February 3, 2017
University Park, PA

Photos courtesy of John Balogh.

The final meet of the 2017 Indoor Mile Series had everything. An Ability Athlete event, a newbie who did "The Double", a Series record, and some great races. In the first heat, Bryan Moon paced Ability Athlete Michelle Wheeler, who last week broke 2:30 in the 800, to a sub-5 minute time in her racing chair. And Josh Cone and Erik Scott pushed Jessica Stetson around the track in a sub-7 pace.

The first heat of the open mile belonged to John Afflect, running his first Indoor Mile of the year. He beat the field by 5 seconds finishing comfortably under 6 minutes. Clare Gervino squeaked in just under 6 to take second, and Keith Henderson was third.

The second heat had a great race for second place. While Suz Stein owned the race in 5:36.76, Rita Marie Concannon, Jaimie Wright, and Meira Minard battled it out on the last lap. It looked on the final turn like Wright would take Concannon on the final straight, but Concannon had a kick and outlasted Wright, finishing second in 5:40.15. Wright took third in 5:40.54 and Minard, turning in the fastest Masters women's time of the year, was timed in 5:42.28. Concannon's kick was not enough to take the overall Series win away from Wright, who beat her by just over a second in combined best-two times.

Heat 3 had a few sub-5 times. Matt Dabiero bested the field in 4:52.53, and Steven Hanna and Tyler Perdue to a photo finish in 4:54.93 and 4:54.94, respectively. Close! Rob Liebers had the fastest Men's Masters time of the year, finishing in 5:13.15.

The fast heat belonged to Justin Wager, who finished in a 2017 Series best time of 4:22.70. Wager wond the Indoor Mile Series this year with his consistently improving times. Vince Fadale and Levi Upman were second and third, rescpectively.

The 3K race featured the return of national class Women's Master Coreen Steinbach. Steinback had the Series Masters Mile record for a time from a visit she made in the mid-2000s. Though Meira Minard took that record from her a few years ago, Steinbach ran a 13:20.47 3K to shave a couple of seconds off the Women's Masters 3K record. Andrew Sell was the overall winner in 8:58.07. Suz Stein had the women's best time of 11:07.85. Many runners like to do "The Double", a mile heat and the 3K. This year, Carolyn Gardner, a local trail ultra enthusiast, decided, on her first time doing a "speed race", to do both the mile and the 3K. An exhilerating experience, and she'll be back for next year's Series!

Ability Athletes 1 Mile Chair

Place     Name                         Time
—————     ————                         ————           
  1       Bryan Moon                  4:54.73 (pacing)
  2       Wheeler, Michelle           4:54.86
  3       Stetson, Jessica            6:49.64
  4       Josh Cone, Erik Scott       6:50.03 (pushing)

Indoor Mile

Heat 1
——————

Place     Name                         Time
—————     ————                         ————           
  1       Affleck, John               5:54.61 (M)
  2       Gervino, Clare              5:59.60
  3       Henderson, Keith            6:19.48 (M)
  4       Klanchar, Marty             6:24.20 (M)
  5       Becker, Megan               6:25.04
  6       Steinbach, Coreen           6:25.71 (M)
  7       Lloyd, David                6:45.28 (M)
  8       Gardner, Carolyn            7:23.94 (M)

Heat 2
——————

Place     Name                         Time
—————     ————                         ————           
  1       Stein, Suz                  5:36.76
  2       Concannon, Rita Marie       5:40.15
  3       Wright, Jaimie              5:40.54
  4       Minard, Meira               5:42.28 (M)
  5       Messner, Isaac              5:43.36
  6       Jackson, Peter              5:44.52
  7       Effrig, Alan                5:55.49

Heat 3
——————

Place     Name                         Time
—————     ————                         ————           
  1       Dabiero, Matt               4:52.53
  2       Hanna, Steven               4:54.93
  3       Perdue, Tyler               4:54.94
  4       Colwell, Mark               5:03.63
  5       Becker, Evan                5:04.64
  6       Camusi, Nicholas            5:05.84
  7       Morgan, Steven              5:13.11
  8       Liebers, Rob                5:13.15 (M)
  9       McGeehan, Jake              5:13.49
 10       Cunningham, Andy            5:14.39
 11       Smith, Harriett             5:14.60
 12       Wyzomirski, Dominic         5:18.81 (M)
 23       Kolshorn, Leo               5:20.31 (M)

Heat 4
——————

Place     Name                         Time
—————     ————                         ————           
  1       Wager, Justin               4:22.70
  2       Fadale, Vince               4:33.29
  3       Upham, Levi                 4:34.71
  4       Moon, Bryan                 4:35.53
  5       Hiestch, Ben                4:41.90
  6       Velez, Joshua               4:44.13
  7       Adams, Ian                  4:50.92
  8       Kauffman, Jonathan          5:44.34
 --       Friend, Raymond               DNF

3000 Meter Run

Place     Name                         Time
—————     ————                         ————           
  1       Sell, Andrew                8:58.07
  2       Puleo, Mark                 9:15.93
  3       Balogh, Matthew             9:19.12
  4       Friend, Raymond             9:19.58
  5       Petrosky, Max               9:21.64
  6       Kline, Wyatt                9:58.18
  7       Verna, Jason                9:58.95
  8       Litofsky, Josh             10:03.72
  9       Fadale, Vince              10:09.17
 10       Maranas, Costas            10:32.52 (M)
 11       Velez, Joshua              10:47.99
 12       Upham, Levi                10:55.27
 13       Kolshorn, Leo              11:07.35
 14       Stein, Suz                 11:07.85
 15       Higgins, Mary              11:12.65
 16       Narkevic, Leah             11:27.49
 17       Effrig, Alan               11:43.43
 18       Concannon, Rita Marie      12:05.04
 19       Steinbach, Coreen          13:20.47 (M)
 20       Gardner, Carolyn           14:32.76 (M)