News

Wingfoot Finish Getting Back To It at George Kyte
Lauren Clark has a Monster Personal Best Run

Team news has been sporadic at best but that doesn’t mean that team members haven’t been training. That was evident as Wingfoot Finish participated in the George Kyte Invitational and produced some stellar results.

The team is training hard for the upcoming Long Beach Half Marathon that will take place on October 11th. They will be testing their fitness a few times along the way with George Kyte Invitational being the second stop along the way.

Weather was threatening the entire day. The women’s 5K started off under cloudy skies.

Michelle led the group through the first mile with Brianna following closely in the lead pack. By mile two Michelle was holding strong in 5th while Brianna did battle with competitors in the top-15.

Closing the race with a furious kick, something that had been missing for about two years as she nursed injuries, Michelle finished in 4th place with a time of 17:51.8.

Brianna crossed the line in 18:20.5 which better her personal best on this course by over a minute and a half.

Calvin had some prophetic words prior to his race, “I hope it rains during my race.” These were words that he would later regret ever having made.

The clouds were getting thicker as the men’s 8K race started.

Calvin found himself leading a pack of Arizona State runners through the two mile mark. About half a mile later the skies opened up and dumped on the runners with blinding force.

Stopping the clock at 28:07.5, Calvin finished in 33rd place.

“If you just look at the time and the place, it may not seem very impressive, but if you know Calvin’s background then it’s a mind blowing performance,” said Coach Clyde Resendez.

Calvin hasn’t had much time to train as he has been finishing up his schooling at Western New Mexico University.

“His previous best time on this course is only about 30 seconds faster than he ran today,” said Clyde. “So the fact that he ran his time today after just getting back into running after two months, the rain coming down as hard as it did. To be only 30 seconds off his best mark on this course is a phenomenal feat.”

Part-time Wingfoot Finish athlete Lauren Clark had a break-out race as she represented Desert Ridge High School at the Peaks Invitational. The race took place at the same location prior to the collegiate/open race. Lauren finished in 5th place with a time of 23:11.0, bettering her time from a year ago by nearly three minutes.

When asked about his final thoughts on the day Clyde said, “A satisfying day, I’m extremely happy with today performances but don’t tell any of my athletes I said that (I’m kidding). Everyone was able to see what they are capable of and I hope they realize that this is just the beginning with some faster performance coming their way.”

Wingfoot Finish travels back to Flagstaff next weekend to take part in the Teen Challenge 10K Freedom Run. The race is scheduled to start at 9:00 AM.