PROVIDENCE DUO SCORES; JOHNSON SAYS SHE’S
DONE WITH DUNNE
by De Sert Rose
Through the
years it can be said that the Dynamic Duo has had more talent participate than
any co-ed race in this area. That
includes the Turkey Trot, Stockadeathon, Silks & Satins, etc. Distaff names like Hewig, Dodge, Kramer,
Herold, McTague, Ostrander, Simone, Aiken, Predmore, Fazioli, Herman, Cox, et
al dot the leaderboard. Fastest men of
all time include Gaige, Williams, Orvis, Keenan, Sgambelluri, Delfs, Irwin,
Bush, Ohlsson, Rodriguez and others too numerous to mention.
Occasionally the
top talents hook up together to set records which some would deem
unbreakable. Hewig-Gage, Hewig-Denning,
Bush-Ostrander, Delfs-Simone, Williams-Dodge are several tandems that have run
together in recent years.
But Duo 2004 was
blessed with something past Duos have not seen—-cool, dry weather. This brought out the best in some of the
most talented teams ever put together.
“Lean and mean” Kate Twarog blew into town with her Providence college
teammate Patrick Moulton and showed she meant business right away. Kate went out hard, picked it up and kicked
it in as she beat a star-studded female field which included Elizabeth Maloy
(Georgetown), Daniel Schaub, Caroline King and Jillian King (all from Scotia),
Caitlin McTague (Princeton), and Stacy Kramer (Binghamton). Kate’s 36 second lead on the field was not
really needed as Patrick “blazed” a 14:23 and destroyed J. R. Gaige’s and Kevin
Williams’ course record by 30 seconds.
The Twarog-Moulton squad also broke Lori Hewig’s and J. R. Gaige’s
thought-to-be unbreakable course record by 1 second. It’s plain to see Kate will be returning for her senior year in
the best shape of her life.
As usual, the
under 36 age group had the most entries and the most talent. The Shenendehowa boys always seem to know a
lot of fast women and this year was no exception. Daniel Schaub “scorched” a 17:54 and handed off to Scott Mindel
only 3 seconds in arrears of Elizabeth Maloy.
Scott collared fellow Plainsmen Jake Gurzler and the Schaub-Mindel team
won the prestigious under 36 age group by 17 seconds. In winning, Scott and
Danielle broke Rick Bush and Dana Ostrander's 1997 under 36 standard.
It was heard
this fall that the 2003 Shenendehowa cross country team was the best squad ever
assembled in the history of New York State cross country. It seems to be true when one gazes at the
performances of some of their runners in the Duo (Mindel, 15:05; Gurzler,
15:25; Alex Grout, 15:51; Ryan Gaedje, 15:52; and Phil Roach, 16:05). Where would Dan McManaman fit in?
The 37-45 age
group was overwhelmed by Twarog and Moulton but some area pundits were
salivating over what could have been.
How about the Twarog-Moulton squad against a Jen Kramer-John Mortimer
team? John is
Jen’s coach.
Imagine, two ex-Colonie teammates, one getting back to star-status and
the other having the best season of her life.
Add Patrick and John (7th in the Olympic Trials steeplechase) to the mix
and it would have been the matchup of all time.
Chad Davey and
Susan Lander became first-time winners in the 46-54 category and Tom
Constantine and Caitlin McTague also won their first Duo. Tom and Caitlin won the 55-63 age group.
Shaker youngster
Chris Manico and Donna Choiniere came to the Town Park without partners. Colonie coach Mike Caccuitto, an expert in
the art of matchmaking, put the two together and the result was victory in the
64-72 age group.
Ed Menis and
wife Laurie Hoyt love the Duo. They
have young children and have difficulty watching them when they run a race
together. But with the Duo’s unique
format, Laurie ran and Ed Babysat; then Ed ran and Laurie did the same. The end result; the Hoyt-Menis squad won
their 4th Duo; this time in the 73-81 category.
Colonie coach
Mary Ann Johnson usually runs the Duo with Chris Dunne. But Colonie coach Tom
Greene came calling and Mary Ann dropped Chris like a bad habit. This tale had a happy ending as Tom and Mary
Ann posted their first Duo victory in the 82-90 age group.
Paul Bennett
wins every Duo he runs in. So does Nancy
Nicholson. So when the two of them
teamed up, the predictable happened—-victory in the 91-100 category.
After a hiatus
of several years, Saratoga standouts Jeff and Lanny Lutzker won their 2nd duo,
this time in the 100-108 age group.
Finally, in the
109+ category, Anny and Wade Stockman won their 11th Dynamic duo over the
hard-charging team of Stu and Kathy Hoffman.
Well, the
mailman was delivering the mail so the mailman didn’t deliver but even though
Mark Mindel missed his first Duo in the post-dead ball era, we again want to
thank the people who were able to help out and made this year’s Duo a
success. First, thanks to Don Myers and
the Colonie Recreation Department for sponsoring this event. Also, kudos to
Bob Oates, Sandy Morley, Karl Steffen, Lynne Ogren, Natalie
Greene, Nancy Nisiewicz and Martha DeGrazia for their generous help.
Next year, when
August 8 rolls around and the men tee it up first, we hope to see you all
there.