Shore Athletic Club runners and race walkers claimed a number of medals at the
hosting of the 115th Annual Millrose Games on Saturday, February 11th.  Held
at the N.Y. Armory facility, the event was a circus of youth, open, professional
and master’s athletes, which led to three American records being set during the
day.
 
In the men’s open Distance Medley, the club had two excellent entries.  The
Shore A.C. “A” team powered to a second place just behind the Garden State
Track Club win.  The team of Michael Twist, Jacob Dinerman, Luke Petela, and
Thomas Cook clocked in with a fast 10:05.66.  Not far behind, in 7th place was
the clubs second team of Matt Farrell, George Alexandris, Michael Drews and
Ryan Rafferty who finished in a good 10:30.83 to give varsity Coach Joe Campagni
two excellent showings for the day.
 
In the masters 4 x 400 relay events, the clubs four entries came home with two
firsts, one second and one fourth place finishes.  In the combined 60-69 and
70-over race, the 60’s team of Bob Andrews, Matt Wallack, Keith McQuitter and
Rick Lee came from behind in the second half of the race to win in  4:24.0, edging
a very close Greater Philadelphia Track Club by .85 seconds.  The clubs 70-over
“A” team of Spider Roister, Ivan Black, Harry Nolan and Rick Lapp won their
division race in 5:15.75 despite a major loss of time with a baton mishap on
the first exchange.  The clubs 70-over “B” team pulled a surprise in the event
by capturing the second place medals in 6:45.66.  That team was comprised
of Kerry Gillespie, Ken Wilson, Przemek Nowicki and Hugh Sweeney. 
 
The Clubs 50-59 team were in a tight battle with some of the best teams in there
age group in the country, but managed to score a very close fourth place in
4:15.13.   Club members Greg Calhoun, Chris Rinaldi, Ron Brock and Brian
Hill led the charge.  Rinaldi was unofficially awarded with the “best fall down
at the line”  award as he was handing off his baton, of which occurred a number of
such falls in the various master’s races. Doing standby duty as the alternate for
both the 50-59 and 60-69 teams was LDR standout Scott Linnell.
 
The clubs race walkers had an excellent showing in the one mile race walk event.
Sam Allen cruised to a run away victory in 6:13.58, winning by over 13 seconds from
the second place finisher.  Brother Ryan Allen finished in a solid fifth place in
6:47.17, with the veteran Rich Luettchau scoring 7th place in 6:53.74.  Shore
A.C. alumni were out in force in different events.  American indoor 800 meter
record holder Ajee’ Wilson stepped down in distance to win the 600 meter
run in 1:24.85,  while 2016 1500 meter U.S. Olympian Robby Andrews  served
as the pacesetter for the open men’s mile, taking the group out in an easy 1:58 first 800 meters before stepping off the track. It was great to see Robby back in action after some downtime,
as he begins to get back into excellent running condition.

​By Dr. Harold Nolan

Ryan Rafferty and Amanda Huneke took the men’s and women’s crowns in the 59 th
edition of the Asbury Park Carnaval 5k run on December 31. Rafferty went right to the
lead at the start of the race with runners Justin Scheid and Riley Maher hot on his heals.
At the midway point all three were close together, but Rafferty pulled away on the return
trip to Asbury Park’s Convention Hall to break the tape in a fast 15:47.92. That time
placed Rafferty as the 11 th fastest runner in the history of the event. Scheid, a two
time winner of the event landed a close second in 15:53.28, while Maher clocked
in with a 16:08.89.

Amanda Huneke established a strong lead throughout the race, finishing in a fast
18:26.44, but well off the record of 17:35 set by Kerry Dyke in 2019. Runners
Erika Flores and Casey Hopkins battled it out for most of the race, with Flores
pulling away to land second in 18:42.75, with Casey taking third in l8:51.21.
Over 300 runners and walkers entered the event this year. The Polar Bear
races were again conducted by the Shore Athletic Club, under the direction
of Erin O’Neil, a former winner of the women’s race, assisted by Coach Joe
Compagni. Running in 59 th edition of the race was Dr. Harry Nolan, who has
not missed running in any of the Polar Bear races over the years, having won
the event nine times.
​
Many who attended the awards ceremony were privileged to hear Shore A.C.
member Bob Bazley read a Congressional Presentation awarded to Elliott Denman,
the founder of the Polar Bear races, as well as founder and long time President
of the Shore A.C., and a 1956 Olympian. Denman could not be present
at the event for the first time due to illness, but there was much clapping
after the award reading as well as from tributes by club President Walter MacGowan
and other club members.