By Rob Potter
LAKE HUNTINGTON — May 26, 2006 – Sullivan West teacher Kevin Mann was smiling on Sunday afternoon as he stood out outside the Sullivan West High School in Lake Huntington.
“I am very happy with this turnout,” Mann said. “I was expecting to have about 50, but 119 people came out for today’s event.”
The event to which Mann referred was the inaugural Sullivan West 5K Run/Walk. At 12:30 p.m. Sunday, those aforementioned 119 people – including many SW students, teachers and staff members – took off from the bottom of the SWHS driveway overlooking Lake Huntington.
They proceeded along Route 52 and then turned onto Short Cut Road. The athletes made their way onto Nearing Road and back onto Route 52.
They then made their way to the finish line at the base of the driveway where they began the race.
Mann noted that the course was exactly 3.1 miles.
The first person to cross the finish line was Matt Gain. A 17-year-old SW senior, Gain established the course record of 17 minutes, 3 seconds.
“It was fun,” Gain said. “The course had a couple of hills and I like running the hills.”
Gain said the weather, which was cool with intermittent light rain showers, was perfect for running.
“It was nice and cool,” he said.
Gain’s SW track teammate Trevor Kreznar took second place as he crossed the finish line a few seconds behind Gain. Max Gunther, who is a member of the Eldred Central School varsity boys’ track and field team, finished third.
The first woman to reach the finish line was April Ackermann.
“It was nice,” Ackermann, an 18-year-old SW senior, said of the course. “It was a good race.”
Like her classmate Gain, Ackermann enjoyed running up and down the hills.
“The hills help,” she said. “They are what we train on around here.”
Mann said that the race raised between $2,500 and $3,000 for the SW Class of 2011.
The 5K race was the latest in a series of fundraising events the class members are holding in order to pay for their eighth grade trip. The class will travel to Washington, DC in June 2007.
The top winners in each category were as follows:
Male Overall
1.Matt Gain – 17.03 (course record); 2.Trevor Kreznar; 3. Max Gunther
Female Overall
1. April Ackermann; 2. Rianne Erlwein; 3. Jamie Moran
Male 13 and Under
1. Lucas Bower; 2. Andy Kinch; 3. Alex Manzi
Female 13 and Under
1. Jackie Ellmauer; 2. Ashley Mahoney; 3. Mackenzie Norris
Male 14-18
1-Brett Cucci; 2. Ross Bernhardt
Female 14-18
1. Erin Bernhardt; 2. Brittany Flynn; 3. Lindsey Bauer
Male 19-40
1. Michael Bauer
Female 19-40
1. Cassandra Boyd; 2. Jennifer Mann
Male 41-60
1. Ron Bernhardt; 2. Tim Erson; 3.George Ackermann
Female 41-60
1. Donna Freda.