January 21, 2012
Wayne Scott Joness
Despite the uncharacteristic chill and light rain fall, members of
USATF Southern California kicked off
the 2012 Road Running Grand Prix
with a strong turnout at the 2012 LA
Kings 5K, held on January 21, 2012, at the STAPLES Center, downtown Los
Angeles. While the two loop 5K course offers technical challenges for runners
negotiating the many turns, the course is also dead flat. And across the board,
USATF members strategized well and set new course records in all divisions.
Setting the first course record was Luis Ibarra (M25) representing Nike
Run LA, with a time of 14:50, over thirty seconds faster than the 2011
course record of 15:21. Following Ibarra across the finish line was the first
place record setting masters finisher, Christian
Cushing-Murray (M44) 15:16, of Compex
Racing. Rounding out the top three
finishers was Justin Patananan
(M31), running 15:20, also representing Nike Run LA. New Cal Coast Track Club member Gabriel
Hernandez (M32) finished fourth place overall, running 15:32, with Ken Ernst (M50) also of Compex Racing,
coming in fifth at 15:44. Juan Morales
of Cal Coast Track Club (M32) was the third place open finisher in 16:20, and Oliver Gallego (M50) of Elite
Health Track Club was the third place masters finisher, 17:52.
Santa Monica based The
Janes Elite Racing swept the top three finishing places, led by member Erika Aklufi (F35) 17:14, smoking the
2011 course record of 19:04. Aklufi was followed by team members Tania Fischer (F44) 18:02 and Adrienne Schumm (F25) 18:18. Cal Coast
Track Club member Nicole Slykhous
(F22) was fourth overall with 18:21, followed by The Janes Elite Racings’ Samantha Jones (F26) 18:37 and Emily Mitchell (F33) 18:40. Cal Coast
Track Club again showed their depth, with member Hannah Rae Finchamp (F16) leading the youth division, running
19:05, followed by 2nd place masters finisher Rosalva Bonilla (F49) in 19:07, also of Cal Coast Track Club.
Fellow Cal Coast Track Club member Yayoi
Liu (F54) took home the 3rd place masters medal with a time of
20:43.
With the strong turnout by The Janes Elite Racing and Cal Coast
Track Club, it is no surprise that these two clubs easily took the lead in 2012
Road Running Grand Prix scoring. The Janes scored highest with 4155 age-graded
points, but Cal Coast Track Club was right behind them, with 4098 points. Both
clubs are competing better than ever, and clearly upping their game, vying to
claim the title of 2012 Road Running Grand Prix Champions.
SCA Grand Prix
LA Kings 5K
Saturday - January 21, 2012
SCA Grand Prix Standings: www.scagrandprix.orgResults
2012 LA Kings 5K ResultsAwards - Overall Open Winners
Open 1st: Luis Ibarra, M-31, 14:49.7Open 1st: Erika Aklufi, F-35, 17:14.3
Open 2nd: Justin Patananan, M-31, 15:20.4
Open 2nd: Adrienne Schumm, F-25, 18:18.3
Open 3rd: Juan Morales, M-32, 16:19.6
Open 3rd: Samantha Jones, F-26, 18:37.2
Awards - Overall Masters Winners
Masters 1st: Christian Cushing-Murray, M-44, 15:16.0Masters 1st: Tania Fischer, F-44, 18:02.4
Masters 2nd: Ken Ernst, M-50, 15:44.8
Masters 2nd: Rosalva Bonilla, F-49, 19:09.4
Masters 3rd: Oliver Gallego, M-50, 17:51.8
Masters 3rd: Yayoi Liu, F-54, 20:42.5
