, David, 18:57.22; 2. Barker, Richard, 24:44.71; 3. Colberg, Talis, 24:49.93; 4. Goodale, Greg, 26:12.72; 5. Flores, Steve, 26:37.12; 6. Lynn, Larry, 28:51.42; 7. Hignutt, Emanuel, 30:01.91; 8. Alcantra,

John, 30:19.04.

50-59:

1. Davis, Bob, 17:56.44; 2. Buskirk, Larry, 20:46.40; 3. Holladay, David, 24:58.00; 4. Cannon, John, 26:57.64; 5. Conrad, Tim, 30:48.60.

60+:

1. Strabel, Ed, 23:35.45; 2. Mathews, David, 23:57.73; 3. Hills, Alex, 28:38.08; 4. Soucek, Jim, 38:25.06.

1600 Meter Run (14 and under only)

Girls: 1. Richards, River, 7:14.00; 2. Hanson, Haley, 8:09.00; 3. Wright, Elliese, 8:25.00; 4. Weiss, Isa, 9:07.00; 5. Larson, Nicole, 9:11.00; 6. Fish, Kiley, 9:18.00; 7. Wright, Emily, 9:19.00; 8. Vig, Madeline, 10:23.00; 9. Minnick, Gracie, 10:24.00; 10. Senden, Tate, 10:38.00; 11. Pallozzi, Makenna, 10:42.00; 12. Vig, Hannah, 13:42.00; 13. Senden, Blaine, 14:04.00.

Boys: 1. Knopp, Tracen, 6:10.00; 2. Knopp, Dawson, 6:51.00; 3. Fish, Darren, 7:10.00; 4. Larson, James, 9:14.00; 5. Johnston Jr, David, 11:41.00; 6. Goodale, Ramsey, 13:33.00.