While her University of Tennessee at Chattanooga teammates were in Birmingham trying for Southern Conference medals, Teghan Henderson ran for a different SC championship Saturday morning in Chattanooga.
Henderson was the women's winner by five and a half minutes in the longest race she's ever run, the Scenic City Half Marathon. But it was basically just a training run for the 20-year-old UTC star from Pickering, Ontario, who was fifth overall in 1 hour, 18 minutes, 56 seconds for the 13.1 miles that began and ended at Finley Stadium.
Cristhian Villavicencio from Nicaragua by way of Manchester, Tenn., held off Red Bank Middle School teacher and coach Geno Phillips in a duel of 40-somethings for the overall victory, 1:14:18 to 1:14:20. Jack Findley, 28, ran out front early with Villavicencio, 42, and wound up third in 1:15:16. Dean Thompson, 49, was fifth in 1:18:45.
"Man, that was frustrating," said Phillips, 43. "But it was fun. That was the fastest I've ever run on this course. It's good to have a race like this in Chattanooga."
Geno Phillips"I chased (Villavicencio) the first eight miles -- him and Jack -- and I caught him about mile 10. We ran together the last 5k. I tried to gap him when we ran under the overpass, and I thought I had enough, but he caught me when we came into the stadium."
Frank Balt of Manchester, the winner's coach, spoke on his behalf and said he brought Villavicencio to Manchester to prepare for the Nashville Rock 'n' Roll Marathon on April 25. The Scenic City Half was part of the preparation. Balt said the runner was trying for a 1:10 time but wasn't used to the cold weather.
Leah Thomas of Atlanta was the second female and 13th overall in 1:24:28. She's 38.
After an All-America and Southern Conference runner-of-the-year cross country season in 2013, Henderson won her first two meets in the 2014 season but sustained a stress fracture in mid-September and took a medical redshirt. She's also redshirting in indoor track, where she was all-conference at 3,000 and 5,000 meters last year, but is looking forward to the outdoor track season.
She set the conference record for 10,000 meters last spring, but that is the longest distance she had run in competition before Saturday. The race also was the longest run she's taken since her injury.
"My coach (Bill Gautier) suggested this like a week and a half ago," Henderson said. "I had to do a long run this weekend anyway. This was the longest I've run in a very long time, and the middle miles were kind of rough, but the last four miles were probably my favorite part."
By that time her goal was to close a big gap on Thompson, and she was able to get within "about 100 meters," she said.
Joseph Goetz won the accompanying 5-kilometer race for the second year in a row, in 17:13, with fellow Chattanoogan Lucas Ridley second in 17:37. Charlotte Sheridan from Vienna, Va., was the women's 5k winner and sixth overall in 20:22, three seconds ahead of Ooltewah's Jennifer Curtis.
In the Charity Challenge, Chattanooga Room in the Inn raised the most money and the Chambliss Center for Children got the prize for most participants, 276.
Contact Ron Bush at rbush@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6291.