SHORE A.C. RELAY RUNNERS AND RACE WALKERS SCORE AT THE 2023 MILLROSE GAMES TRACK AND FIELD MEET

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